Re. 'bull's head piano foot' RD 309902, registered 4 May 1877- Parcel 4. Registrant on online summary at TNA given as The Regent Flint Glass Co [John Derbyshire] of Regent Road, Manchester.
Listed and described on Neil's Manchester Glass website, but no pics:
https://sites.google.com/site/molwebbhistory/Home/registered-designs/derbyshire-brothers-designs-by-date/derbyshire-brothers-1875-1877Neil has a note that
John Derbyshire was declared bankrupt in 1876, a situation which persisted for some years. The factory was taken over by other glass manufacturers who had no known track record in making artistic items. The two designs registered below [RDs 308667 of 21 March 1877 and 309902 of 4 May 1877 look sufficiently ornate to be connected to John Derbyshire.
and at
https://sites.google.com/site/molwebbhistory/Home/history/appendix-b---decline-manchester-glass-companiesIn May 1876, John Derbyshire dissolved his partnership with an Elric Birch at Regent Road and was declared bankrupt. He was finally discharged from bankrupt status in 1881 at which time he was listed as of "no occupation." He later emigrated to Australia.
The business at Regent Road underwent a bewildering sequence of partnerships and dissolutions. In 1877 it was dissolved again, this time listed as a partnership between Edwin Henry Downs and Richard Walton. Downs, a glass and china merchant, and also a hotel proprietor in Bolton, shared the same fate as John Derbyshire and was declared bankrupt in early 1881 due to property transactions gone bad.
It is suspected that James Derbyshire took over the Salford works at some point in the 1880s, once more making it a family concern. The factory went under the name of James Derbyshire & Sons, but in fact it was sons-in-law Herbert Whitehurst and Geroge William Plummer, who later took over the business when James died in 1889.
A further dissolution occurred in November 1891 with the business being run by a trio of Herbert Whitehurst, Geroge William Plummer, and William Moss. This business partnership also listed a glass works at 248 City Road Hulme amongst their assets, the first glass business of James Derbyshire.
In 1892, an Arthur Sinclair bought the business from George William Plummer and the company became public listed, trading under the name of "James Derbyshire & Sons." A couple of Derbyshire family members were included on the initial share register but they no longer had control of the company. Sinclair's business lasted for no more than a year when it folded again in 1893, with the major glass company of Davidsons known to have bought some of the Derbyshire moulds later in the year. This looks like the last sign of activity from the Regent Road works, though the name of "James Derbyshire & Sons" was not officially dissolved until 1907. The glass works that the company once owned in Hulme was sold on and was still in operation by 1910, run under the name of "Wood & James."
Regent Road, Salford, Manchester still exists (though obviously much redeveloped into a dual carriageway) and links the A57(M) from Manchester City Centre with the M602, but I'm not really sure of the exact address on Regent Road where the glass works would have been located. Perhaps Neil can help?
Fred.
Topic: Bull's Head Piano Foot Reg. 309902 dated 04.05.1877 (Read 1436 times)
