Lawleys Ltd was an
important retailer of glassware and ceramics and, following the Second
World War, also the owner of numerous pottery manufacturers.
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About
1884 Edgar H. Lawley founded a jewellery retail business in
Birmingham.
-
1908
- the first of Lawleys china and glassware shops was opened -
"considerable expansion took place so that at the outbreak of
war in 1939 retail branches had been established in many of the
larger provincial towns from Dundee to Penzance"
Lawleys
(1921) Ltd
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In
1921 the business was incorporated as Lawleys (1921) Ltd.
-
1929
- Edgar Lawley's sons Thomas H. and Edgar E. Lawley were appointed
as joint managing directors and the company was renamed Lawleys Ltd.
Lawleys
Ltd
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The
two brothers ran the retail business together until 1936 when Edgar
purchased his brother's shareholding and Thomas left to develop
interests in pottery manufacture.
-
Lawleys
Ltd continued under the direction of Edgar E. Lawley and at the end
of the Second World War acquired the assets of a number of pottery
companies that had closed under the wartime
concentration scheme.
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Between
1945 and 1947 five factories were re-opened to service the Lawleys
retail shops, including..
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The
Lawley-controlled companies were known collectively as the 'Adderley
Group'
Lawleys
Group Ltd
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In
1948 Edgar Lawley established a new company 'Lawley Group Ltd' to
reorganise and recapitalise the Lawleys Ltd business.
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Further
pottery businesses were acquired and by 1949 the Lawley Group owned
or controlled...
-
The
Floral China Co Ltd (to become Adderley Floral China
Works) was
acquied in 1949 and the Stirling Pottery in 1950.
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In
1951 the Lawley Group was acquired by Whitehall Secutities
Corporation, an associate of the Pearson Group and the owner of
Booths and Colclough Ltd.
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In
1953 the administration of the two pottery groups were combined and
a new Lawley Group Ltd subsidiary - Ridgway and Adderleys Ltd - was
formed to manage the Lawley Group's pottery holdings.
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In
1955 Ridgway and Adderleys Ltd and Booths and Colclough Ltd were
amalgamated as Ridgway Potteries Ltd - still a subsidiary of the
Lawley Group.
-
1959
- Swinnertons Ltd and its subsidiary
Alcock, Lindley & Bloore
Ltd were acquired.
-
1964
- Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Co Ltd was acquired.
Allied
English Potteries Ltd
-
Also
in 1964 the Pearson
Group, the Lawley Group's ultimate owner,
purchased Thomas C. Wild & Sons Ltd and the Lawley Group was
renamed Allied English Potteries Ltd with Ridgway Potteries
Ltd, Royal Crown Derby Ltd and Thomas Wild & Sons Ltd as
independently operating subsidiaries.
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From
June 1964 the much enlarged Lawley Group changed its name to Allied
English Potteries. Although the LAWLEY name continued to appear on
some ware.
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Allied
English Potteries Ltd's manufacturing subsidiaries included..
-
In
1966 the businesses of Shore &
Coggins Ltd and Chapmans
(Longton) Ltd - both subsidiaries of Thomas C. Wild and Sons Ltd
- were closed to allow expansion of the Royal
Albert and Paragon brands.
-
In
November 1971 the Pearson Group purchased Doulton & Co. Ltd
('Royal Doulton') and in the consequent restructuring of ownership
and shareholdings, Allied English Potteries Ltd became a subsidiary
of Royal Doulton.
-
From
the 1st January 1973 the many Allied English Potteries businesses
came under the banner of Royal Roulton Tableware Ltd.
much
of this information courtesy of... Michael
Perry 'A Handbook of British Pottery Manufacturers 1900-2010'
Philips Phillips
were London retailers of china and glass ware - their advertisments
state that they were established in 1760. They were retailers of
Staffordshire pottery, amongst others. At
sometime the Phillips name was acquired by Lawleys and some ware
produced in the Lawley Group was sold with a Lawleys/Philips mark.
Lawleys
Regent Street
Philips's
Estd
1760 -
more on Phillips -
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