Bodley Partnerships






 

 

Edward F Bodley & Co

Burslem  

1862

1862

Bodley & Harrold

Burslem  

1863

April 1865

Edward F Bodley & Co

Burslem  

April 1865

1862

 

  • In 1862 Edward Fisher Bodley succeeded James Vernon at the Scotia Pottery and operated as Edward F Bodley & Company. In late 1862 the company registered 3 new patterns.  

  • From 1863 to business was styled as Bodley & Harrold. William Harrold was the other partner. From March 1863 to October 1864 they registered 8 new patterns. 

  • The Bodley & Harrold partnership was dissolved in April 1865, Harrold left the business and Bodley continued. It would appear that the parting was not amicable. 

  • Bodley continued under the original name of Edward F Bodley & Company. 

 


 

Bodley & Harrold 

The London Gazette
 28 April 1865


notice of the dissolution of the partnership of Bodley & Harrold 

 

".. perhaps the men were incompatible, their partnership dissolution of 18 April, 1865 was announced in the London Gazette of April 28, 1865 and that same year Harrold issued two writs against Bodley" 

Printed British Pottery & Porcelain

 


 


serving tureen in the Alton pattern 

B & H

the initials B & H for Bodley & Harrold are contained in a Stafford Knot

 

 


plate in a blue transfer pattern with hand colouring

B & H

the registration diamond shows that the pattern was registered on the 12th May 1863 to Bodley & Harrold at the Scotia Works, Burslem

 


Sandringham pattern 


meat platter in the Sandringham pattern

the Sandringham pattern was originally produced by Bodley & Harrold 
and was continued by subsequent Bodley family companies 


B & Son

the registration diamond shows that the pattern was registered on the 27th November 1863 to Bodley & Harrold at the Scotia Works, Burslem. 
However the initials mark shows that this platter was made by Bodley & Son who operated at the Hill Pottery in 1874-5

 

photos courtesy: Cynthia Beed

 


 


Bodley & Harrold

photo source: 
Printed British Pottery & Porcelain

the original makers of the Sandringham pattern were Bodley & Harrold (c.1863-5)

the registration diamond shows that the pattern was registered on the 27th November 1863 


Bodley & Co

Bodley & Co
D W

D. W. were likely a Russian importer/retailer based in St. Petersburg.

- click for more on DW -


Bodley & Son

 

 


 

The Bodley father (Edward Fisher Bodley) and son (Edwin James Drew Bodley ) between them operated 3 pottery manufactories.

The father operated at all three (Scotia, New Bridge and Hill Top), 
the son only operated at New Bridge & Hill Top.

They worked the china part of the Hill Top Works concurrently 
with the Scotia Works - they moved from the Scotia Works to
the New Bridge Works, but continued the Hill Top Works.


Edward F Bodley & Son
Scotia Pottery, Burslem

 The Pottery Gazette,  March 1st 1880



E F Bodley & Son
New Bridge Pottery, Longport, Staffordshire

Pottery Gazette,  January 1885


 

 

 

E F Bodley & Co backstamp
E F Bodley & Co backstamp

marks

 

Location and period of operation:

Edward F Bodley & Co

Burslem  
Scotia Pottery

1862

 

Bodley & Co Burslem  
Scotia Pottery
1865  
Edward F. Bodley and Son Burslem  
Scotia Pottery
1880 1881
Edward F. Bodley and Son Longport 
New Bridge Pottery
1881 E F Bodley died in 1881.
Works closed 1898

 

Bodley & Diggory Burslem 
Hill Top Works
1870 1874
Bodley & Son Burslem 
Hill Top Works
1874 1875
E J D Bodley Burslem 
Hill Top Works
1875 1892

* in 1882 they renamed the china works of the Hill Top Pottery 'Crown Works'

 


 

Initials used on ware for identification:

 

Bodley & Co B & Co

 

Edward F Bodley & Co E F B & Co

E F B

SCOTIA POTTERY

BODLEY (could be the mark of the other Bodley firms)

 

Edward F Bodley & Son E F B & SON

E F B & SON

 

Bodley & Son B & SON

 

E J D BODLEY E J D BODLEY

E J D B

 

Bodley & Harrold B & H

BODLEY & HARROLD

SCOTIA POTTERY (printed within a Staffordshire Knot)

Staffordshire knot mark of Bodley & CO
Staffordshire knot mark of Bodley & Co

Staffordshire knot mark of New Bridge Pottery
Staffordshire knot mark of New Bridge Pottery
Edward F Bodley & Son
Bodley & Harrold 


Click links below for more information:

     

Scotia Works - Burslem
 New Bridge Works -
Longport
 Hill Top Works -
Burslem    (later renamed Crown Works)


 

The Scotia Pottery

"This manufactory was originally the parish workhouse of Burslem, and was calculated to accommodate three hundred inmates. On the establishment of unions, under the Poor-Law Act, when the new union workhouse was erected, this building was occupied as barracks, and so continued for some years. It was then converted into a manufactory by Mr. James Vernon in 1857, and he, in 1862, was succeeded by the present firm of "Edward F. Bodley & Co." At these works the usual descriptions of earthenware, printed, enamelled, and gilt, and " ironstone china," for steamship and hotel use, are made. The bodies and glazes, which have been considerably improved by the manager, Mr. Edward Beardmore, of Rode Heath, are, through his attention and skill, of a very high quality. The mark is the Staffordshire knot, with the words SCOTIA WORKS."

Llewellynn Jewitt The Ceramic Art of Great Britain" 1878

 

 

BODLEY, Edward Fisher (1815-81), pottery manufacturer, Burslem. 

Edward Fisher Bodley was born in Lapford, Devonshire, in 1815. By the age of 24 he was living in Steeple Bumpstead, Essex, where he was an Independent minister of religion given to revivalist sermons. 

He moved to Rochford, Essex, where he married and had three children. 

Scotia Pottery:  
After the death of his wife he came to Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent,  and is listed as an accountant and as a commercial traveller in directories from 1864 to 1876. He also engaged in pottery manufacture, opening the Scotia Pottery in 1862. The building had originally been the Burslem workhouse and been converted by James Vernon into a pottery. The firm traded as Bodley and Harrold, changed to Edward F. Bodley and Co., and in 1880 to Edward F. Bodley and Sons. 

New (or Bottom) Bridge Pottery:  
In 1881 the business moved to New Bridge Pottery, Longport. It ceased in 1898. Bodley had supplied pottery to the Confederate navy in the American Civil War. 

Hill Top Pottery:  
He was in partnership with Diggory in the manufacture of china 1870-4, using the china department of Samuel Alcock's magnificent Hill Top Pottery. He was still using this pottery in 1881, when his two factories employed between them 350 people. 

Edward Fisher Bodley had married again, in 1852, Mary Ridgway, by whom he had eight children. He was Liberal in politics, and served as mayor of Hanley 1872-3. 

On his retirement he removed to Dane Bank House, Congleton, where he died, on 17 April, 1881. 
He was buried in Christ Church, Eaton, near Congleton. His son Edwin James Drew Bodley carried on the business until 1892 when he was declared bankrupt. 

Sources: Census 1871, 1881; Dir. 1864, 1867, 1875/6; Jewitt; VCH viii. Ward.

 


1881 census:

Dwelling: Lower Heath Dane Bank House
Census Place: Congleton, Cheshire, England

Name

Marr | Age | Sex

  Birthplace Occupation
Edward F. BODLEY M 65 M Head Bristol, Somerset Earthenware Manufacturer
Mary BODLEY  M 60 F Wife Hanley  
Albert J. R. BODLEY U 25 M Son Hanley Earthenware Manufacturer
Beatrice Mary BODLEY  U 22 F  Daur Hanley Earthenware Manufacturer Daughter
Edward R. BODLEY U 20 M Son Hanley Earthenware Manufacturer
Eliza HUMPHREY  U 65 F Servant Steeple Bumpstead, Essex Nurse Domestic Servant
Matilda GLOVER U 38 F  Servant Hanley Cook Domestic Servant
Jane WHITFIELD  U 28 F Servant Ellesmere, Shropshire Housemaid Domestic Servant
Mary Anne ASPINALL  U 25 F Servant Tunstall Parlourmaid Domestic Servant
Emily CORNES  U 22 F  Servant Silverdale Parlourmaid

 


Questions, comments, contributions? email: Steve Birks