Cartwright & Edwards






 

Location and period of operation:

Cartwright & Edwards

Longton

1857/8 

1990

 

Earthenware and china manufacturer at Longton and Heron Cross, Stoke-on-Trent, England 

  • Around 1857 the pottery firm Cartwright & Edwards was started in Warren Street, Longton. The partners were Edward Cartwright, Aaron Edwards and Isaac Richardson.

  • In May 1859 Richardson left the business which was continued by Cartwright & Edwards.

  • In 1868-9 they built the extensive Borough Pottery in Trentham Road, Longton. It was built as a 'model factory' making use of machinery for many processes. 

  • In December 1887 Cartwright left the business which was continued by Aaron Edwards. The name 'Cartwright & Edwards' was retained. 

  • Aaron Edwards died in July 1908.

  • In 1912 the company also took the existing Victoria Works. These works produced china ware and was close to the Borough Pottery which produced earthenware. 

  • In 1914 William Hall was appointed Managing Director. At this time the company employed 500 people. 

  • Around 1916 the company aquired the Heron Cross Pottery in Fenton. 

  • By 1923 Cartwright & Edwards had also acquired the earthenware manufacturer Holdcrofts Ltd. who operated from the Sutherland Works, directly opposite the Borough Pottery. 

  • In June 1923, the Managing Director, William Hall died at age 55. At this time the company employed 1,000 people. 

  • After William Hall's death Norman Edwards, a grandson of Aaron Edwards, became Managing Director - a position he still held in 1947.

  • In 1948 Holdcrofts was closed and the Borough Pottery was extended using the land occupied by Holdcrofts.  

  • In 1955 Alfred Clough Ltd. took over Cartwright & Edwards Ltd., who continued to operate under their own name.

  • Both the Victoria Pottery and the Borough Pottery were sold to the Manor Engineering Company. The Victoria Pottery was demolished and the Victoria Foundry built on the site. The Borough Pottery became the Borough Engineering Works. 

  • A new works was built on and adjacent to the land where the Borough Pottery extension was. This new and large works was called the Newborough & Sutherland Works. This was occupied by Cartwright & Edwards from 1960. The machinery installed could produce cups, mugs and plates four or six at a time, rather than just singly.

  • The 1960 Pottery Gazette Reference Book records: "Cartwright & Edwards Ltd. (a subsidiary of Alfred Clough Ltd.), Newborough & Sutherland Potteries." 
    The directors were: Chairman - Alfred J. Clough; Managing Directors - Alfred J. Clough, Astor R. Clough and Aubrey E. Clough. The Sales Manager was W. G. Parrish. 

  • In 1960 Alfred Clough had aquired W. H. Grindley and by 1978 Clough was renamed Grindley of Stoke (Ceramics) Ltd. and all the Clough companies operated under this parent company. Cartwright & Edwards were then trading as 'Cartwrights of England'.

  • In 1982 Cartwrights and other Clough subsidiaries became part of Federated Potteries Co Ltd. In Feb 1987 these businesses were sold and Cartwright & Edwards was brought by the Coloroll Ceramics Group. 

  • Coloroll went into receivership in 1990, there was a management buyout and the buyout was renamed Staffordshire Tableware.

  • Cartwright & Edwards were not part of the buyout and in June 1990 receivers were appointed. 

  • Manufacturing ceased from now on. 

  • Cartwright & Edwards was dissolved in August 1998. There were various actions by creditors leading to restoration of the company to the register. Final dissolution occurred in September 2015. 

 

Aaron Edwards was born in Longton in August 1832. 

He was likely in business with a Thomas Beardmore as Beardmore & Edwards until April 1858.   

He was co-founder in 1858 of the firm of Cartwright and Edwards, Warren Street, Longton. 

Edwards served on the Longton Board of Guardians and was Mayor of Longton in 1874, 1896-9, and 1907-8. He was created alderman in 1875. He represented Longton on Staffordshire county council. 

He was a member of the Methodist New Connexion, and was associated with Zion Chapel, Longton. 

He served on the board of several local building societies. In politics he was a Liberal, supporting sanitary reform and borough extension. He played a leading role in securing the Sutherland Institute as the Central School for Science and Technology and School of Art.

Aaron Edwards died on 8 July 1908.

 

William Hall (Managing Director from 1914 to 1923) was born in Hanley in 1868. 

At the age of 13 William Hall was working in the office of a colliery company, while checking off the railway wagons he slipped and one of the wheels amputated his left leg just below the knee.

The first job he managed to obtain after the accident, at the age of 22, was as a lodgeman at Cartwright and Edwards. After about eight years as a lodgeman William was taken into the office as an invoice clerk.

On reorganization of the company in 1907 he became company secretary and seven years later, just after the outbreak of World War I he was appointed Managing Director.

In 1919 Cartwright & Edwards bought the Empire Theatre in Longton, of which William Hall became Managing Director.

William Hall was a member of the Pottery manufacturers' Federation wages conciliation board. He was a religious man and for many years was a warden at the Longton Parish Church of St. James'. He also supported the activities of other denominations, frequently chairman at Nonconformist gatherings and ceremonies. He was a teetotaller and a member of the Band of Hope.   

In June 1923, following recovery from a two year period of illness, he developed influenza and pneumonia and died in the seaside town of Rhyl age 55.

At the time of his death the fellow directors were all relatives of the original founder of the company, Aaron Edwards. They were Mrs. William Langford J.P., the eldest daughter, Mr. Albert Edward Greenwood, a son-in-law and Mr. Norman Edwards, a grandson.

Sources: The Staffordshire Sentinel, 11 June 1923; Ann Lowe (great granddaughter of William Hall). 

 

The London Gazette
27 May 1859

 
Notice that Isaac Richardson left the business 

The London Gazette
10 January 1888 


Notice that Edward Cartwright left the business 

 


Cartwright & Edwards,
earth'ware manufacurers 

from..... 1907 Staffordshire Sentinel 
'Business Reference Guide to The Potteries, Newcastle & District'

 


Established 1858
Cartwright & Edwards
Borough Pottery, Longton, Staffordshire

China & General Earthenware
for
Home, Colonial, and Foreign Markets

Pottery Gazette - January 1906 

 


Borough Pottery and Victoria Works, Longton, Staffs
Heron Cross Pottery, Fenton, Staffs 

   
Cartwright & Edwards Ltd
manufacturers of
China and Earthenware

from: 1917 Pottery Gazette


Cartwright & Edwards Ltd
Longton, Stoke-on-Trent

from: 1947 Pottery Gazette Reference Book

 


Cartwright & Edwards Ltd
Newborough & Sutherland Potteries
Longton, Staffs

from: 1960 Pottery Gazette Reference Book

 


Cartwright & Edwards Ltd
Now trading as Cartwrights of Stoke
"Large scale production of modern
tableware for today's style of leisure living"

from: 1978 The City of Stoke-on-Trent Handbook

 


blue & white transfer ware jug in the Tiger Hunt pattern

likely 1880-1900 

 

 


Trio in an Imari style pattern
BORONIAN WARE 

 


Chamber pot
BORONIAN WARE 

 


small pot
BORONIAN WARE 

BORONIAN was a trade name that Cartwright & Edwards used, 
probably from around 1912 onwards - it the name was 
used on all sorts of style and types of ware



Trio in the VENICE pattern
NORVILLE WARE 

VENICE was a popular pattern in Norville Ware 

 


Childrens nursery rhyme cup
NORVILLE WARE 

NORVILLE was a trade name that Cartwright & Edwards used, 
probably from around 1936 onwards - it the name was 
used on all sorts of style and types of ware

 

 
Cups in the 'Table Tops' range

 TABLE TOPS was a trade name that Cartwrights used in the 1970/80's

 

 

Initials and marks used on ware for identification:

 

C & E

VICTORIA
[trade name, introduced c.1912+]
used on china produced at the
Victoria Works 

C & E Ltd
"LTD" added to the mark c.1926+
NOTE: not all marks after 1926 have LTD

BORONIAN WARE
 [trade name, introduced c.1926+]

NORVILLE WARE
[trade name, introduced c.1936+]

Table Tops
[trade name, used in the 1970/80s]

 



Cartwright & Edwards 

Tiger Hunt is the pattern name
likely 1880-1900 

 


C & E

this mark appears printed and impressed 
it was used c.1900 onwards and
appears in trade directories until
at least 1960

 


C & E
Victoria China
England
Victoria 

used on china produced at the Victoria Works 

c.1912+

 


C&E
BORONIAN

c.1912+
C&E
BORONIAN

c.1912+
C&E LTD
BORONIAN
WARE

c.1926+

BORONIAN
WARE
Made in
England
C&E LTD

c.1929+
C&E LTD
BORONIAN
WARE

likely 1940's+

 


Cartwright & Edwards  Ltd
England

Grange is the pattern name

the registration number 743471 shows 
that the pattern was registered in 1929

 

 


Norville
WARE
C&E LTD
England

c.1936+

 
Norville Ware - Cartwright & Edwards England


C& E
England
[impressed] 

 

 


Victoria
C& E
Bone China
England
c.1936+

used on china produced at the Victoria Works 

 

 
Cartwrights
Staffordshire
England

'TABLE TOPS' was a trade name used in the 1970/80's

'Cartwrights' was used 1978 onwards 

 

 

Period of operation at the various works:

Warren Street Pottery:   1857/8 - 1869
Borough Pottery:   1869 - 1955/60
Victoria Works: 1912 - 1955
Heron Cross Pottery: 1916 - ?
Newborough & Sutherland Pottery: 1960 - 1990

 

 


1878 map which shows the location of the first Cartwright & Edwards works in Warren Street, Longton
St.James's Church is at the top left 

Cartwright & Edwards occupied these works from 1857/8 until 1869 when they built the Borough Pottery

 



1878 map which shows the location of the Victoria Works and the Borough Pottery, Longton

Cartwright & Edwards purpose built the Borough Pottery in 1869 it produced earthenware
 It was built as a 'model factory' making use of machinery for many processes. 

The Victoria Works was built in 1828 by Ralph Shaw, it came into the possession of 
Cartwright & Edwards in 1912, they produced china ware here.

 



1924 map which shows the location of the Heron Cross Pottery, Fenton 

Around 1916 the company was also producing earthenware at the Heron Cross Pottery in Fenton. 
It is not known when they stopped using these works

 


1962 map which shows the location of the newly built Newborough & Sutherland Works
 marked in blue is the Victoria Foundry, previously the china works and marked in green is
the Borough Engineering Works, previously the earthenware works - these belonged to Manor Engineering.

In the bottom right, marked in light blue, is the Sutherland Institute and Library, 
completed in 1898, which Aaron Edwards played a leading role in securing. 


  



1948 photo showing the extension to the Borough Pottery under construction
Borough Pottery in green and Victoria China Works in blue

Photo: Britain from Above

 

 


The Victoria Foundry (to the left of the picture) was built on the site of theCartwright & Edwards Victoria Pottery
to the right is the former Salvation Army Citadal

 

Questions, comments, contributions? email: Steve Birks