WHITE Frederick James

See the Potteries List section for the Baptist Mills Pottery and the Fishponds Pottery.

Baptist Mills Pottery

The Pottery had previously been run by Joseph Augustus White, who died in 1875.

1875-90

Frederick James White ran the Baptist Mills Pottery. From 1875 to 1880 the Pottery traded as J.A. White. From 1881 to 1890 it traded as J. & J. White.

The Pottery was advertised to let in October 1885, although it carried on operating under Frederick James White until it was acquired by the City Council in 1890 as part of the River Frome flood prevention scheme.

Fishponds Pottery

In 1885 Frederick James White advertised a redware pottery to let in Fishponds, Gloucestershire. It is not known how long he had been associated with that Pottery. In the 1891 census he was described as a potter of Rodford, Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, which was a short distance to the north-east of Fishponds.  In 1889 F.J. White & Co. of the Pottery, Yate, advertised for a secondhand brick press.

 

Born c1839 in Stapleton, the son of Joseph White II and the brother of James White II and Joseph Augustus White.

1851	Aged 12, living with his parents and siblings at 2 Lower Ashley Road, St Philip’s parish (51C).
1861	Partner with his brother William Daniel White in the business of pipe manufacturing and carriers (22), living with his brother at Brookland House, St Philip’s parish (61C).
	Between 1861 and 1869 he emigrated to St John, New Brunswick, Canada, with his father Joseph White II and his brother James Alfred White. They took over the Courtney Bay Pottery at Crouchville. He returned to Bristol and carried on the Baptist Mills Pottery after the death of his brother Joseph Augustus White in 1875.
1877	5 Jan. During serious flooding, the pottery of Mr White, at the commencement of Mina Road, was inundated to a depth of several feet (Western Daily Press).
1877	6 Apr. In the Equity from Teignmouth, clay, for the Baptist Mills Pottery (Western Daily Press).
1881	Potter, Stapleton Road, Stapleton (42), living with his wife Frances (43), born in Barnstaple, Devon, and children Francis (12), Charles (10), Ernest (8), William (6), all born in Canada, and Alfred (4), Frances (3) and Frederick (1), all born in St George, and Alice Neat (19), domestic servant (81C).
1881-82	J. & J. White, Millpond Street, Baptist Mills, stone and earthenware manufacturer, etc (WD).
1882	18 Sep. ‘On Saturday afternoon, notice was received at the chief fire station, Bridewell Street, that a fire had broken out at Baptist Mills Pottery, the property of Messrs J. and J. White.  The brigade from the Central Station attended, with a manual engine, and the police from St Philip’s station, and on arriving it was found that a part of the roof of the kiln house had been on fire. The fire, however, was extinguished by the workmen before the arrival of the brigade.  Part of the roof of the kiln house was burnt, and one of the kilns was slightly damaged. The conflagration was caused by the overheating of the kiln on the ground floor. The building is insured with the Scottish National and Provincial Office’ (Bristol Mercury).
1882	23 Nov. Severe flooding at Baptist Mills. ‘On Monday, at four p.m., the flood entered the pottery mill adjoining the bridge and stopped the work. It continued rising all night, and on Tuesday morning stood at a level of 5 feet 6 inches inside the mill … and about 12 or 13 feet above the ordinary level of the river [Frome]. The pottery mill was occupied by workmen on Thursday morning’ (Bristol Mercury).
1883-90	J. & J. White, Pottery, Millpond Street, Baptist Mills (WD).
1884	5 Dec. The Bristol Sanitary Committee discussed the possibility of purchasing the Baptist Mills Pottery to alleviate flooding, but thought that it would be too expensive (Western Daily Press).
1885	3 Oct. ‘To let, convenient redware pottery, Fishponds; good clay; low rent. Frederick White, Baptist Mills’ (Bristol Mercury).
1888	15 Nov. Floods on the River Frome: ‘At the Baptist Mills end of Mina Road the water rose to the height of several feet, and some houses between Fox Lane and Millpond Street were flooded. At Messrs White’s pottery a mass of clay was washed away, and the works had to be stopped. The mill hatches were raised and the water wheel was thrown out of gear, and the action of Messrs White in this respect had an appreciable effect in facilitating the flow of water’ (Bristol Mercury).
1889	28 Mar. Correspondence concerning the recent flood: ‘The important thing is to get control of the river at Baptist Mills by purchasing the pottery works at once, and prevent the floods to which the city is liable at any moment unless some steps dictated by common sense are taken by the city authorities without delay’ (Western Daily Press).
1889	29 Jun. ‘Wanted. Brick press, secondhand, must be in good condition and cheap. F.J. White & Co., Pottery, Yate (Western Daily Press).
1889	It was reported that the Froom Culvert Committee had entered into an arrangement for the purchase of White’s Pottery at Baptist Mills, in connection with their scheme for preventing the flooding of the river (Western Daily Press).
1890	18 Apr. The Flood Committee charged with alleviating the River Frome floods and to undertake flood prevention work agreed to obtain possession of White’s Pottery (Bristol Mercury).
1890	23 Dec. Conveyance of a house known as Porch House, Baptist Mills, between Frederick James White, Baptist Mills, potter, and Henry Huddlestone Howes, accountant, of the first part, and the Mayor and Aldermen of the second part for £400 (BRO 01789(12)). On 10 June 1879 this property had been described as ‘all that piece of land adjoining Baptist Mills Pottery, and the buildings thereon, formerly known as Portch House, but now used as a storehouse’ (Western Daily Press).
1891	3 Feb. At a meeting of the Floods Committee it was agreed to remove White’s Pottery and straighten the course of the River Frome (Western Daily Press). The pottery was being demolished during February and March 1891 when various advertisements appear from the demolition contractors selling off secondhand tiles, paving, timber, 16 very large granite stones, etc. (Western Daily Press).
1891	Potter, Rodford, Westerleigh, Gloucestershire (52), living with his wife Frances (50), and children (91C).
1893	He left Bristol and established a business in Denver, Colorado. This was a small business for making fine stoneware, but a depression set in just about the time he arrived in Denver, and for some years the family experienced financial difficulties (Collard, E. 1967. Nineteenth-century pottery and porcelain in Canada. Montreal: McGill University Press, 425, footnote 37).
1930	6 Oct. ‘Deaths … On October 3, at Muswell Hill, N10, after a short illness, William Allan White, aged 56, and on June 16, 1929, at Denver, Colorado, Alfred Northcote White, aged 53, sons of the late F.J. White of Baptist Mills Pottery, and brothers of C.J. White, 16 Surrey Road, Bristol’ (Western Daily Press).