Broad Street Works, Hanley

Broad Street, Hanley was originally known as High Street in the Township of Shelton which bordered Hanley. The factory is, therefore, sometimes referred to as the High Street Works. The change was around 1857 when the townships of Hanley and Shelton were incorporated to constitute the municipal borough of Hanley.

"The works with the longest known history is Ashworth's in Broad Street. The Shelton works of John Astbury (d. 1743)  is said to have passed to John Baddeley (d. 1772) and so would be identifiable with the pottery on the west side of High Street, Shelton (now Broad Street) where Baddeley made salt-glazed stone-ware and cream-ware rivalling Josiah Wedgwood's and in 1751 seems to have attempted to make porcelain. 

His sons John and Ralph succeeded him; they increased the number of ovens from two to four and replaced the thatched roof of the works with tiles.  By the 1780's the works was held by Ralph alone, who was also using the Ivy House mill, but by 1801 the works and a house adjoining were unoccupied and for sale, Ralph evidently having retired to the Ivy House; the Shelton house and pottery were bought by Joseph Boon and Richard Hicks, who also secured the lease of the flint mill.  

By 1807 the pottery was held by Hicks and Job Meigh (1784–1862), with a third partner named Johnson from 1822, and some 600 hands were being employed there by the early 1830's. The firm's products included transferprinted and enamelled ware, china, and ironstone china.  

In 1835 the pottery passed to Ridgway (William), Morley (Francis, Ridgway's son-in-law), Wear and Company; Morley became sole owner in 1845 and in 1851 bought the moulds of C. J. Mason, inventor of Mason's Ironstone China. 

Morley was joined in 1857 by Taylor Ashworth (1839–1910), who bought the business for his sons on Morley's retirement in 1862 and built up the manufacture of durable ware, sanitary ware, and insulators. His sons' main interest, however, was the Lancashire wool and cotton industry, and with the slump in the woollen trade in 1893 the Board Street works was sold to J. Goddard, whose descendants, trading as George L. Ashworth and Bros. Ltd., continue to produce durable ware to Mason's designs. 

The oldest of the existing buildings, which are set back from the road on the west side of Broad Street to the rear of the Mitchell Memorial Theatre, appear to date from 1815. 

The long front range of two low stories has a central Venetian window surmounted by a pediment, the window being finely detailed with a Tuscan order and a fluted frieze; there is a similar window at the south gable end of the range. Near the north end of the front elliptical stone archways, now filled in, probably represent the entrances to stables belonging to the former dwelling house which stood between the works and the road. 

Behind the front range, which contains warehouse, showroom, and offices, are two lower parallel ranges with the ovens beyond them; a second two-storied wing runs at right angles across the northern end of the site. Although the buildings have been extended and altered, this probably represents the original layout of the works."

From: A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 8. Originally published by Victoria County History, London, 1963.

NOTE:The site is now the location of a supermarket. 

 
From To Occupier Comments
1750 1795 Ralph & John Baddeley "Mr R Baddeley first made the Blue printed ware; and which subjected him and his brother to the highest censure for extravagance, in having a manufactory covered with tiles, instead of thatch; and for being the first who erected four hovels behind, instead of only two..."
1784 1806 John & Edward Baddeley  
1806(8) 1822 Hicks & Meigh Job Meigh II initially worked for his father in the Old Hall Pottery but by 1807 he had left to go into partnership with Richard Hicks, his brother-in-Law
In 1815 they rebuilt the works in a typical rectangular courtyard plan with the kilns in a line along the rear.
1822 1835 Hicks, Meigh & Johnson In about 1820 Thomas Johnson, their travelling representative, became a partner in the firm which was henceforth known as Hicks, Meigh and Johnson. 
In 1833 there were 600 employees.
In 1835 the partnership was dissolved and the factory and its contents were put up for auction. 
1836 1842 Ridgway, Morley & Wear The works was taken over by the partnership of Ridgway, Morley and Wear and it was Francis Morley who continued there until 1859 when the Ashworth Brothers took control. Francis Morley bought many of Charles Mason’s moulds when the latter went bankrupt in 1848, and established the factory as the producer of Mason’s famous Ironstone China, though it also continued producing earthenware.
In 1840/1 - 348 employees: that is 125 males 69 females, adults; 42 males, 7I female, under 21; 23 boys, 18 girls; under 13.
1842 1844 Ridgway & Morley  
1845 1858 Francis Morley (& Co)  
1859 1862 Morley & Ashworth  
1862 1968 G. L. Ashworth & Bros  
1968   Mason's Ironstone China The factory was acquired by the Waterford-Wedgwood Company, and was subsequently closed and the site cleared in 1999.

 

1898 OS map of the top end of Broad Street, Shelton
1898 OS map of the top end of Broad Street, Shelton


Orange: Broad Street Works
Blue: Phoenix Works
Purple: Bell Works
Green: White House (home of Richard Hicks)

also on the top right is Albion Street and the Bethesda Methodist Chapel

 


1880 map showing the Broad Street Works

 


1934 showing the Broad Street Works (in red)
green is the Pheonix works and Purple is the Bell Works

 


more detailed view of the Broad Street Works in 1934 showing the remaining four bottle kilns 


Job Meigh II, who bought the Ash Estate in 1837, was the son of Job Meigh I (1750-1817), who manufactured pottery on the site of Hanley Old Hall. Job Meigh II, born in 1784, married Elizabeth, daughter of William Mellor of Johnson’s Charles Street Pottery in Hanley, in 1805. Job Meigh II initially worked for his father in the Old Hall Pottery but by 1807 he had left to go into partnership with Richard Hicks, his brother-in-Law.


Richard Hicks married Lydia Meigh, daughter of Job Meigh I in 1801. In 1807 he bought a factory in Broad Street, Hanley, were he set up as a pottery manufacturer in partnership with his brother-in-Law, Job Meigh II. In 1815 they rebuilt the works in a typical rectangular courtyard plan with the kilns in a line along the rear. By 1841 it was said that the premises, standing on around three acres, consisted of “60 rooms, seven ovens, and five offices.” (Royal Commission on Children’s Employment.) 

The White House fronting the works was the home of Richard Hicks while Job Meigh II lived in Bank House, Shelton (now the site of Hanley Town Hall). 
The White House was demolished after the Second World War and is now the site of the Mitchell Memorial Theatre in Broad Street. 

The manufactory of Hicks, Meigh and Johnson

In 1820 Thomas Johnson, their travelling representative, became a partner in the firm which was henceforth known as Hicks, Meigh and Johnson. 

Simeon Shaw, in his History of the Staffordshire Potteries, published in 1829, described the partners and their concern as follows:
"In Shelton, is the elegant mansion of R Hicks, Esq. a gentleman who connects with sterling piety a most unbounded benevolence of disposition. Here the destitute find relief, the distressed find consolation, and the miserable, sympathy and protection. The Manufactory adjoining produces excellent porcelain and pottery, of various kinds; and is creditable to the parties of Hicks, Meigh, & Johnson. It stands on the site of that where Mr R Baddeley first made the Blue printed ware; and which subjected him and his brother to the highest censure for extravagance, in having a manufactory covered with tiles, instead of thatch; and for being the first who erected four hovels behind, instead of only two...
At the top of Albion Street is Bank House, a very handsome residence, occupied by its proprietor, Job Meigh, Esq., who is for his philanthropy and liberality justly regarded as one of the worthies of the district, to whom the inhabitants generally submit any important subjects of reference, in confidence of having strict impartial decisions awarded them. Also is the gentleman to whom, in 1823, His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, presented the gold Medal of the Society of Arts, for Mr Meigh’s giving to the public a Glaze for Common Pottery, entirely free from the deleterious qualities of the usual lead glaze.”
In 1833 John Spencer one of the commissioners appointed by the Factory Inquiry Commission, visited the pottery and described its working conditions:
“I examined next the factory of Hicks, Meigh & Co., at Shelton. 
Six hundred hands. These works are well conducted; great order and regularity are manifest all through the establishment. The hours are fewer here than in some other works; in summer from six to six, in winter from seven to six. In other works some of the children called cutters, in attendance upon the printer, appear to me to suffer from a prolonged attendance at the factory. They are compelled to attend in the morning an hour before the printer, to light fires and prepare his apartment, and often wait in the evening for some time after the rest have departed, to prepare for the ensuing day. The cutter-girls and the plate-makers boys, are however, only a twentieth portion of the workpeople employed.”

John Spencer interviewed four of the employees. 

One of them was Charles Hall, aged nine. He had been employed at the factory for six months and worked from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the summer and from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the winter. He had a break of half an hour for breakfast which consisted of tea, bread and butter, and one hour for dinner of beef and potatoes. He admitted that he was very tired at the end of the day but when asked “Do you like to go to work at the factory?’ answered “Yes.” His pay was two shillings and three pence a week and he confirmed that there were separate water closets for the boys and girls. He had formerly been to school and could read and write and now went to a Sunday school. 

Another employee interviewed was Alice Berrisford, aged 17 who had been working at the factory for six years. She too had been to school, could read and write and now went to a Sunday school. She worked the same hours as Charles Hall but added that on Saturday work stopped at 4 p.m. Her pay was paid 4 shillings a week and she had a sister who was also employed at the factory.


EVIDENCE TAKEN IN THE STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERIES By SAMUEL SCRIVEN, Esq. (1840/1)

Messrs. RIDGWAY, MORLEY, WEAR, and Co., Iron-Stone China and Earthenware Factory.
PRESSING ROOM
No. 93. Thomas Furnival, aged 58
I have been a potter 51 years, first as a moulder; and have through every department; am now the overlooker or manager of the works. It is my duty to hire and discharge all the hands. We employ now, being low, 348 persons, that is 125 males 69 females, adults; 42 males, 7I female, under 21; 23 boys, 18 girls; under 13.
The premises stand upon about three acres, more or less : and consist of 60 rooms; seven ovens, and five offices, well drained and lighted by candles ; there is no engine of any kind except jiggers. The people come at six in the summer, and seven in the winter, and leave at six; there is sometimes over-work when orders come in; and they work 'till nine. The plate-makes, saucer-makers, and bowlers take on their boys with the consent of the overlooker, and pay them by the day.
All paid by the master, are paid in hard cash. We sometimes for the people advance sums of money, and let them work it out ; we sometimes do that with the men, and let the boys work it out, or girls, but we have no such thing as written contracts with parents for the employment of children. All advances are made for the benefit of the people, and are considered favours. We should not advance money to a drunken character.
We consider the dipping as the most unhealthy process in the department, that indeed is the only one ; the scouring is bad, but the women do not continue long in it ; they get married and leave. I think potters' children are tolerably healthy ; they look white, but that is from the clay, which is not pernicious. We have no boys as painters in the works, the painting is done here by men and women.
I do not know that I have any other information to give.

 

Sources: 
Jewitt's "Ceramic Art of Great Britain, 1800-1900". 
Victoria History of the County of Stafford Vol VIII.
Simeon Shaw, History of the Staffordshire Potteries, published in 1829.
Factory commission reports.
Godden.
Andrew Dobraszczyc's notes

 

questions/comments/contributions? email: Steve Birks