Jack Raleigh, seen here in the early 1950s with employees of the Benthall Fireclay Co. Ltd.
Image: Shropshire Star, 19 December 2007 (reader’s photograph)
John “Jack” Raleigh (1887–1971)
Active at the Benthall Pottery Company: 1929–1934
Born at Featherstone, near Wakefield, west Yorkshire, on 1 May 1887, John Raleigh, known as “Jack”, was the son of Francis Raleigh (1859–1936), a coal miner, and Anna Maria Raleigh, née Millington (b.c1859). His parents were both born at Bradley (say: brade-lee), near Wolverhampton, south Staffordshire.
The 1891 census records Francis and Anna Raleigh living in Rogerstone, near Newport, south Wales, with their four-year-old son and baby daughter, Catherine. Francis Raleigh continued to work as a coal miner.
Ten years later, at the time of the 1901 census, the family was living in Bedminster, a district of Bristol, south-west England. Jack Raleigh, aged 14, was a baker’s assistant, his father had become an insurance agent, and he had six sisters born at two-year intervals (Catherine 10, Elizabeth 8, Minnie 6, Miriam 4, Sarah 2, Dorothy 7 months).
Family notes record that by 1904 the Raleighs had moved to Shropshire and were living at Stafford Road, Oakengates, near Wellington.
Jack Raleigh, aged 23, married Kate Eleanor Bransfield (1881–1930), aged 29, on 29 October 1910, at Edmonton, London. Their marriage certificate records his occupation as “commission agent”.
The 1911 census describes Jack Raleigh as an insurance agent for the Liverpool Victoria Life Insurance Company. At the time of the census, he was visiting his parents at their Oakengates address.
The period 1911–1929 is sketchy, but it’s presumed that Jack Raleigh’s insurance career prospered, since on 10 May 1929 he was in a position to buy the Benthall Pottery Company for £3,000 from Donald Prestage. The sale agreement describes Jack Raleigh as an “insurance broker”, resident at Madeley, Shropshire, and notes that the business was incorporated on 13 June 1929 as the "Benthall and Ironbridge Pottery Company Ltd.”.
It was during Raleigh's tenure as owner of the Benthall and Ironbridge Pottery Company Ltd. that an undated (c.1930) trade catalogue was published. However, the business was in decline. An Extraordinary General Meeting was held on 28 April 1930 and a resolution was passed allowing money to be borrowed against the mortgage value of the company’s property.
Jack Raleigh, seen here in the early to mid-1950s with a neice and a Daimler (?) car, standing outside a factory believed to be in the Benthall/Broseley area.
Image: courtesy of the Raleigh family
1930 was a difficult year for Jack Raleigh. Not only was his new business venture struggling, but his wife, Kate, died in the spring of that year, aged 49.
On 18 September 1934, the Benthall and Ironbridge Pottery Company Ltd. was dissolved (as announced in the London Gazette).
Despite the failure of the Benthall and Ironbridge Pottery Company Ltd., Jack Raleigh continued in business in Benthall. In the post-war period he was owner of the Benthall Fireclay Co. Ltd., which operated from the same buildings as his former business. This would appear to be the company known locally as “Raleigh’s Pipes”, which manufactured ceramic drainpipes. However, this was another short-lived business which is reported to have gone into liquidation c.1954.
On 8 April 1957, shortly before his 70th birthday, Jack Raleigh, remarried. The marriage certificate records him as a retired company director, living at the Manor House, Hughley, Much Wenlock, Shropshire. His new wife was Anna Edith Rason (1893–1963), of Church Street, Broseley, and they were married at Eskdaleside-cum-Ugglebarnby, Whitby, north Yorkshire. Anna was the daughter of Sir Cornthwaite Rason (1858–1927), who was briefly the seventh Premier of Western Australia (1905–1906).
Three days after their wedding, on 11 April 1957, Jack and Anna Raleigh emigrated to Australia, sailing from London to Adelaide on board the P&O liner SS Arcadia. They lived at Nairne, South Australia, where they both died (Anna, 24 April 1963, aged 77; Jack, 29 November 1971, aged 84).
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Selected sources
Agreement between Donald Prestage and Jack Raleigh for the sale of the Benthall Pottery Company, 10 May 1929 (Shropshire Archives, 1681/190/10)
Extraordinary General Meeting resolution for the raising of money against the mortgage value of the company’s property, 28 April 1930 (Shropshire Archives, 1681/190/18)
Benthall and Ironbridge Pottery Company Ltd. dissolved: London Gazette, 18 September 1934
Liquidation of “Raleigh’s Pipes”: Shropshire Star, 26 January 2008
Raleigh family history from Joan Holland, niece of Jack Raleigh (pers. comm., May 2015)