The first works at Coalport were we believe founded and carried on by
William Reynolds, Thomas Rose, Robert Horton, and Robert Anstice; the
former William Reynolds, being then Lord of the Manor. The buildings, or
a good portion occupied by them are still standing.
Mr. Thomas Rose, and Mr. John Rose, were sons of a respectable farmer
living at Sweeney. The latter was a clerk under Mr. Turner, at Caughley,
and left him to take the Jackfield works about the year, it is said,
1780. Having carried them on for a few years, in conjunction with Mr.
Blakeway, during which time he greatly improved the quality of the
article manufactured there, he established the present Coalport works on
the side of the canal, then recently opened, and opposite to those of
Reynolds, Horton, Thomas Rose, and Robert Anstice. On Mr. Turner
retiring from the Caughley works in 1799, Mr. Rose and the new company he
had formed purchased them, and by means of increased capital shortly
afterwards removed both plant and materials from Caughley and Jackfield
to the more advantageous position they now occupy, on the banks of the
canal and the Severn. Even the buildings were pulled down and the bricks
and timber removed to the opposite side of the Severn, where they were
used in constructing the cottages now standing opposite to the present
Coalport Works.
A staff of excellent work-people had been obtained from Caughley and
Jackfield works combined, but an accident occurred on the night of the
23rd of October in that year by the capsizing of the ferry, as the
work-people were crossing the Severn, by which twenty-eight were drowned,
some among them being the best hands employed at the works. It was a
dark night, the boat was crowded, and the man at the helm, not having
been accustomed to put the boat over allowed the vessel to swing round in
the channel where, with a strong tide running, it was drawn under by the
rope which went from the mast to a rock in the bed of the river. Some
managed to scramble out on the Broseley side of the stream; but the
following were lost, notwithstanding the efforts of those who rushed to
the river side on hearing the despairing cries raised to save them. Jane
Burns, Sarah Burns, Ann Burns, Mary Burgess, Elizabeth Fletcher, Mary
Fletcher, Elizabeth Beard, Jane Boden, Elizabeth Ward, Sarah Bagnall,
Sophia Banks, Mary Miles, Elizabeth Evans, Catherine Lowe, Jane Leigh,
Charles Walker, George Lynn, James Farnworth, George Sheat, John Chell,
Robert Lowe, William Beard, John Jones, Benjamin Gosnall, Benjamin Wyld,
Richard Mountford, Joseph Poole.
The event, as may be expected, created a great sensation at the time, and
was thus commemorated by Mr. Dyas, one of the Coalport workmen.
Alas! Alas! the fated night
Of cold October twenty third,
In seventeen hundred ninety-nine;
What cries, what lamentation heard,
The hour nine, when from yon pile,
Where fair porcelain takes her form,
Where energy with genius joins,
To robe her in those matchless charms,
A wearied band of artists rose,
Males and females, old and young,
Their toil suspend, to seek repose,
Their homes to gain, they bent along.
Sabrina’s stream was near to pass,
And she her frowning waves upraised,
Her mist condensed to darksome haze
Which mocked the light; no star appeared.
Yon boat, which o’er her bosom rides,
Enveloped in the heavy gloom,
Convulsive stretch’d along her sides,
To snatch the victims to their doom.
Soon e’er on board their faltering feet
A monster fell who grasped the helm,
Hove from the shore the distressed crew,
And so the dreadful overwhelm,
Swift horror’s wings o’er spread the tides,
They sink! they rise! they shriek! they cling!
Again they sink; alarm soon flies,
Along their shores dread clamours rise,
But Oh, the bleakest night preventing
Every means to save their breath,
Helpless, hopeless, life despairing
Twenty-eight sunk down in death.
Alas small time for Heaven’s implorings,
Quick sealed their everlasting state,
Or, in misery, or in glory.
The last tribunal will relate,
Here fold, O muse thy feeble wings,
Hope where thou canst, but not decide,
Dare not approach those hidden things,
With mercy, justice, these abide.
Return with sympathetic breath,
See yon distracted mother stands,
Three daughters lost, to heaven she lifts
Her streaming eyes and wringing hands,
Hark! from those dells how deep the wailings,
Fathers, Mothers, join their moans,
Widows, orphans, friends and lovers,
Swell the air with poignant groans;
Recluse in grief, those worthy masters
Silent drop the mournful tear.
Distress pervades surrounding hamlets,
Sorrow weeps to every ear,
Sleepless sighings hail the morning,
Morning brings no soothing ray.
The author of these verses, Mr. Dyas, was a very clever carver on stone
and on wood. He engraved the blocks for a work printed by Mr. Edmonds at
Madeley, entitled “Alexander’s Expedition down the Hydaspes and the Indus
to the Indian Ocean.” He was the author too of an invention world-wide
in its benefits, that of the printers’ roller; an invention second only
to the art of printing itself, and infinitely superior to thousands of
others out of which vast fortunes have been made.
In 1804 the company consisted of Cuthbert Johnson, William Clarke, John
Wootton, and John Rose. In 1811 it was John Rose, William Clarke and
Charles Maddison. In 1820 they bought the famous Swansea works and
entered into an agreement with Messrs. Billingsley and Walker to make a
superior kind of porcelain made by them, first at Nantgarw in
Glamorganshire, and afterwards at the Cambrian Pottery, Swansea, in the
same county. This was a pure soft paste porcelain, superior to any at
present produced in the kingdom, and second only to the famous _pate
tendre_ of Sevres at the very best period of its manufacture. This china
was first made in 1813 by Billingsley, who went from Derby to Worcester,
and from there to South Wales. He was an artist, and understood the
manufacture in all its branches. He produced a fret body, by mixing the
materials, firing them in order to blend them together, then reducing the
vitrified substance into clay—a process which was carried on at Old
Sevres during the reign of Louis XV.—and thereby produced an article fine
in texture, beautifully transparent, and of a delicate waxy hue, very
superior to the dingy blue tinge given to much of the best china of that
day. Connoisseurs were at once attracted by it, and Mr. Mortlock went
down and entered into an engagement to purchase all that Billingsley and
his son-in-law could make. Mr. John Rose finding he had lost a customer,
whilst orders he was wont to receive were going to South Wales, went
over, bought the plant, moulds, and everything, and entered into an
agreement with Walker and Billingsley for a period of seven years to make
the same quality of china at Coalport. The process however was an
expensive one, from the difficulty of working the clay, which wanted
plasticity, and also from the loss in the burning, as being a soft body
it was apt to melt or warp, and to go out of shape, if it had a little
too much fire in the biscuit kiln. About that time, too, Mr. Ryan
discovered a very pure felspar in the Middleton, one of the Briedden
hills, the true _Kaolin_, to which the Chinese were indebted for the
quality of their egg-shell and other first class china. The fret body
was therefore abandoned, the _pate tendre_ for a _pate dure_, as the
French say, and by adding pure felspar to the Cornish stone and clay
which contains a large percentage, a good transparent body was obtained
at a less cost than by using a _fret body_. About this time also the
Society of Arts offered a prize to any one who should find a substitute
for lead in the glaze, the deleterious effects of which told upon the
dippers, and produced paralysis; and Mr. Rose by applying felspar to the
glaze succeeded in obtaining it. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the
Society; and from that time following, for some years, a badge was either
attached to the ware or engraved upon it as follows:—“Coalport Felspar
Porcelain, J. Rose & Co: the Gold Medal awarded May 30, 1820; Patronised
by the Society of Arts.” The Devonports and other manufacturers competed
for the prize.
The felspar porcelain however never equalled the original Nantgarw fret
body ware for purity and transparency, a white plate of which would at
the present time fetch a couple of guineas. It cannot be said that any
new element was introduced by using felspar, because the kaolin,
contained in Cornish stone and day, as discovered by Cookworthy in 1768,
had been, and was now used at Plymouth, Derby, Worcester, Caughley, and
Coalport; and by a judicious admixture of this and a free use of bone
(phosphate of lime) a good serviceable china was produced. The former
gave mellowness, and the latter whiteness, which approached in a degree
the qualities of old and Oriental china. In fact Mr. Rose, who had the
sole management of the works, spared neither pains nor expense in raising
the character of the productions of the Coalport Works, which were now by
far the largest porcelain works in the kingdom, if not in the world.
Like Minton, he was a man of wonderful energy, being strong in body,
having a clear head, a cool judgment, and gifted with remarkable
perseverance.
The works were now in a state of prosperity; warehouses were opened in
Manchester, London, Sheffield, and Shrewsbury, and a large trade was
being done with dealers all over the kingdom. There was plenty of
employment, and a good understanding generally prevailed between masters
and their work people. Both before and after the strike there were at
Coalport, as at other works of the kind elsewhere, an intelligent class
of men, among potters and painters, as well as in other departments.
Painters, especially, had good opportunities for mental culture and
obtaining information. Numbers worked together in a room, one sometimes
reading for the benefit of the others, daily papers were taken,
discussions were often raised, and in politics the sharp features of
party were as defined as in the House of Commons itself. The rooms were
nicely warmed, and a woman appointed to sweep up, to bring coals, to keep
the tables clean, to wash up dishes, peel potatoes, and fetch water for
those who, not living near, brought their meals with them. It is not
surprising, therefore, that men, having such advantages, should sometimes
rise to higher situations. Some became linguists, some schoolmasters,
engineers, and contractors; one, breakfasting with a bishop, whose
daughter he afterwards married, saw upon the table, some time since, a
service painted by himself when a workman at Coalport. Some were
singular characters: old Jocky Hill kept his hunter; John Crowther, a
very amiable fellow, exceedingly good natured, and always ready to do a
favour to any one who asked him, lived quite a recluse, studying algebra
and mechanics. He has suggested many improvements in locomotives, steam
paddles, breaks, &c., &c., and had the honour of submitting to the
Government the plan of terminating annuities, by which money at that time
was raised to carry on the war, and by which we have been saved the
burden—so far—of a permanent debt; also of making other suggestions,
which have been likewise adopted. He also invented a most ingenious
almanack applicable to all time.
Coalport men were usually great politicians; Hunt, Hethrington, Richard
Carlile, Sir Francis Burdett, and Cobbett, had their disciples and
admirers; and such was the eagerness to get the Register, with its
familiar gridiron on the cover, that a man has been despatched to
Birmingham for it from one of the rooms, his shopmates undertaking to do
his work for him whilst he was away.
The works themselves are ill designed and badly constructed, the greater
portion of them having been put up at the latter end of the past and
beginning of the present centuries, whilst other portions were added from
time to time, with no regard to ventilation or other requirements of
health. Consequently there are the most curious ins and outs, dropsical
looking roofs, bulging walls, and drooping floors, which have to be
propped underneath, to support half a century’s accumulations of china,
accumulations amounting to hundreds and hundreds of tons in weight. In
entering some of these unhealthy _ateliers_ and passages strangers have
to look well to their craniums. Some work-rooms have very stifling
atmospheres, charged with clay or flint; the biscuit room notably so. We
have said that a good understanding prevailed generally between masters
and workmen. There was one notable exception, the great “strike” as it
was called, which occurred somewhere in November, 1833; a memorable event
in the history of the works, so much so that in speaking of occurrences
it is usual to the present time to ask in case of doubt if it happened
before or subsequent to the strike. The men had their “Pitcher,” a well
conducted sick society; and a “Travelling Society,” for assisting those
in search of employment, with branches in all centres of the trade.
Trades unions, however, were just then coming to the front. The
Combination Laws had been repealed eleven years previously; otherwise,
such was the temper of the Shropshire magistrates, and the feeling
generally in relation to the trades unions, that had they existed on the
statute book not a few would have had to have experienced the penal
consequences of their acts. With the men who still adhered to the
masters the works continued to be carried on to a limited extent; after
much suffering and privation some of the hands returned, whilst some
obtained employment elsewhere. The course taken by Mr. John Rose, in
resisting the men was warmly approved of by his neighbours, who
subscribed for a handsome silver cup, which is now in the possession of
Mr. Charles Pugh, who married Miss Martha Rose, daughter of Mr. Thomas,
and niece of Mr. John Rose. It is a large and massive piece of plate. A
vine stem entwines around the foot and forms the handles, a vine border
with grapes also forms a border round the rim of the cover. On one side
is the following inscription:
Presented to John Rose Esqr.,
of
Coalport China Manufactory,
By his
Friends and Neighbours
March 3rd
1834.
On the reverse side is the following:
Tribute of respect
to his
Public and Private Character
and to the
uncompromising firmness
with which
he has recently resisted the
demands of an illegal
conspiracy.
We have lived to see trades unions legalized, and trade combinations
adopted by masters as well as men.
Mr. Walker had invented a maroon colour dip for grounds, which was used
with much success. A good deal was done too about this time in imitation
of the _Sevres_ style of decoration, and thousands of pounds were spent
in endeavouring to make the famous torquoise of the French; but a pale
imitation, called celest, only was obtained; some years afterwards
however a much better colour was produced, first by Mr. Harvey, secondly
by Mr. Bagshaw, thirdly by Mr. Hancock.
In 1839 the late William Pugh became one of the firm, it then being John
Rose, Charles Maddison, and William Pugh. In 1841 it was Charles
Maddison, William Pugh, Thomas Rose, and William Frederick Rose. In 1843
William Pugh, and William F. Rose were the proprietors. In 1845 the
Messrs. Daniell received the command of the Queen to prepare a dessert
service as a present by herself to the Emperor Nicholas, and it was
manufactured at the works. It was a magnificent service of _bleu de
roi_, and had the various orders of the Russian Empire enamelled, in
compartments, with the order of St. Nicholas, and the Russian and Polish
eagles in the centre. In 1850 the famous Rose-du-Barry was discovered.
The attempt to do so had been suggested by the Messrs. Daniell, in 1849;
and after repeated experiments by Mr. George Hancock, who is still the
colour-maker at the works, it was produced. This colour, so named after
Mdme du Barry, one of the mistresses of Louis XV, had been formerly made
at the Sevres Works, but the art had been lost, and its reproduction
created a demand for very rich dessert services and ornaments of the
colour. Very costly services of it were produced for the Messrs.
Daniell, Mortlock, Phillips, Goode, and other London dealers, which
attracted considerable attention at the Exhibition of 1851. One splendid
dessert service of it was purchased by Lord Ashburton; others also, after
special models and designs, of this colour were subsequently produced for
the head of the State, for the Emperor of the French, and for noblemen
like the duke of Northumberland, the Marquis of Lansdowne and others.
The following are the remarks of the Jurors on that occasion:—Rose J.,
and Co., Coalbrook Dale, Shropshire (47, p. 727), have exhibited
porcelain services and other articles, which have attracted special
attention of the Jury. A dessert service of a rose ground is in
particular remarkable, not only as being the nearest approach we have
seen to the famous colour which it is designed to imitate, but for the
excellence of the flower-painting, gilding, and other decorations, and
the hardness and transparency of glaze. The same observation applies to
other porcelain articles exhibited by this firm. The Jury have awarded
to Messrs. Rose and Co. a Prize Medal. The company also attained medals
at the French Exhibition in 1855, and at that of London in 1862.
A good deal has been done of late years in the Sevres style of decoration
on vases, the moulds of which came direct from Sevres manufactory. It is
a pleasing incident, and one worth mentioning, that some years ago Mr. W.
F. Rose in company with Mr. Daniell visited Paris, and of course went to
Sevres. Mr. Daniell was at once taken round the works, but Mr. Rose
feeling some delicacy remained outside. Mr. Daniell mentioned the
delicacy of his friend, and the manager at once sent for him in, and
shewed him the greatest respect. He told him he might send his best
artists to copy any thing he saw, or employ theirs to do so: and sometime
after he sent over the moulds themselves to Coalport.
In 1862 Mr. Pugh became sole proprietor of the works, and continued so to
his death, in June 1875. Mr. Charles Pugh, brother of the deceased, and
Mr. Edmund Ratcliff, brother-in-law, were left executors; and for an
adjustment of claims by them and others the estate was thrown into
Chancery and a receiver and manager, Mr. Gelson was appointed. The stock
which is immense and had been accumulating for half a century is being
brought into the market. Hundreds of dozens of one pattern, “India
tree,” for example, which had remained out of sight for forty years, are
being brought to light. In some instances a hundred dozen or so of
saucers, (printed,) are found stowed away, without cups to match; whilst
scores of piles of plates and dishes, sixteen or eighteen feet high, may
be seen (white) in others, which had been sorted and put on one side from
some defect or other. It speaks well for the quality of the china that
the biscuit and glazed are both sound and good. In some cases the floors
are literally giving way from the immense weight of stock they have to
sustain. In one place a quantity of old Caughley China was discovered;
whilst in another were found a number of Caughley copper plates engraved
by the late Herbert Minton’s father.
It may excite surprise that so large a stock should have been allowed to
accumulate, but much was the result of a wish to keep the men employed.
The fact of a number of copper plates being found with his name on,
confirms what we have previously said about Thomas Minton, who founded
the important commercial house bearing his name and that of his son at
Stoke, having been employed as an engraver at Caughley. M. Digby Wyatt,
also, in his paper read before the Society of Arts and reported in the
Society’s Journal, May 28th, 1858, on the influence exercised on ceramic
art by the late Herbert Minton, says:—“Mr. Thomas Minton was a native of
Shropshire, and he was brought up at the Caughley works, near Broseley,
as an engraver. He then went to town and worked for Spode, at his London
House of business.” In 1788 he went to Stoke, bought land, and built the
house and works which have since become so celebrated. Up to 1798
however he only made earthenware which was printed and ornamented in
blue, similar to that at Caughley.
Mr. Wyatt, in the paper just quoted, speaking of John Rose and of the
late Herbert Minton admitted that in the excellent, rapid, and cheap
production of porcelain for Mr. Minton to have stood still for a moment
would have been to have lost his lead in the trade. And Mr. Daniell, in
the discussion which followed, said:—
“With reference to Mr. Minton’s predecessors in this branch of art,
he might remind the society of one whose name was upon their records
as the recipient of the society’s gold medal for china and porcelain
manufactures long before Mr. Herbert Minton’s time. He referred to
John Rose, of Coalport, who made more china in his day than all those
who were mentioned in the paper.”
It will be seen from what we have written that Thomas Turner, of
Caughley, and J. Rose, of Coalport, were the creators, so to speak, of
new industries which drew around them large populations and gave
employment to thousands who otherwise might have sought for it in vain,
or have found it under less advantageous circumstances. It will be seen
also that not only were they benefactors contributing materially to the
common stock of national prosperity themselves, but that their energies
and abilities inspired others who in turn became industrial organisers,
and through various channels carried on the work of progress.