Evidence of the Minton family in Stoke:

Thomas Minton (1765-1836) founded his factory in 1793/6 in Stoke, The first products of the Minton factory were blue transfer-printed wares, but in 1798 bone china (porcelain containing bone ash) was introduced, with considerable success.

Herbert Minton, (1793–1858), succeeded his father in 1836 as head of the firm, and to him was due its development and reputation. He enlisted the services of artists and skilled artisans.

Herbert Minton endowed the Church of the Holy Trinity in Hartshill - built 1842

Church of the Holy Trinity
photo c.2000 (supplied: Peter Bennett)
built in 1842 and designed by by George Gilbert Scott and Moffatt.
The church was built in the Gothic style using local quarried stone.

In 1852 Herbert Minton laid out £3,000 for the building of new day schools behind the church. These were also designed by George Gilbert Scott.

Thomas Webb Minton was Herbert's brother. Thomas Webb entered the firm with Herbert but stayed only a few years, since he later took Holy Orders.

Herbert Minton's benefaction at Hartshill was mirrored by the Rev. Thomas Webb Minton, at whose expense Penkhull was finally blessed (also in 1842) with a church.

St. Thomas's Church, Penkhull

Minton Memorial Building, London Road: In 1856 it was proposed that public baths should be erected in Stoke-upon-Trent. A site was acquired on the turnpike road (now London Road) opposite the Minton factory and a committee appointed to collect subscriptions. Herbert Minton donated £500 towards the costs.

After his death in 1858 the project was altered to accommodate a memorial building as well as a public bath to commemorate his various philanthropic activities in the town and district.

Minton Memorial Building - London Road, Stoke

Designed by Messrs Pugin and John Murray, architects of London. 
The foundation stone was laid by Earl Granville at a public ceremony on 21 July 1858

The School of Art moved into the building from the old Town Hall at the end of 1859.
Colin Minton Campbell was chairman of the Art School Committee, Michael Daintry Hollins (Minton's nephew) was treasurer and Sir Oliver Lodge, secretary.  Minton's originally provided both students and an annual subscription for the support of the School of Art.

A row of cottages on Hartshill Road initiated by Herbert Minton designed by George Gilbert Scott, built c.1857-9 under the supervision of Colin Minton Campbell

The Minton cottages on Hartshill Road

Former Hartshill Institute; 287 Hartshill Road

the Institute was occupied by a "Working Mans Association" which provided alcohol-free entertainment for the residents of Hartshill.

Library building, London Road: Purpose built as a library and Shakespeare Institute in 1878, designed by Charles Lynam - The site was given by Colin Minton Campbell (one of Herbert Mintons's nephew), costs subscribed by Thomas William Minton.

Minton took two nephews into partnership, Michael Daintry Hollins and Colin Minton Campbell, Hollins in c.1840 and Campbell in c.1848.

From around 1845 when Hollins joined the company was split in to two divisions, Hollins managed the tile business and Campbell when he joined around 1848, the china business.
 

Tile works office range built in 1869 for Michael Daintry Hollins of the Minton Hollins Tile Company Ltd. Designed by Charles Lynam.

After 1845 the tile business traded separately from the china business, and in 1869 a purpose-built factory was established in Shelton Old Road. Most potteries were built round a courtyard (such as the Spode factory in Stoke), but this was built on a linear plan, with separate buildings for the various production processes.

These works were very busy, producing up to 2 million tiles a month in 1899, many of them Art Nouveau in style.

Herbert Minton had developed encaustic (using pigments mixed with hot wax, which are burned in as an inlay.) tiles from 1830, working closely with A W N Pugin, and many of the early tiles will have been used for the latter's churches and for the Houses of Parliament. 

The factory was largely demolished in 1987 but the main building, facing the street still survives, it has been restored and is used a the head offices of a national mobile communications company.

Photos October 1999

Colin Minton Campbell became the MP for North Staffordshire and three times Lord Mayor of Stoke.

Statue of Colin Minton Campbell

On the three sides of the base are the following inscriptions:

'Colin Minton Campbell, born August 27th 1827, died February 8th 1885'.
'A successful manufacturer, a leading townsman and generous friend'.
'High Sheriff 1869, Member of Parliament for North Staffordshire 1874 to 1887, Thrice Lord Mayor of Stoke 1880-1883.'

The statue was unveiled by the Duchess of Sutherland at a public ceremony in January 1887. The statue was originally in Campbell Place but it was moved in 1954 to a site outside the nearby Minton factory. In 2002 the statue was moved to the new Royal Doulton headquarters site in Forge Lane, Etruria. The Minton works in Stoke were sold & demolished late 2002 to make way for a supermarket, after completion the statue was installed outside the supermarket.