Dear agincourt 17
Many thanks for your further investigations and your very generous offer to donate your bowl to our Museum. Thanks also to your fellow expert and enthusiast, Paul S.
A bit more background on our local industry might be of interest:
The Tutbury Glass Company flourished in the first half of the 19th century under Henry Jackson's entrepreneurship making, it would seem, decent quality cut hand-blown glass, which was marketed with aggressive pricing principally around the East Midlands cities of Nottingham, Derby and Leicester, as well as in London. The second half of the century saw a separation of management and ownership (firstly under Jackson's widow and daughters, and then after a brief closure in 1880 in the hands of the local squirearchy, the Oswald Mosleys (forefathers of the later fascist leader). I sense that the product range became more utilitarian in this period, probably with a captive market in the licensed trade network of the great brewing houses in nearby Burton (Bass, Ind Coope, Marstons, etc.).
Things moved on with the 1906 acquisition of the business by Thomas Webb & Corbett Ltd (later renamed Webb Corbett Ltd) of Stourbridge, which had been founded in 1897 by one branch of the Webb family. Under the direction initially of George Harry Corbett, then Walter Guest and his son Paul. for the next sixty years the factory flourished again, making high quality cut crystal, marketed worldwide and gaining an international reputation. It operated in tandem with the Webb Corbett HQ site at Coalburnhill, Stourbridge. The factory dominated our village in both physical and employment terms, with over 200 employees at its peak, and was the main contributor to Webb Corbett Ltd's profitability. As trade conditions worsened in the late 1960's, Webb Corbett Ltd was acquired by Royal Doulton. The Tutbury factory was closed by Doulton in 1980, followed by Stourbridge some years later. However, two groups of local employees resurrected the Tutbury business in 1981/2, trading as Tutbury Crystal Glass Ltd and Georgian Crystal Ltd - both prospered for a while, but finally and sadly closed in 2006 and 2011 respectively.
As I said before, I wasn't aware that the Tutbury factory ever produced anything other than hand-blown glass, before your discovery (certainly not in its Webb Corbett days). I will ask around some of the ex-employees to check that I am not mistaken.
As regards the nearby factory in Hatton, this was started in the 1860's initially by an ex Jackson glassmaker, William Alexander Sivewright (who had also been the National Secretary of the Trades Union, the Flint Glass Makers' Friendly Society), then taken forward by J T H Richardson as the Royal Castle Glass Works. It appears to have flourished in the latter decades of the 19th century. In 1880 they were advertising as "Manufacturers of all kinds of Flint, Emerald & Ruby Glass, Cut & Engraved, for Home and Export Trade". The factory shut just after the turn of the century, but was restarted in 1910 by George Harry Corbett, who had broken away from Thomas Webb & Corbett Ltd, and set up on his own as Corbett & Co Ltd, taking many of the skilled employees with him, it would seem. After considerable vicissitudes in the next ten years, the Hatton factory then closed again in the early 1920's. It re-opened yet again after WW2 trading as Trent Valley Glassworks, running to 1983 - throughout this period, as I understand it, production was all semi-automated and pressed glass.
You may have sensed from my notes that our research project is primarily focused on what one might call the "corporate" and "social" history of the local industry, rather than the technical aspects of glassmaking or indeed of the glass itself. So please excuse our ignorance in the areas that may be your own prime interest and enthusiasm. Nevertheless, we would be delighted to welcome you at any time to the museum. I must add that it is a very modest, "amateur" affair - one small document room, and one small room of artefacts, including a cabinet of assorted glassware that villagers have passed on to us over the years. I do not know if there is anything of particular significance, though we do have some pieces by two locally celebrated engravers from the Hatton factory in the early 1900's. Perhaps you might be able to enlighten us... Tutbury itself is a historic village, something of a tourist attraction on its own account, and hopefully might merit a trip from mid Wales.
We look forward to further contact from you after your return from holiday.
Kind regards
Chris
Tutbury Museum