| Description | Thomas Clarke Wild and his father, Thomas Wild, purchased the Albert Works, Longton in 1895, and traded as Thomas C Wild & Co, and then simply as Thomas C Wild after the death of Thomas senior in 1898. The Royal Albert brand was in use from c 1904. In 1905 Wild purchased the St. Mary's Works, Uttoxeter Road, Longton, and used the factory for decoration of pieces made at the Albert Works. In 1916 Chapmans, which produced the Royal Standard brand, was founded by Thomas Wild with William Chapman as a wholly owned subsidiary of Wild. In 1917 the company was renamed Thomas C Wild & Sons after his sons, Thomas E Wild and Frederick C Wild, joined the business. Thereafter the company continued to increase in size through a series of purchases and takeovers, including the Shore & Coggins Ltd business in 1918 and William Lowe in 1919. The business was incorporated as Thomas C. Wild & Sons Ltd in c1932
The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1947 but the Wild family remained in control of the business along with its subsidiaries, Roslyn China Ltd, Chapmans (Longton) Ltd, and Shore & Coggins Ltd. The company acquired Paragon China Ltd in 1960.
In 1964 the company was purchased by Lawleys Ltd becoming part of a new company, Allied English Potteries Ltd, but continued to trade as T C Wild. Kenneth Wild resigned as managing director in 1969 ending the family's association with the company and in 1970 AEP renamed their Wild subsidiary Royal Albert Ltd. Royal Doulton acquired the group in 1972 and Royal Albert Ltd continued to operate at the St Mary's Works under its new owner until 1998.Thereafter manufature of Royal Albert was transferred to other sites. Manufacture of Royal Albert continued under the new owner Wedgwood from 2005.
For further a summary of the company's history see http://www.potteryhistories.com/.
The surviving records are a good set of pattern books, including 2 for Royal Standard pottery. |