Wedgwood Memorial Institute, Burslem and Tunstall School of Science and Art
Other names: Wedgwood Institute, Burslem School of Art
Foundation date: April 1869
Active: 1869 - 1960
Function: Art school
History or description: A proposal for an Institute that would honour the memory of Josiah Wedgwood was made by the Earl of Carlisle at a town meeting in Burselm on the 27 January 1859. This called for funds for 'the purpose of creating a public building to be called "The Wedgwood Institute," comprising a Free Library, a School of Art and a museum' [summary '"Wedgwood Instiute" A public meeting' (1859)].
The 'laying of the foundation stone' of the Institute is recorded as being on the 26 October 1863 [see 'The Wedgwood Institute Burslem, The Laying of the Foundation Stone, 1863, and 'Copy of an Address presented to the Rt. Hon. W.E. Gladstone, M.P.', 26 October, 1863].
A copy of an address entitled 'Opening of the Wedgwood Institute'(21 April 1869)notes that the Institute would provide education in science and art for local students. It also notes that to that until the Institute's foundation, local manufacturers were only able to meet foreign competition in manufacturing by importing 'foreign'workmen [summary].
Prizes listed for modelling from 1872.
In the Annual Report (1872-73)the number of students attending the modelling class is reported as 'steadily in increasing' [summary].
In 1892 the Burslem Corporation took over the Instiute and new Technological Schools were opened. In 1909 a new reading room opened [see Warrillow (1960), pp. 287-288].
Activities: art classes, exhibitions (open to non-members)
Publications: annual reports, exhibition catalogues, reports
Employees, Students & Members
Numbers: 400
Period Start: 1898
Period End: 1899
Locations
Met at Burslem Town Hall Burslem Stoke-on-Trent | View on map
1872 - 1894
School located at Wedgwood Institute Burslem | View on map
1873 (Presumed)
Exhibitions, Courses, Meetings and other Events
Organized Modelling Classes (from Drawings and Casts, and from Nature) (Wedgwood Memorial Institute, Burslem and Tunstall School of Science and Art), 1869-1898
1869 - 1898
Classes first listed in reports from 1872. Prizes for modelling listed from 1869.
Organized Art Exhibition at Alton Towers, 1865
July 1865 (Presumed) - September 1865 (Presumed)
Institutional and Business Connections
Received prize from J. Maddock and Sons
1871 - 1872
Listed as offering prizes for Modelling.
Received prize from A. Boulton
1871 - 1872
Received prize from H.J. Hope
1871 - 1872
Associated People
Assistant principals included H. Brampton
1893 - 1894
Listed as the 'Second Master' of the Art Department.
Assistant teachers included Joseph Parr
1869 (Circa)
Assistant teachers included H. Wallace
1880 (Circa) - 1890 (Circa)
See Haggar (1953), p. 27.
Assistant teachers included J. Podmore
1893 - 1894
Assistant teachers included A.M. Theaker
1893 - 1894
Chaired by W.E. Twigg
1865 (Presumed)
It is unclear whether Twigg was Chairman of the executive committee of the Wedgwood Institute or the organising committee of an exhibition at Alton Towers in 1865; he is listed as 'Chairman' in a document relating to the exhibition [see 'Art Exhibition at Alton Towers' (June 1865)].
Chaired by Harry T. Davenport
1872 - 1882
Listed as Chairman and Treasurer.
Chaired by William Woodall
1893 (Presumed) - 1894 (Presumed)
Employees included Richard Arthur Ledward
See Wilkinson 'Ceramic Artists' (2007), p. 92.
Gave prize to Richard Davenport
1898
Note that it is unclear whether this prize was awarded by the Wedgwood Institute or for a national competition from the report; it is more likely that the prize came from a central London examining board as the prizes are described as having been 'sent', but no recieving organisation or address is specified. Davenport was awarded a bronze medal [see 'Annual Meeting and Prize Distribution' (8 December 1898)].
Honorary secretary was William Woodall
1865 (Presumed)
Honorary secretary was John Wilcox Edge
1872 - 1873
Honorary secretary was Thomas Furnival
1873 - 1874
Honorary secretary was F.M. Julian
1874 - 1882
Members of committee included William Woodall
1865 - 1882
Members of committee included Thomas Dalwood Hulme
1872 - 1882
Members of committee included John Hope
1872 - 1875
Members of committee included J. Maddock
1872 - 1882
Members of committee included W. Adams
1873 - 1876
Members of committee included T. Blackshaw
1873 - 1882
Members of committee included W. Boulton
1873 - 1881
Members of committee included E. Clarke
1873 - 1876
Members of committee included A. Dean
1873 - 1878
Members of committee included Joseph Edge
1873 - 1882
Members of committee included John Wilcox Edge
1873 - 1882
Members of committee included R. Emery
1873 - 1875
Members of committee included G.W. Garlick
1873 - 1894
Members of committee included T.S. Pinder
1873 - 1882
Members of committee included A. Shaw
1873 - 1882
Members of committee included F. Tennant
1873 - 1894
Members of committee included E. Walley
1873 - 1882
Members of committee included John Watkin
1873 - 1878
Members of committee included Thomas Hughes
1874 - 1882
Members of committee included Thomas Furnival
1875 - 1876
Members of committee included A. Ellis
1877 - 1882
Members of committee included J.C. Fowler
1877 - 1879
Members of committee included J.P. Guy
1877 - 1894
Members of committee included Thomas Wolstanton Hulme
1877 - 1881
Members of committee included Lawton
1877 - 1882
Members of committee included Warwick Savage
1877 - 1882
Members of committee included J. Beardmore
1879 - 1894
Members of committee included P.J. Hendren
1879 - 1882
Members of committee included J. Malkin
1879 - 1882
Members of committee included W.C.L. Christien
1880 - 1882
Members of committee included A. Waston
1880 - 1881
Members of committee included E.J.D. Bodley
1881 - 1882
Members of committee included Thomas Porthill Hulme
1881 - 1882
Members of committee included C. Linley
1881 - 1882
Members of committee included J.M. Taylor
1881 - 1894
Members of committee included A. Watton
1881 - 1882
Members of committee included F.M. Julian
1893 (Presumed) - 1894 (Presumed)
Presidents included K.G. Granville
1872 - 1882
Presidents included C.M. Campbell
1873 - 1874
Principals included George Theaker
1869 - 1894 (Probable)
Headmaster of Art Department.
Haggar gives dates of 1869 to 1900 [see Haggar (1953), p. 50].
Students included Sidney Keates Cope
See Haggar (1953), p. 40.
Students included Samuel Joseph Cartlidge
1871 (Presumed)
Students included Colin Marsh
1880 (Circa) - 1900 (Circa)
See Haggar (1953), p. 28.
Students included William Moorcroft
1880 (Circa) - 1900 (Circa)
See Haggar (1953), p. 28.
Students included John Phillips Steele
1885 (Circa) - 1900 (Circa)
Haggar (1953), p. 28 and p. 49.
Students included Septimus Bennett
1886 - 1888
See Haggar (1953), p. 38.
Students included Arthur Charles Eaton
1887 - 1892
See Haggar (1953), p. 41.
Students included George Allen Buttle
1893 - 1896
See Haggar (1953), p. 39.
Students included Richard Davenport
1898 (Presumed)
Teachers included Richard Arthur Ledward
See Wilkinson 'Ceramic Artists' (2007), p. 92.
Teachers included J. Bishop
1873 - 1874
Assistant teacher; class not specified but possibly modelling tutor [see Wedgwood Institute Annual Report 1873-74, p. 16].
Teachers included Joseph Parr
1873 - 1881
Assistant teacher; class not specified but possibly modelling tutor [see Wedgwood Institute Annual Report 1873-74, p. 16].
Teachers included B. Askew
1876 - 1877
Assistant teacher; class not specified but possibly modelling tutor [see Wedgwood Institute Annual Report 1876-77, p. 23].
Teachers included G. Hardy
1876 - 1877
Assistant teacher; class not specified but possibly modelling tutor [see Wedgwood Institute Annual Report 1876-77, p. 23].
Teachers included E. Leigh
1877 - 1883
Assistant teacher; class not specified but possibly modelling tutor [see Wedgwood Institute Annual Report 1877-78, p. 19].
Teachers included J. Huxley
1878 - 1880
Assistant teacher; class not specified but possibly modelling tutor [see Wedgwood Institute Annual Report 1878-79, p. 19].
Teachers of modeling included James F. Marsh
1874 - 1883
Assistant teacher; class not specified [see Wedgwood Institute Annual Report 1873-74, p. 16]. Haggar lists him as modelling tutor [Haggar (1953), p. 27].
Teachers of modeling included Charles Edmund Theaker
1900 (Circa)
See Haggar (1953), p. 28.
Vice-chaired by John Wilcox Edge
1893 (Presumed) - 1894 (Presumed)
Sources
A Sociological History of the City of Stoke-on-Trent, 1960
1960
p. 285.
Art Exhibition at Alton Towers, 1865
March 1865
p. 1.
Art Exhibition at Alton Towers. In aid of the funds for completing the erection of The Wedgwood Institute, 1865
June 1865
pp. 1-3.
Burslem School of Art, undated (c. 1911-1935) Burslem School of Art, 1911-1935
p. 1.
Opening of the Wedgwood Institute, copy of Address, 1869 Burslem Wedgwood Memorial Committee
21 April 1869
p. 1.
The Wedgwood Institute Reports of the Schools of Science and Art for the year 1871-1872, 1872
30 September 1872
The Wedgwood Institute Reports of the Schools of Science and Art for the year 1872-1873, 1873
30 September 1873
The Wedgwood Institute Reports of the Schools of Science and Art for the year 1873-1874, 1874
8 October 1874
p. 1.
The Wedgwood Institute Reports of the Schools of Science and Art for the year 1874-1875, 1875
14 December 1875
The Wedgwood Institute Reports of the Schools of Science and Art for the year 1875-1876, 1876
15 November 1876
The Wedgwood Institute Reports of the Schools of Science and Art for the year 1876-1877, 1877
17 September 1877
The Wedgwood Institute Reports of the Schools of Science and Art for the year 1877-1878, 1878
30 October 1878
The Wedgwood Institute Reports of the Schools of Science and Art for the year 1878-1879, 1879
11 September 1879
The Wedgwood Institute Reports of the Schools of Science and Art for the year 1879-1880, 1880
24 November 1880
The Wedgwood Institute Reports of the Schools of Science and Art for the year 1880-1881, 1881
13 October 1881
The Wedgwood Institute Reports of the Schools of Science and Art for the year 1881-1882, 1882
19 October 1882
The Wedgwood Institute, Burslem. The Laying of the Foundation Stone, 26 October 1863
26 November 1863 (Presumed)
p. 1.
Wedgwood Institute Public Meeting, Town Hall, Burslem, 27 January 1859
27 January 1859 (Presumed)
pp. 1-4.
Wedgwood Institute. Schools of Science Art and Technology. Annual Meeting and Prize Distribution, 8 December 1898
8 December 1898
pp. 1-5.
Citing this record
'Wedgwood Memorial Institute, Burslem and Tunstall School of Science and Art', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/organization.php?id=msib4_1219053765, accessed 30 Sep 2023]
