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"STOKE-UPON-TRENT, as its
name implies, is pleasantly situated upon that river, in an
extensive and populous parish, to which it gives name, about one
mile and a half east of Newcastle, upon the sides of the Grand
Trunk canal. The town contains many handsome houses, wharfs,
warehouses and earthenware manufactories, and is deemed the
parish town of the potteries.
The whole parish of Stoke, by the returns for 1821,
contained 29,223 inhabitants; and the parish, exclusive of its
several extensive dependencies, 3,969 of that number."
1828 journal
"In 1874, Stoke-on-Trent,
whose parish includes nearly the whole of the pottery district,
was made a municipal borough by Royal Charter, and is now
governed by a Corporation consisting of the Mayor, six Aldermen,
and eighteen councilors."
1893 journal
Stoke is known for the
development of the famous Potteries loop line, the railway system which
once linked the six towns with outlying communities, Stoke City Football
Club and famous pottery manufacturer, Spode which has stood in the centre
of the town since 1770.
The town is now the
administrative centre of the city.
Most of the original
buildings are still used for a thriving business industry.
Charles Dickens once
described Stoke as "a picturesque heap of houses, kilns, smoke,
wharfs, canals and river lying as was most appropriate, in a basin."
The town of Stoke has the full name of 'Stoke-upon-Trent' as against the
name of the City (comprising the Six Towns) which is 'Stoke-on-Trent'.
This leads to much confusion for visitors who sometimes think that the
extent of the City is the small town of Stoke. (The main centre is in fact
nearby Hanley).
Although Hanley is the main shopping centre
the town of Stoke has dominated in name by virtue of its ecclesiastical
supremacy as the controlling parish of the area. Also the Civic Centre is
located in Stoke.
The
valley setting of Stoke gave it the early advantage of canal transport and
later the main railway station to serve the area.
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Dates in the
history of Stoke
1719 - Thomas
Whieldon born in Penkhull in September.
1749 - Josiah Spode I was apprenticed to Thomas Whieldon,
for whom he worked until at least 1754.
1775 - Josiah Spode II traded in London as a dealer in
earthenware, glass and porcelain. In this year he married
Elizabeth Barker and had two sons (including Josiah Spode III)
and three daughters.
1802 - Josiah
Spode II installs a steam engine at his works.
1803 - Josiah
Spode II built The Mount, Penkhull for his home.
1810 - Josiah Spode II built
houses for his factory workers, these included Penkhull Square,
Ten Row, Nine Row and some in Penkhull New Road.
1834 - Work begins on Stoke Town Hall in Glebe Street
(not completed until 1850) - designed by Henry Ward.
1845 - The North Staffordshire Railway Company ('The
Knotty') was constituted.
1846- 'The Knotty's' first trains ran from a temporary
station at Whieldon Grove to Norton Bridge near Stone.
1874 - Stoke created a borough.
1911 - The King's Hall was built onto the back of Stoke Town
Hall.
1927 - The French Michelin Tyre Company chooses Stoke as
the site of its first British factory.
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Facts about
Stoke from old journals
The Corporation has done much to
improve the district under its control, and few towns in the
kingdom of its size contain so many wide and well-paved streets
and handsome public buildings as Stoke-on-Trent. The town is
admirably lighted by gas, from works the property of the
Corporation; while there is also a copious supply of excellent
water by a private company.
What was properly called Stoke, until about 70 years ago, [1780]
consisted of only five houses, but the name is now applied to
the town, situate at a short distance to the west, under the
lofty hill on which stands the large village of Penkhull, which
appears to be one of the oldest seats of the earthenware
manufacture, for it had three brown ware potteries in
1600.
Here are several of the largest porcelain and earthenware
manufacturies in the Potteries, and a commodious range of
warehouses and wharfs on the Trent & Mersey Canal.
Here also are the head offices and station of the North
Staffordshire Railway
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Burslem 
