Victoria Works, Lane Delph, Fenton

"For many years, from about 1811 to 1843, this manufactory was carried on by S. Ginder & Co., and was then held by James Reeves (from 1870), who produced the more ordinary qualities of earthenware. This firm continued to 1948"
Jewitt's Ceramic Art of Great Britain 1800-1900

"In Lane Delph also are entitled to notice, the House and Manufactory, of Thomas Carey, Esq. also of S. Ginders, Esq.,
...... It is also stated that the younger Mr. Astbury erected part of the premises now the property of Mr. S. Ginders."
"History of the Staffordshire Potteries" Simon Shaw 1829

".... another occupied by – GINDER & Co., and the China Manufactory of GREEN and RICHARDS are also seated at Middle-Fenton."
The Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent" John Ward 1843

“The pottery in Market Street (now King Street), later known as the Victoria Works, was occupied from 1796 by Miles Mason and George Wolfe as the tenants of the Revd. John Wolfe. Mason had become a prosperous china and glass merchant in Fenchurch Street, London, in the early 1780's and began to make china at Liverpool in partnership with Thomas Wolfe of Stoke and John Lucock in 1796; the Fenton factory was used for the production of earthenware.

Both partnerships were dissolved in 1800, and Mason then began to make porcelain on his own at the Victoria Works, moving in 1802 from Chigwell (Essex) to an 'excellent modern-built sash-window house' adjoining the works.

The business evidently prospered, and in 1806 or 1807 he moved to the larger Minerva Works; the Victoria Works was then described as 'new erected'. It was held by Messrs. Ginder from 1807 and by Samuel Ginder and Company between at least 1811 and 1843. Messrs. Wathen and Lichfield held it by 1863, and from 1864 it was in the hands of James Bateman Wathen alone. In 1869 or 1870 he was followed by James Reeves, and a James Reeves was still working there in 1940.

The works was held some ten years later by the Victoria Porcelain (Fenton) Company which still (1960) occupies it as part of the Victoria and Trentham Potteries.

The house, held by a firm of building contractors c.1951, was demolished in 1959. Its symmetrical two-storied front had a pedimented doorcase, flanking Venetian windows, and a central pediment at eaves level.”
The Victoria History of the county of Stafford vol VIII" 1963

From	To	Occupier	Comments
1796	1800	Miles Mason and George Wolfe	(tenants of the Revd. John Wolfe). manufacturing earthenware.
1800	1806	Miles Mason	Mason then began to make porcelain on his own at the Victoria Works. In 1806 or 1807 he moved to the larger Minerva Works; the Victoria Works was then described as 'new erected'
1807	1811	Messrs. Ginder
1811	1859	Samuel Ginder and Company, also Ginder & Co	Held at least between 1811 and 1843. Recorded as Ginder and Hulse 1828-1830. In 1859 the works were advertised to let.
1861	1861	J & B Wathem	recorded in the trade directories only in the year 1861 (this is likely to be a misprint for J B Wathen)
1862	1864	Messrs. Wathen and Lichfield	recorded in the trade directories only in the years 1862 and 63
1864	1869	James Bateman Wathen	also noted as Wathen & Co in 1864.
1870	1948	James Reeves	In 1886 James Reeves was paying £150 for six month rent for the Victoria Works. In the war period (1941-45) the Victoria Works were closed and the business of J Reeves was consolidated with that of G L Ashworth. After the war Reeves started business again at the works in Fenton until 1948. Some sources state that from c.1912 Cartwright & Edwards shared the Victoria Works with Reeves - however this is a mistake. Cartwright & Edwards occupied the Victoria Works in Longton, a few miles away from the Fenton factory.
1949	1957	Victoria Porcelain (Fenton) Company	Specialising in ware with the Willow pattern
1957	1960	Victoria & Trentham Potteries Ltd	In 1957 Victoria Porcelain (Fenton) Ltd aquired the moulds and patterns of Trentham Bone China Ltd which had closed and renamed their existing business as Victoria & Trentham Potteries Ltd.