Potter Families in the Blackwater Valley
page in preparation by Peter Tipton, Feb 2008
As documentary research progresses it is becoming clear that certain families dominated the production of Borderware pottery in the Blackwater Valley.
In the 17th century the main families appear to be:
More key family surnames may yet emerge, but it is already apparent that there was a web of intermarriages between the families of skilled potters. If we encounter surnames which are not one of the three listed above, a little research often reveals that the potter was married to a daughter of one of the key families.
In the 18th & 19th centuries the key families appear to be:
The reason that the pottery skills were closely controlled by the key families may be because there was no guild of potters. Therefore to protect family livelihoods, and financial prospects over several generations, it seems likely that keeping the skills, and the markets, within a few dominant families was a contemporary strategy to enhance family prosperity. The apparent dominance of certain potter families is therefore a key topic for research
Invitation to Family Historians
If the family you are researching has any one of the above surnames, and if you know for sure that they originate from Cove, Farnborough, Frimley or Hawley, and may have included potters, please contact us since we should like to exchange information with you.
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