WOOD & SONS LTD

1910–1982 (Inc. 1910)

Manufacturer of earthenware at the Trent, New Wharf and Stanley Potteries, Burslem.

In 1865 the Wood & Sons business was established by Absalom Wood and his son T. F. Wood. The business first traded as Wood & Son, then as Wood & Sons (from c.1907) and was incorporated as Wood & Sons Ltd, in 1910. In 1921 Mr Harry F. Wood succeeded his father, T. F. Wood, as chairman and under his management Wood & Sons Ltd became a large and successful earthenware manufacturer. Associated companies included H. J. Wood Ltd (at the Alexandra Pottery, Burslem), Bursley Ltd (later renamed Susie Cooper Pottery Co. Ltd, at the Crown Pottery, Burslem) and the Ellgreave Pottery Co. Ltd (Ellgreave St, Burslem).

In 1954 the business became a public company under the style Wood & Sons (Holdings) Ltd, although Wood & Sons Ltd continued as the main operating company. In December 1981 the business went into receivership and was sold to members of the Yorke family (some of whom were Board members of the failed company). Under its new owners the business traded as Wood & Sons (1982) Ltd until its closure in 1995.

Wood & Sons Ltd and its subsidiaries produced a vast array of well designed, good quality earthenware for the middle market. The company produced mainly teaware, tableware, fancy earthenware and hotelware. Ivorine China, a semi-porcelain body, was produced in the 1930s and from the 1940s ‘Beryl Ware’—tableware in a green coloured body—was popular. Trade names included ‘Wood’s Ware’, ‘Bursley Ware’, ‘Woods Ivory Ware’ and ‘Ivorine China’.