| Administrative History | A pottery at Whittington Moor was bought by William Johnson upon the dissolution of the previous partnership in 1807; a second pottery, in Newbold, was acquired in 1810. William bequeathed the firm to his wife, Catherine Johnson (nee Pearson).
By 1851, Catherine’s brother, James Jarvis Pearson, was the owner of a firm now employing 45 males and 20 females.
When James died in 1864, he left his estate, including two potteries and land in Brampton and Newbold, in trust for his children. When James' youngest son, Arthur, reached the age of 21 years, the estate would go to the children, with James’s brother Theophulis retaining a share.
Therefore, the Trustees, James’s brother Theophulis and friend John Reed, kept the businesses running for the intervening period. Under their stewardship, Theophulis expanded the business in 1875 when buying land and property on Pottery Lane from the Duke of Devonshire.
The Trust was realised in 1881, with Theophulis retaining control of the Whittington site; and the Brampton site being run by James junior. However, it would be the latter who would expand the business over the coming decade, with acquisition of the Oldfield Pottery and the London Pottery, both in Brampton, in 1884 and 1888 respectively.
In the early 1890s, the second son, Johnson Pearson, took over the pottery. In 1922, with Johnson’s passing, the youngest brother, Theophilus took over the business, turning it into a limited company, Pearson & Co. (Chesterfield) Ltd.
Other subsidiary companies formed or taken over by Pearson & Co include Chesterfield Fireclays Co Ltd; Derbyshire Refractories Ltd; Abbeydale New Bone China Co Ltd of Duffield; and Ault Potteries Ltd of Church Gresley.
In 1939, the Oldfield Pottery, still trading as James Pearson Ltd., merged with Pearson & Co, and consolidated at the Whittington Moor Potteries.
During the Second World War one portion of the factory was commandeered to produce shells. However, the company’s most popular product at this time was Royal Navy's rum bottles, with the one-gallon size being most in demand.
Theophilus Pearson had no descendants to leave the pottery to, so upon his death in 1959, the company went to his in-laws, the Short family.
In August 1964, Trevor Roberts, originally from Chesterfield but residing in London, bought the firm for over £500,000. The new owner would obtain orders for more specialised lines as well as the traditional stone-ware pots. The new ranges included pub grub pottery and specially designed soup bowls for a national restaurant chain: They also won an order from the milk marketing board for 102,000 cheese containers for Stilton, made at Hartington. Other major orders were from national chain stores & Harrods of London for which they supplied a range of cooking utensils.
However, the early 1980s brought financial problems and by September 1983 the company went into receivership. Over the next nine months, the workforce fell from 240 to 57 staff.
By 1991, Pearson & Co Ltd was bought by the Staffordshire Moira Pottery. However, within three years the new firm went into voluntary liquidation, with their assets bought by Swindon-based potters Cloverleaf. The machinery was moved to Cloverleaf Group's potteries, T. G. Green at Church Gresley. Production finally ceased in 1994. |
| Custodial History | Donated via Chesterfield Museum January 2005 |