Trentham Pottery Owners and Designers

The Tellwrights

bullet William Anthony Marsden Tellwright purchased Sneyd Colliery and Brickworks in 1875 in partnership with others. It was converted into a limited company in 1881

bullet He was married to Ann Jane Tellwright and they had two sons William and Joseph and one daughter Adeline

bullet After living in Wolstanton for many years, he purchased Horton Lodge at Rudyard shortly before he died in 1894

bullet His widow continued to live there until she moved to the Old Vicarage in Hanford

bullet After lying empty for a few years Horton Lodge was purchased by the North Staffordshire Miners' Welfare Association and converted into a miners' convalescent home, which opened in 1925

bullet William's son William became the Managing Director of Sneyd Colliery and Joseph was a director

bullet Decades later William, his grandson, would become chairman of Sneyd Brickworks

Horton Lodge

bullet Joseph Tellwright Born 1878 Died 1966 (87 yrs)

bullet Son of William Anthony Marsden Tellwright and

bullet Brother of William Tellwright and Adeline Keith

bullet In 1925 Joseph married Annie Thain at Brompton, London.

bullet Annie came from Aberdeen and was a Doctor

bullet In 1947 she is listed as Anne Tellwright, a Registrar to the Anaesthetic Dept. at North Staffs Royal Infirmary


bullet They had three sons

bullet William Anthony Tellwright 1928-1986

bullet Joseph Michael Tellwright 1929-2019

bullet Peter Thain Tellwright 1930-2020

William Peter Michael Nanny

The boys are seen here meeting the foxhounds with their nanny

bullet They lived in Trent Vale House for most of the 1920s and 30s

Trent Vale house

bullet In 1936 Joseph purchased New Park from the Bailey family. The original house was completely demolished and a new house built. A significant feature was a stained-glass window of 40 panels depicting Staffordshire's industries, buildings, events and personalities

bullet The grounds of the house were often used as the location for fundraising events

New Park house

bullet Joseph lived there until his death in 1966. In 1950 he placed stone markers around the boundaries of the estate with his initials and the date

Stones

bullet Annie left and Joseph standing with Peter playing bowls on the lawn

Family

bullet In 1911 Joseph acquired the London Road works of established Stoke pottery manufacturer Bilton's Ltd and in 1912 it became became known as Biltons (1912) Ltd

bullet Pre WW1 they made tea and coffee pots, jugs and red floor tiles

bullet Post WW1 they added ornamental ware and ware for children

bullet 1930s they replaced floor tiles with manufacture of glazed fireplace and wall tiles. WW2 the factory closed for duration of the war

bullet Post WW2 earthenware goods and tiles made in equal amounts

bullet 1966 Joseph died, but his son Peter continued to work in the business. He left £38,791

bullet 1978 Production was half a million pieces a week

bullet 1986 Bilton's was bought by Coloroll Ceramics

bullet 1990 Became part of Staffordshire Tableware

bullet 1999 Into voluntary liquidation

Biltons plate Biltons plate
Biltons bowls Biltons plate

William Tellwright - Joseph's brother

bullet William trained as a mining engineer and became Managing Director of the Sneyd Colliery and Sneyd Brickworks. In addition, he held other directorships including Birchenwood Coal Ltd and James Edge Ltd

Sneyd Colliery

bullet A major explosion occurred at the pit on the 1st January 1942 which resulted in the tragic death of 57 men and boys
http://www.thepotteries.org/mining/allmines/sneyd.htm

Pit disaster

bullet Following nationalisation of the colliery in 1947, they retained ownership of the Sneyd Brickworks in Nile Street Burslem and it became a public company in 1949. Manufacture of glazed bricks was a large branch of business for the Sneyd Colliery Brickworks. They made coloured and white glazed bricks which were used in many buildings all over the world

bullet They were used extensively in London, including many railway and underground stations

Bricks

bullet William purchased the Old Vicarage in Hanford. His widowed mother Ann Tellwright also lived there from the early 1920s until her death in 1949. She was active in local social and charitable circles and provided the swimming pool at Kibblestone camp

bullet William married Margaret Nicoll on 16 December 1939. The family supported many local causes and particularly the Haywood Hospital before it came under the NHS

bullet In 1944 William was instrumental in securing the land needed for the construction of Port Vale's new ground at Hamil Road

Old Vicarage

bullet William was a keen horseman and rode regularly with the North Staffs Hunt

North Staffs Hunt

bullet William was living at Stanley House, Primrose Hill in Hanford when he died in 1954. He left £199,966

bullet The managing directorship passed to his nephew and namesake William Tellwright

Stanley House

William Anthony Tellwright - Joseph's son

bullet Born 13/02/1928

bullet Died 23/10/1986

bullet He married Dora Jane Glazebrook in 1953

Wedding

Annie with her son Peter at William's wedding

bullet He rode from the age of four and loved hunting and was an amateur National Hunt jockey and trainer. He was joint master of the North Staffs Hunt for many years and an official at Uttoxeter racecourse

bullet He died aged 58, in a freak riding accident. A race was name after him, following his death

Death of William

bullet Brought up at New Park in Trentham, he was living at Park Springs Farm, Market Drayton when he died

bullet He was chairman of Sneyd Brickworks from about 1949. They recorded record profits in 1964. He left £222,497


(Joseph) Michael Tellwright (known as Michael) - Joseph's son

bullet Born 16/09/1929

bullet Died October 2019

bullet Studied medicine at Clare College, Cambridge

bullet Worked at Westminster Hospital, London (as his mother had done)

bullet In 1956 he married his wife Elizabeth in Harare


bullet By mid 1950s was back in Stoke on Trent working as a General Practitioner, with a practice in Hartshill. He retired in 1988

Michael and Elizabeth

Michael and Elizabeth taken at Maer

Peter Thain Tellwright - Joseph's son

bullet Born 9/1930 in Trentham

bullet Died 17/11/2020 Shropshire aged 90 yrs

bullet Racehorse breeder at Tyrley Castle Stud, Market Drayton,- bred Rebelline and Rock City


bullet Secretary of North Staffs Hunt for 25 years

Hunt Ball

Peter on the left and William on the right at the Hunt ball in 1958 from The Tatler

bullet His wife was Sylvia and they had two children

bullet He worked his entire career at Biltons

bullet He retired in 1986