Ridgway Potteries Ltd

Ridgway Potteries had a celebrated history. You can trace the Ridgway family name back to the very earliest days of the Staffordshire potteries, along with Adams and Wedgwood.

In the 1800’s William and John took over the Cauldon Works, founded by their father Job Ridgway in 1802. John, taking the Cauldon works while William went his own way with the Bell works inherited from uncle George. John Ridgway, was appointed Potter to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, earning a high commendation at the 1851 Exhibition. You can’t get better acclaim than that as a potter.

The exhibition catalogue says Ridgway was: 'One of the largest and among the best conducted of the many factories of Staffordshire'. Ridgway established a School of Design and founded a scholarship which is still available today (see University of Manchester). However, all these accolades were not enough, and by the 1940’s The Ridgway Pottery was preparing to merger with the Booths & Colclough China Company (see above).

Royal Doulton acquired the two firms in the 1960’s. Some of the brands associated with the Ridgway Pottery / Colclough / Booths are Royal Vale, Royal Stanley, Royal Cauldon, Royal Adderley (floral and Figurine China factory), Royal Semi Porcelain and Portland (tea and dinner ware). China companies associated with the Ridgway Potteries Ltd in various capacities are Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co, E.W. Brain & Co. Ltd, Pountney & Co. Ltd and Booths Ltd (Booths & Colclough Ltd). For more on any of these companies go to the English manufacturers quick reference list which is on a separate page.