| Administrative History | In 1809 a stoneware pottery had been founded at Denby by a Mr Jager, following the discovery of beds of fine stoneware clay during the building of the Derby-Alfreton Road. Joseph Bourne (1788-1860) was the son of William Bourne (1747-1823) who had operated a stoneware pottery at Belper from about 1800. In 1812 Joseph Bourne had taken over the factory at Denby, and the two potteries were run together until the closure of the Belper Pottery in 1834. Joseph Bourne also took over the Codnor Park Pottery in 1833 (which was closed in 1861), and the Shipley Pottery in 1845 (which closed in 1856). The potteries produced common brown ware, such as bottles, bowls and jugs. Joseph Bourne was a great innovator and took out several patents relating to the improvements of kilns and firing processes. He later took into partnership his son Joseph Harvey Bourne (1819-1869), the firm being styled Joseph Bourne and Son.
After the death of Joseph Harvey Bourne in 1869, his widow, Sarah Elizabeth Bourne (nee Topham), was sole proprietor of the firm until her death in 1898, during which time the firm continued to prosper, thanks largely to her business acumen. She was succeeded as owner by her two nephews, Joseph Bourne-Wheeler and Joseph Henry Topham, the latter withdrawing from the partnership in 1907. The firm retained a strong family identity, not only with the Bournes as owners, but also several generations of families among the workforce and management, including the Wood and Dale families.
The business was incorporated on 23 May 1916 as a limited liability company called Joseph Bourne and Son Ltd, with Joseph Bourne-Wheeler as Governing Director, a position he held until his death in 1942. He was replaced by Joseph Wood, who had been General Manager for many years, becoming Managing Director, and also Chairman after the death of Mrs Florence Bourne-Wheeler in 1948. He, particularly with the help of his son, Norman D. Wood, set in motion a programme for the modernisation, and later, the reconstruction of the Denby Pottery. Norman D Wood later became Managing Director and Chairman. The emphasis in products changed during the 20th century from containers to domestic tableware, particularly oven-to-tableware.
In March 1970 the company was purchased by Minster Trust Ltd and floated as a public company under the new name of Denbyware Ltd. At around the same time it acquired an American company called Millard-Norman Co, which had sold and distributed Denby ware in the United States for the previous ten years. Denbyware Ltd was a holding company and all manufacturing and trading activities were carried on by subsidiary companies, including a new company called Joseph Bourne and Son Ltd.
Langley Pottery was established in 1865 by James Calvert, producing unglazed domestic goods and artware. He was later joined in 1883 by Albert Lovatt and John Lovatt, who then traded as Calvert and Lovatt. After the retirement of Mr Calvert in 1895, the business became known as Lovatt & Lovatt. It was incorporated as a subsidiary of James Oakes (Riddings) Ltd on 8 April 1931, being an established business manufacturing bricks, saltglaze stoneware and ornamental pottery. On 21 October 1959 Bourne's acquired Lovatt's Potteries Ltd and later closed the brickworks and saltglaze stoneware sections and raised the quality of the ornamental pottery products. The pottery at Langley was closed in 1982.
In 1975 Denbyware Ltd and Langley Pottery Ltd were combined into one operation called Denby Tableware Ltd. In 1981 Denby Tableware Ltd was acquired by the Crown House Group, which was in turn acquired by Coloroll plc in 1987. |
| Custodial History | The records were deposited in the Derbyshire Record Office between November 1987 and March 1988. |