China and earthenware manufacturer at Cauldon Place Works, Shelton (Hanley), Stoke-on-Trent

• In 1904 Brown-Westhead Moore & Co. was incorporated as a Limited company and was renamed to Cauldon (Brown-Westhead Moore & Co.) Ltd. The ownership and management of the company remained the same. 

• At the time the directors were Mr. Frederick T. Moore, Mr. Joseph Harrison, Mr. H. J. Warrington, and Mr. John Leyland, with Mr. P. B. Ross as secretary.

• The company used the shortened name 'Cauldon Ltd' on their ware. 

• Cauldon Ltd suffered from financial difficulties, in 1906 £40,000 was raised - secured on assets. Modernisation was undertaken to increase productivity and reduce costs, which included wage reductions in 1908. In 1912 the capital and number of shares in the company were reduced.

• The company was placed in receivership in 1920. It was brought out of administration by Harold Robinson and it became Cauldon Potteries Ltd.  

CAULDON WORKS
(By a "Pottery Gazette" Special Commisioner) - January 1908

"I WAS instructed to pay a short visit to Cauldon (Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co), Limited, at Stoke-on-Trent. They are manufacturers of the high-grade pottery known the world over as "Cauldon China". They call their pottery "Cauldon Works", and they are situated at Cauldon-place. It would appear to anyone unacquainted with the facts that the use of the word "Cauldon" was developed in the order in which I have just mentioned it. I find it has been in the reverse order. There was a pottery in Cauldon-place at the end of the eighteenth century, and early in the nineteenth - that is to say, in 1802 - Mr. Job Ridgway erected a new manufactory there and called it "Cauldon Works". 

On the death of Mr. Job Ridgway, in 1814, the works passed into the hands of his sons, John and William Ridgway. A few years later, Mr. William Ridgway retired, and Mr. John Ridgway remained the sole proprietor. Mr. John Ridgway was a very celebrated potter; he was appointed "Potter to the Queen", and at the first Great Exhibition in 1851 he was awarded first prize for the excellent quality of his productions. The jurors described the firm as "one of the first in England". 

In 1855 the works were acquired by Mr. T. C. Brown-Westhead and Mr. William Moore, who traded as T. C. Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co. Mr. John Ridgway retained an interest in the business for about three years, when he finally retired. 

The high reputation of the factory was not only maintained by the new proprietors, but was enhanced, with the result that the business was extended, and it became necessary to add new premises in order to cope with its requirements. Mr. William Moore had for many years been closely associated with Mr. Ridgway in pottery production, and his thorough practical knowledge of the science and art of pottery bore fruit in the continued improvement in the quality of the goods. 

Two sons of Mr. William Moore - Mr. W. B. Moore and Mr. F. T. Moore - succeeded their father, and happily were inspired by the same high ideals in pottery manufacture as their predecessors. The same spirit prevails today, and from the Cauldon Works we have still table porcelain of the highest grades - perfect in body and glaze, transparency and durability, and unsurpassed in the richness of its artistic & decorative treatment.

The firm adopted the name "Cauldon China" for their porcelain productions - a name which has become famous. But they make practically every other description of pottery: china tea, breakfast, and dessert services, earthenware dinner and toilet services, ornamental goods in china and parian, plain and ornamental sanitary ware. The manufacture of all these is continued, and now, as always, the productions of Cauldon Works, from the plain printed earthenware dinner plate to the most ornate china vase, are noted for the superiority and soundness of body, the clear glaze, and the superb finish. 

In 1877 they produced a magnificent china dessert service for the Prince of Wales (now King Edwrard VII.), each piece decorated with a unique and finely painted hunting scene. They also supplied dinner, dessert, tea, and breakfast services for the Czar of Russia. It is interesting to notice that the orders for the Czar were secured in competition with Sevres, Dresden, and other famous manufactories. They have exhibited at most, if not all, of the great international exhibitions, and have taken the highest honours obtainable.

Four years ago the firm was converted into a limited liability company, under the name of "Cauldon (Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co.) Limited". Thus it has happened that the company has taken its name from its production, "Cauldon China", The china was named from the works at which it was made, and the works were called after the place on which they were built. It was called "Cauldon" for generations before pots were made there. Cauldon china will give the name an even longer life in the future than it has had in the past. 

Although it is now a company, the business is still controlled by that hereditary personal ability which made it famous. On the directorate are Mr. Frederick T. Moore, Mr. Joseph Harrison, Mr. H. J. Warrington, and Mr. John Leyland, whilst Mr. P. B. Ross is secretary. During my recent visit I was favoured with a short interview with Mr. F. T. Moore, who had only just returned from a visit to the United States in the interests of the company. As Mr. Moore had seen many show rooms which I also had visited, I am sorry we had not time for a longer chat about our trade in the States. Mr. Moore is a keen observer, and I am sure he has gathered much information that will enable his company to increase their American connection. I incidentally asked him if he had visited a certain pottery. "No, I did not", he said, with a smile. "I was not there so much for seeing potteries - I see enough of them here; I was looking up our agents and customers, and ascertaining exactly the class of goods they wanted".

At the time of my visit, Mr. John Leyland, who has been so long associated with the firm, was away on the Continent, visiting their various agencies and customers. On his return he will take up his residence in town as London Director. Mr. Moore left me soon, but I had a long interview with several of the heads of departments. Mr. T. Beresford, the works manager, showed me over parts of the works, and I noticed numerous additions and alterations since I was last there. He introduced me to Mr. P. B. Ross, the secretary, and between them they gave me details of the changes that have recently taken place in connection with the business.

There seems to have been a little misapprehension amongst people outside, due probably to the fact that the company found it expedient to cancel existing agreements with their employees and to enter into new ones. The company remains unaltered; there has been no "reconstruction in the sense in which that term is used in connection with a limited liability company. 

There has been a re-arrangement as to the wages. For a long time, it seems, the company have been paying higher wages for certain productions than are paid by their competitors. Furthermore, they have within the last few years made extensive and in some instances costly additions to their plant and appliances. They have steadfastly determined to install the most perfect labour-saving and time-saving machines and appliances. 

By the aid of these accessories the workers are able to turn out better work and to greatly increase their output. It was reasonable that the employers, who had sunk a large amount of capital in providing the facilities for increasing their output, could not continue to pay their workers on the old terms. The case was submitted to the employees, together with notice terminating all engagements, and an intimation that the employers were willing to treat with the whole of them as to future engagements. The men have been well advised, and their leaders have rendered all possible assistance, with the result that a mutually satisfactory change has been amicably carried out.

On inquiry, I found that some of the workers admitted that they w ere in a better position than they were under the old agreements. All is well that ends well, and there is every reason to believe that while the company hope to have a better chance of extending their business by opening up markets in which they could not have competed under the old conditions, the work people will also be benefited by the increased trade. 

It was explained to me that the new business contemplated will be in addition to, and is not intended to supplant, the class of trade so long and so successfully carried on. The production of high-class ornamental and useful china which has brought the company renown in the past will be continued, but at the same time more attention will be given to the useful but less costly productions in other departments of the works. I had an insight into this when I saw how admirably the company are equipped for supplying their special vitrified hotel ware. The stout plates with roll edges are practically unchippable, and they combine every feature that contributes to durability. This vitrified ware is specially suitable for railway, hotel, and restaurant purposes, and the company are developing this class of trade with considerable energy.

I was introduced to Mr. S. P. Evans, the manager of the sanitary ware department. I was at once reminded of the wide field covered by the productions of Cauldon Works. Of course I know the company make sanitary ware, but I do not always bear it in mind so clearly as I do their beautiful artistic porcelain. No doubt there are many like me in this respect. If they could have a quarter of an hour with Mr. Evans as I had, and hear what he has to say, and see what he can show them about Cauldon sanitary ware, they would realise that this is not a mere ‘"side line" but a substantial and important industry, conducted with as much energy and enterprise as though the prosperity of the company depended upon it. I am not an expert in sanitary pottery, so that I am afraid Mr. Evans would consider me a rather inappreciative visitor; but I can assure him I was greatly interested in his department. Since my return I find (and it may be useful for others to know) that sanitary ware has been a speciality of the Cauldon Works for more than half a century. Long ago they held numerous patents for improvements in the production of it, and in 1873 they were awarded a medal for their general excellence in it at the International Exhibition in Vienna. 

In addition to the two special lines I have described, the company hope and believe that the new arrangements just made all through their works, coupled with the improved plant they have installed, will enable them to produce inexpensive goods -  useful and fancy - so as to compete successfully with those now on the home and in foreign markets.

Although the gentlemen who received me at the works appeared desirous of talking to me more about the extension of their productions in substantial, useful, and inexpensive goods, I felt, and made no attempt to conceal my partiality for the artistic branches of their many-sided business. I am sorry time did not permit me to seek a short interview with some of their decorative artists. I saw their work in the show room. I am referring not merely to the purely ornamental pieces, but to the neat and tasteful ornamentations of dinner ware, dessert services and tea and breakfast sets. They are showing an attractive variety of toilet services in quite new forms. I was shown a great number of new forms and decorations in dinner ware. The company are very strong in this line, and their new decorations are of an interesting variety. In Fig. 1 we give illustrations of a meat dish, a cover dish and dinner plate, with a pretty festoon border. This makes a pretty set, either printed or enamelled. Fig. 2 shows a good selling line in dinner and tea ware. It has a plain band in blue, and is supplied with or without gold. The band can also be had in other colours. These two patterns indicate the popular lines on which the company are developing their business. When in Mr. Beresford’s office I noticed on his table two or three samples of dinner plates with beautiful borders in rich combinations of colour and traced gold. 1 intended to handle them and to ask some questions about them, but other matters diverted my attention.

We also give an illustration of the splendid show room at Cauldon Works, one of the best in the Potteries. It is a magnificent room, with artistic architectural features specially introduced. The noble arch at the end of the room with the two figures on stands in recesses at the sides is very effective. The arrangement of the samples is judicious for a sale room, artistic as a show room. Useful domestic ware occupies tables and stands in the centre of the room, while richly ornamented art pieces are in glass cases at the sides, with busts and vases on the top of the cases and plaques on the walls. Cauldon china is, of course, seen to perfection in a multiplicity of forms, both useful and ornamental. Its rich creamy body, beautiful glaze, and brilliantly coloured paintings are characteristics well known to most of our readers."

The Pottery Gazette - January 1908

"sanitary ware has been a speciality of the Cauldon Works for more than half a century. Long ago they held numerous patents for improvements in the production of it, and in 1873 they were awarded a medal for their general excellence in it at the International Exhibition in Vienna" 

printed mark incorporating the Royal Arms

R.S.S.& S. was probably a distributor

Cauldon 
England

the impressed 10 06 gives the manufacturing 
month:year - in this case October 1906

photos courtesy:  Wendy Nord

J. McD & S Co. were American importers and wholesalers - in 1871 Jones, McDuffee and Stratton became the owners of The Boston Company (established 1810). By 1910 they were the largest wholesaler and retailer of china and glassware in the United States.

They imported quality English pottery, porcelain, and bone china from such companies as Wedgwood, Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co, Royal Worcester. 

Jones, McDuffee and Stratton' were known by that name until it ceased to exist after it celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1960.

Source: www.alexisantiques.com/links/jms.php  

Recent Company Liens Registered.

Cauldon (Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co.), Ltd., Stoke-on-Trent. — The issue has been registered of £1,000 5 per cent, debentures, part of a series created to secure £40,000, charged on the copyhold canal wharf, offices and earthenware factory at Cauldon-place, Stoke-on-Trent, and site thereof (subject to mortgage dated November 1, 1865), copyhold land at Shelton, and the company’s undertaking and property, present and future, including uncalled capital. Total amount previously issued of same series, £27,000.

Some misapprehension seems to have arisen in certain quarters regarding the notices which havo been posted at the works of Cauldon, Ltd., informing the workpeople that "every one employed on these works will be under one month’s notice from this date." 

The notices are dated October 24, and add that "during the month each person will be seen with a view to possible rearrangement of their work and wages."

Naturally, the posting of these notices caused a good deal of anxiety, for Cauldon Place is one of the largest, oldest, and most justly renowmed works in the Potteries. I am glad, therefore, to be able to say, on official authority, that there is no reason to suppose that the works is to be closed down, even for a period. 

It is no secret that Cauldon, Ltd., like most other firms engaged in the industry, has, for some time past, been feeling the effect of the general depression and keen competition, and, as the notices show, certain retrenchments are now to be made. 

It is stated that the rate of wages paid by Cauldon Ltd. — or, as the Company was known until recently, Brown, Westhead, Moore & Co. — has been fully up to the standard, and even above that paid by most manufacturers in the district. This being the case, it is easy to understand that the directors, at a period when trade is so depressed, are anxious, if possible, to effect a rearrangement of the work and wages of their employees. 

Everyone will trust that the steps which are being taken may be attended by beneficial results, and that a long era of prosperity lies before the famous works.