Broseley, whose pipe manufactories two hundred and fifty years ago were as famed as they are now, and whose makers then got rid of their goods without advertising the emphatic words, “When you ask for a Broseley pipe, see that you get it!”—Jackfield, famed of old for its earthenware, and where it is still to some little extent made;—Caughley, formerly a successful rival of Worcester in the excellence of its porcelains;—Coalport, a rival of all other works at the present day;—Horsehay, with its discontinued pot works;—Benthall, where “yellow ware” works are in constant operation, and where the magnificent encaustic and enamelled tile and mosaic works of Messrs. Maw are situated;—Ironbridge, with its famous one-arch bridge, the first iron bridge erected in England, from which it takes its name, spanning the Severn:—Madeley, with its extensive iron furnaces;—Benthall Edge, with its limestone works;—Coalbrookdale, whose iron works are known throughout the world, and where terra cotta is manufactured,—and a score of other busy hives of industry, are here gathered together, and demand careful attention. To the history of some of these I therefore devote this chapter.
Like those of Worcester and Derby, the Salopian manufactory of porcelain dates from the middle of last century; and, like them, has continued from its first introduction to the present time without interruption. Indeed, it may be said of the district that an almost—if not an entirely—unbroken historical chain may be traced from the Romano-British period down to the present day; for, as I have already shown, the same beds of clay which, fifteen hundred years ago, produced some of the fictile ware of the Roman occupiers of the soil, have been worked in the intermediate ages, and still produce, more largely than ever, articles of daily use for every class of the people of England. The same beds which supplied the magnificent city of Uriconium with jugs, mortaria, bowls, and colanders of white ware, still supply the neighbourhood with innumerable articles of daily use.
Caughley.
The Worcester porcelain works, as I have shown, were established in the year 1751; and the commencement of those in Shropshire must have been, if not coeval, at all events closely subsequent to that event. Indeed, the two works may be almost said to have sprung into existence at the same time. The site of the first Salopian china works was at Caughley, about a mile from the present manufactory, and on the opposite or south side of the river Severn. The works were situated on the hill overlooking the valley of the Severn, as it flowed on to Bridgnorth, and commanding a magnificent view of the surrounding country. On this spot, it is said, a small pottery was begun by a Mr. Browne, of Caughley Hall, and after his death managed by a gentleman named Gallimore, who was a relative, to whom, in 1754, a lease of the place was granted for the term of sixty-two years. This Mr. Gallimore does not appear to have been long connected with the works; for the only name, as proprietor, which I have at present been able to establish, is that of Mr. Thomas Turner, who married Dorothy, daughter of Mr. Gallimore and niece to Mr. Browne, and carried on the manufactory.
Mr. Thomas Turner was the son of Dr. Richard Turner, of Magdalene Hall, Oxford, rector of Cumberton, vicar of Elmly Castle and Norton, all in Worcestershire, in 1754, and who was also chaplain to the Countess of Wigtoun. This Dr. Turner, who took his degree at Magdalene Hall, Oxford, was the author of several works on astronomy, gauging, trigonometry, education, history, &c., and, in 1765, was a “teacher of geometry, astronomy, and philosophy” at Worcester. He died in 1791, and was buried at Norton-juxta-Kempsey, near Worcester. Besides his son Thomas, he had two other sons, Richard, LL.D., and Edward, the first of whom also published some works on geography, &c., and the latter was a general in the army in India, where he died; and two daughters, Elizabeth, married to Abraham Wyke, of Broseley, surgeon, and Sarah, married to Dr. William Hancock Roberts, rector of Broadwas and minor canon of Worcester Cathedral. Mr. Thomas Turner, by his first wife, Dorothy Gallimore, who died in 1793, had issue two children who died in infancy; and by his second wife, Mary, daughter of Thomas Milner, of Dothill, and widow of Henry Alsop, had issue one son, George Thomas Turner, of High Broughton, near Manchester, who died at Scarborough March 17, 1869, without issue, and one daughter, Catherine Georgiana Cecilia, who married John Jacob Smith, of St. James’s Priory, Bridgnorth, for more than half a century town clerk of that borough, by whom he had issue the present Hubert Smith, Esq., of St. Leonards, Bridgnorth, the gifted author of “Tent Life with English Gipsies in Norway,” who is the lineal and only representative of the main line of the Turner family. Mr. Turner was born in 1749, and is said to have been brought up as a silversmith at Worcester; but this is an error, as, for the purpose of obtaining the freedom of the city, he was, as a matter of legal form only, apprenticed to his father. It seems pretty certain that he was, at an early period, connected with the Worcester china works, and it is an established fact that he was an excellent chemist, and had thoroughly studied the various processes relating to porcelain manufacture. He was also a skilful draftsman and designer, and occasionally engraved: he was also a clever musician. He became a county magistrate for Shropshire, and was a freeman of the city of Worcester and the boroughs of Wenlock and Bridgnorth. He was also chairman of the Court of Equity for the three counties, which he had been mainly instrumental in establishing. In 1772, he succeeded his father-in-law, Mr. Gallimore, at the Caughley works (Mr. Gallimore having leased them from Mr. Browne in 1754), and carried them on until 1799, when he sold out all interest in the works and retired from business. He died at his residence at Caughley in 1809, aged sixty, and was buried in the family vault at Barrow, where, later, his daughter, Mrs. Smith, was also buried. After his death the commissioners of Oldbury Court presented his widow with a memorial silver cup of large size, bearing on one side the arms of Turner, and on the other an appropriate inscription. This is in possession of his representative, Mr. Hubert Smith.
Mr. Turner had a partner named Shaw. They had a warehouse in London, and, as was usual in those days with other works, had periodical sales by auction of their goods. In my own possession is a bill of this firm, dated January 24th, 1794, and headed “Salopian China Warehouse. Bought of Turner and Shaw.” The lots in this bill were bought “at public sale,” and consisted of “jugs,” “bakings,” “china dishes,” and other “sundry pieces;” the lots were “put up at half price” at the sale. In 1795, Mr. Turner’s manager at Caughley was one Thomas Blase; and I have a letter of his, dated 20th February in that year, concerning a painter, named Withers, at that time employed there, but who had wrongfully left his employment at the Derby china works, where he was “Mr. Deusbury’s articled servant.”
No doubt the incentive to the establishment of the Caughley works were the experiments long carried on at Worcester by Dr. Wall, and the knowledge that at this spot the two principal materials wanting in a pottery of this kind could be had at a trifling cost. With abundance of coal within twenty feet of the surface, with clunch of the best quality for the making of seggars overlying the coal, and with the navigable river at hand for bringing the materials and for carrying away the finished goods, the inducements were strong for the fixing on this spot the manufactory which was destined ultimately to grow into such enviable importance. To Worcester, of course, coal and clunch and other materials had to be conveyed at great cost; but here they were ready to hand, and indeed were cropping out in every direction, inviting to be used. In 1756 the works had attained a considerable degree of excellence; and an example is in existence, bearing that date, which gives most satisfactory evidence of the excellence of the body at that time—a body, however, which speedily became greatly improved. In the early years of the Caughley manufactory, the ware was not many degrees removed from earthenware; but it gradually assumed a finer and more transparent character. Like the early Worcester examples, the patterns were principally confined to blue flowers, &c., on a white ground; and in this style and colour the Caughley works excelled, in many respects, their competitors. An excellent example of the body, as made in 1776, is exhibited in a mug, bearing that date, now in the possession of a family at Coalport. This interesting mug, here engraved, is white, with blue and gold flowers, and bears the words “Francis Benbow, 1776,” surmounted by an anchor; the Francis Benbow, for whom it was made, being a barge-owner.
Fig. 584.
