Worcester Royal Porcelain Co
of Royal Porcelain Works, Worcester
1751 The first Worcester Porcelain factory was founded by Dr. John Wall[1], an eminent physician, apothecary William Davis and a group of local businessmen.
Wall and Davis developed their method for producing porcelain. Dr. Wall secured the sum of £4500 from the partners to establish the factory at Warmstry House in Worcester (those original partnership deeds are still housed in the Museum of Worcester Porcelain).
1752 Early production does not appear to have been successful and in 1752 the rival business of Benjamin Lund in Bristol was purchased, bringing vital technical expertise to Worcester. A licence to mine soapstone in Cornwall was also secured.
1756 Robert Hancock, the most important of the copper plate engravers, worked at Worcester; he was the first person to apply transfer prints to porcelain.
1774 Wall retired. William Davis (who had been the manager of the Worcester factory for over 20 years) took control of the factory which started to concentrate on production of tableware for individual wealthy customers, such as Lord Henry Thynne and Earl Dalhousie.
By 1775 Thomas Turner had left Worcester, taking many skilled workers with him. He set up a rival factory at Caughley in Shropshire, where he mass produced blue and white table wares in a very similar style to Worcester - see Salopian China Manufactory.
1776 Dr Wall died; the other partners continued to own the company.
1783 The Warmstry Factory was sold outright for £3,000 to Thomas Flight.
1783 An independent decorating factory was opened nearby by Robert Chamberlain - see Chamberlain and Co.
By the late 1780s Chamberlain was making his own wares at a new factory site in Severn Street, Diglis.
1789 Worcester Porcelain (under the Flights) was given a royal warrant; the word "royal" was added to the company name.
1840 The former rivals Chamberlain and Flight, Barr and Barr joined forces under the name of Chamberlain and Co. Porcelain continued to be made in Severn Street, Diglis.
1851 The last of the Chamberlain family, Walter, retired, leaving the business in the sole charge of the Dublin businessman, William Henry Kerr.
1852 Richard William Binns (1819-1900) and William Henry Kerr (1823-1879) took over the management of the Chamberlain porcelain works in Severn Street. The factory had been ravaged by fire and an extensive rebuilding programme took place in the 1850s. Modern machinery and working methods improved the quality of the product in every department.
1853 A new type of porcelain, Parian, that imitated marble (and had received great attention at the Great Exhibition) was introduced at Worcester. Parian only needed one firing to produce a cleanable material with a matt finish. It was in great demand by the new middle classes.
1859 Queen Victoria ordered a dessert service, which re-established the reputation of the Worcester Royal Porcelain Works after many troubled years.
1862 Kerr returned to Ireland leaving Richard Binns in charge. The Worcester Royal Porcelain Company was established[2] to bring in new funds.
1875 James Hadley set up his own modelling studio at 95 Worcester High Street.
1889 Royal Worcester bought out the Grainger porcelain company
1896 Edward Locke set up his own company - see Locke and Co
1897 Richard Binns retired.
1902 Mr. Justice Byrne delivered judgment in the case of the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company (Limited) v. Locke and Co. (Limited), and W. H. Rhodes. Both cases involved the question of the right to use the word "Worcester" in connexion with (sale of china and porcelain)...[3]. The court ruled that Locke (and hence Hadley) "be perpetually restrained from selling .... any goods made of china or porcelain ... in connection with the word "Worcester" without clearly distinguishing such goods from the goods of the plaintiffs".
1905 After James Hadley’s death, Royal Worcester purchased the Hadley and Sons factory (Diglis Road) for £7,500. The factory continued to produce wares at Diglis Road using the Royal Worcester mark with the additional word Hadleyware until March 1906. All the workforce, moulds and designs were then moved to the main site in Severn Street, Worcester.
1934 Charles Dyson Perrins bought Royal Worcester and became Chairman
1934 Incorporated as private company: Worcester China Co Ltd
1935 Renamed as Worcester Royal Porcelain Co Ltd
WWII: Much of the production was suspended; part of the main works were made available for use by Welwyn Electrical Laboratories which had been asked by the government to increase production of vitreous enamelled resistors and to produce carbon resistors, most of which had previously been imported. As a result became associated with Worcester Royal Porcelain Co[4]
1946 40 percent of the share capital of Welwyn was acquired by Worcester Royal Porcelain
1947 Advert in British Industries Fair Catalogue as Exhibiting Member of the British Pottery Manufacturers' Federation of Federation House, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Composite Exhibit. (Pottery and Glassware Section - (Olympia, Ground Floor, Stand No. A.1241) [5]
1953 Welwyn became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Worcester Royal; porcelain production for Welwyn was carried out at Tonyrefail.
1954 Public company incorporated; offer of shares in Worcester Royal Porcelain Company which had 2 main parts - the production of ceramics (Worcester) and the production of electrical components (Welwyn Electrical Laboratories). Main factory at Worcester was the Royal Porcelain Works; the subsidiary factory at Tonyrefail was responsible for research and development of new uses of porcelain in the engineering field.
1959 Name changed to Royal Worcester Ltd [6]
1970 Electronics, particulary Welwyn Electric, accounted for most of Royal Worcester's profits; the focus was being switched from resistors to micro-electronics[7]
1973 Royal Worcester acquired Colvern, which would be complementary to Welwyn Electric[8]
1976 Royal Worcester merged with ceramic manufacturer Spode and the company became one of Porcelain and Fine China.
At its height, the firm employed nearly 1,000 people, but after merger with Spode, and heavy competition from overseas, the production was gradually switched to factories in Stoke and abroad.
1978 Royal Worcester bought back the 45 percent holding of the US owner of Spode, Carborundum which was in new hands. All parts of the business were making satisfactory progress including Industrial Ceramics, Welwyn and Colvern[9]
1982 Royal Worcester recorded a first half loss for the first time, mainly due to declining demand for china[10]
1983 Crystalate Holdings acquired Royal Worcester including Welwyn, manufacturer of resistors.
1984 Crystalate sold Royal Worcester Spode without Welwyn to LRC International and the industrial ceramics division separately to Coors Porcelain of the US[11] [12].
The Royal Worcester factory closed in 2008. Part of the site houses the 'Museum of Royal Worcester'.
2009 Portmeirion Potteries acquired the Royal Worcester and Spode brands and brought much of the manufacturing back to UK
See Also
Sources of Information
- Wikipedia
- Trademarked. A History of Well-Known Brands - from Aertex to Wright's Coal Tar by David Newton. Pub: Sutton Publishing 2008 ISBN 978-0-7509-4590-5
- Worcester Porcelain Museum.
- ↑ The Engineer 1866/05/11 page 3434.
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ Worcester Journal 05 July 1902
- ↑ The Times, Oct 04, 1954
- ↑ 1947 British Industries Fair Adverts 398 and 399; and p303
- ↑ The Times, Jun 11, 1959
- ↑ The Times, May 30, 1970
- ↑ The Times, Nov 03, 1973
- ↑ The Times, Aug 15, 1978
- ↑ The Times, Sep 09, 1982
- ↑ The Times, Sep 29, 1984
- ↑ The Times, Oct 18, 1984