A walk around Dresden, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent Dresden & the Longton Freehold Land Society

location 10 on the map |tour map|

69 Ricardo Street

Eldon House

Eldon House - built in 1884 on the site 
of the original "Dresden House"

photos: June 2001

John Green & Dresden House, 
No 69 Ricardo Street, was built for John Green, pottery manufacturer, c. 1857, in Ricardo Street. 

John was the son of William and Mary Green and was baptised at the Wesleyan Chapel in Longton on 2 February 1817.

His father was a partner in the pottery firm of Allerton, Brough and Green c.1832 to 1857. This was the largest pottery firm in Longton in the middle of the 19th century with 348 employees. 

In 1841 John Green was living with his parents in Sutherland Road, Longton. He is listed in the census returns for that year as an engraver and was probably working for his father’s firm, at the Park works, in High Street (now Uttoxeter Road), Longton. 

In 1853 John Green went into partnership with Elisha Holland. They occupied a factory on the west side of Stafford Street (now The Strand) where they manufactured earthenware. The firm employed 146 people in 1861. 

A couple of years after the firm commenced operations John Green married Ann Jervis. Initially they lived in Longton where the first two children were born. However, the Green family were involved at an early stage in the development of Dresden. His father, William Green, was one of the four trustees of the Longton Freehold Land Society elected in 1850. John Green acquired three plots (No 87, 88, and 89) on the north side of Ricardo Street. Here, in about 1857, he erected a detached villa which he named “Dresden House”. The main entrance and principal reception rooms faced Ricardo Street with the kitchen and service-yard on the east side of the house screened from the road by a conservatory and a coach-house. A large garden laid out with walks and ornamental trees and shrubs occupied the rest of the site.

1878 OS map of Dresden House
(click for larger map of Ricardo Street)

 

John Green took an active interest in the affairs of Dresden. When a local board of health was formed to run the new district in 1863, he was elected as one of the 12 board members. Later on be was a member and alderman of Longton Borough Council and a Justice of the Peace. He did not neglect the firm in Longton which prospered and by 1871 the partnership employed 258 people. John Green died on 6 April 1877 and was buried in the graveyard of Dresden Church. His widow continued in occupation until the early 1880s. 

Joseph Hulse

In the early 1880s the Green family moved out and and Joseph Hulse bought the property. 

He was a partner in the pottery firm of Malkin, Walker and Hulse, which employed 244 workers at their factory in Longton. In the 1850s he moved into a semi-detached house on the estate No 65 Ricardo Street. 

When the Greens left, Joseph Hulse bought their property and rebuilt the house. The new red-brick villa, larger than its predecessor, was lavishly ornamented with richly carved stonework around the windows and doors. The roof was embellished with ornate ironwork still extant in 1984 but removed by 1990. Joseph Hulse named the new building "Eldon House" and the name together with the date of construction "1884" - was incorporated in a glass panel over the main entrance door.

Joseph Hulse was also active politically in the 1880s when he was an alderman for the borough of Longton.
He died on 3 May 1891 and like John Green was buried in the church yard of the Church of the Resurrection. His widow was still in occupation in 1896. There was a succession of occupiers in the early 20th century which included A U Harley Jones, manufacturer, in 1907, and Walter Harris in 1914.

 

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