Description:In the early 1800s the Parish of Burslem was responsible for organising poor relief for the townspeople.
Local printer John Tregortha regularly produced an account of all out-of-work potters in the area, plus numbers of all known people in need.
The Festive Season?
It must have been a grim Christmas for many of the workers whose details also appear on the list for January 1813.
At this time, the situation was desperate. Many years of war with France had damaged British trade with Europe. This was because the French emperor Napoleon had banned all British goods from entering European ports.
No trade meant no work for many of Burslem's potters. The situation was made worse by three years of bad harvests, which led to shortages of food and high prices at market.
An appeal to employers
At the bottom of these notices, local manufacturers were urged to find opportunities for unemployed workers whose details were published as follows:
George Barnett - C.W. Turner;
Thomas Cartledge - Printer;
John Child - Turner;
Samuel Elkin - Presser;
Ralph Greatbach - Odd Man;
Thomas Heath - Turner;
John Moreton - Handler;
Simpson Turner - Presser;
William Wilson - Plate Maker;
Thomas Wakefield - Odd Man;
James Jones - Saggar Maker;
William Bloor - Turner;
George Walton - Plate Maker;
William Turner - Slip Maker;
Thomas Ashworth - Odd Man;
Ephraim Tomkinson - Presser;
Joseph Baddeley - Turner;
John Woodhall - Crate Maker;
Mary Adams - Painter;
Mary Brooks - Lathe Turner;
Ann Edge - Wheel Turner;
Sarah Harrison - Painter;
Maria Holdcott - Lathe Turner;
Ann Plant - Painter;
Mary Wedgwood - C.S. Maker;
Lettice Walker - Transferer;
Mary Wilson - Lathe Turner;
Ann Benett - Painter;
Hannah Reeves - Lathe Turner;
Sarah Reeves - Painter;
William Collinson - Turner;
Lucy Douglass - Lathe Turner;
Martha Everal - Lathe Turner;
Jacob Hall - Blacksmith;
Joseph Keen - Turner;
Hannah Knight - Lathe Turner;
Ann Owen - Baller;
Sarah Matthews - Lathe Turner;
Elizabeth Plant - Painter;
Amy Plant - Painter;
Samuel Salmon - Turner;
Samuel Tomkinson - Turner;
Hannah Tomkinson - Wheel Turner;
William Ashworth - W.H. Man;
William Harding - Labourer;
Lydia Lee - Painter;
John Bagshaw - Handler;
Richard Steel - Handler;
Mary Steel - Painter;
James Hassall - Plate Maker;
Priscilla Lees - C.S. Maker;
William Meir - Labourer;
Thomas Cartledge - Handler;
Jane Elkin - W. woman;
Sarah Beckett - Lathe Turner;
Josiah Taylor - Odd Man;
Thirsa Skinner - Painter;
Rose Ashworth - Painter;
Sarah Cartwright - Lathe Turner;
John Dunn - Saggar Maker;
William Richardson - Plate maker;
Josiah Taylor - Odd man;
Thomas Walklett - Fire man;
Ann Taylor - Lathe turner;
Matilda Shenton - Lathe Turner;
William Morris - Slip Maker;
Podmore - Glazier;
Sampson Parton - Fire man.
About this document
Pottery manufacturer Enoch Wood kept this document in his own scrapbook, which is now among the collections of Stoke-on-Trent Museums. Whether he managed to find work for Burslem's unemployed, we do not know.