Person    | Male  Born 16/11/1839  Died 15/1/1917

William de Morgan

Categories: Craft / Design, Literature

Potter, tile designer and novelist. Born 69 Gower Street as William Frend de Morgan, to the mathematician Augustus de Morgan.

Lifelong friend of William Morris, he designed tiles, stained glass and furniture for Morris & Co. 1863 - 72. Had a kiln in his studio at 40 Fitzroy Square but in 1872 he had to leave having burnt the roof off. He moved to 8 Great Cheyne Row (now Cheyne Row) where he built a pottery kiln in the garden. A London Inheritance says the site is that now occupied by the church Our Most Holy Redeemer and St. Thomas More.

In 1873, when he needed a bigger kiln he rented Orange House, almost next door. In 1882 he moved the pottery business to Merton Abbey, Wimbledon (somewhere near this Nelson memorial but we can't find an address), and in 1888 moved the business again to Sand’s End Pottery, Townmead Road, Fulham.

He married the painter Evelyn Pickering in 1887 and moved to 1 The Vale, King's Road, Chelsea. In 1888 he went into partnership with Halsey Ricardo.

1907 the fashion for his type of product had ended. He retired from potting and became a novelist, very successfully. In 1910 he and his wife moved to their last home at 127 Church Street, Chelsea, and it was here he died, followed 5 days later by Evelyn.

Cannon Hall is a good source.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
William de Morgan

Creations i

PP - 3A - Griffin

Thomas Griffin, fitters labourer, April 12, 1899, in a boiler explosion at a ...

Read More

PP - 3B - Peart & Dean

The “fireman” on a steam train was the man who stoked the engine. You’ve seen...

Read More

PP - 3C - Rogers

The Stella was a passenger ferry in service with the London and South Western...

Read More

PP - 3D - Funnell

The Elephant and Castle pub was at the corner of Wick Road and Victoria Park ...

Read More

PP - 3E - Boxall

Elizabeth Boxall, aged 17, of Bethnal Green who died of injuries received in ...

Read More

Other Subjects

Boris Anrep

Boris Anrep

Mosaic artist. Also wrote poetry in Russian and English. Born Russia. Came to England in 1899 to learn English. Spent time in St Petersburg, Edinburgh and Paris. A 1904 visit to see the mosaics in ...

Person, Art, Craft / Design, Russia

6 memorials
Christopher Pinchbeck

Christopher Pinchbeck

Clock maker. Invented the alloy of copper and zinc which closely resembles gold.

Person, Craft / Design

1 memorial
Naomi Hope

Naomi Hope

Mosaic artist active in 2012.  Andrew Behan has provided the following research: former artist at Southbank Mosaics C.I.C. from October 2007 to May 2013. She has subsequently worked at King's Coll...

Person, Craft / Design, Australia

1 memorial
Thomas Cobden-Sanderson

Thomas Cobden-Sanderson

Bookbinder and printer. Born Thomas James Sanderson at Alnwick, Northumberland. He married Anne Cobden (suffragette daughter of Richard) in 1882 and added her surname to his. He was a friend of Edw...

Person, Art, Craft / Design

1 memorial
Arts and Crafts movement

Arts and Crafts movement

This design and construction movement began in Britain around 1880 and quickly spread across America and Europe. Taking its name from the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, it stood for traditiona...

Group, Craft / Design

2 memorials

Previously viewed

Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

Erected by East Germany to isolate West Berlin (run by the US, the UK and France) from East Berlin and the rest of the surrounding East Germany (under control of the Soviet Union). It effectively i...

Building, Politics & Administration, Germany

2 memorials
Queen's Park Area Residents' Association

Queen's Park Area Residents' Association

From the website: "QPARA was established by local residents in 1973 as an entirely voluntary organisation keen to preserve the integrity of the conservation area … and that’s what we still do, but ...

Group, Community / Clubs

2 memorials
Streatham Street model houses

Streatham Street model houses

WC1, Streatham Street, Parnell House

There is no plaque (2022) but this is any important building so we decided to collect it. Originally called 'Streatham Street Buildings'...

First match of association football

First match of association football

The first official game played to Football Association rules took place in Battersea Park. It was played between teams selected by the President (Arthur Pember) and the Secretary (Ebenezer Cobb Mor...

Event, Sport / Games

1 memorial
John Penfold

John Penfold

Surveyor and architect. Born John Wornham Penfold in Haslemere, Surrey. He was a founding member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is best known for designing the British hexagona...

Person, Architecture, Craft / Design

2 memorials