Owners Contributions
A huge thank you to everybody who has contacted us to share their Till & Sons pieces and information over the years and more recently.
We are presently organising and transferring lots of images that owners have kindly agreed to allow us to share on our website.
If you have anything that may be of interest to us we are always delighted to receive any information.
Please email thomastillsons1825@gmail.com or chatawayalice@gmail.com
Thomas Till Family & History
Thomas Till snippets;
There is sadly very little recorded about Till & Son/s but we do come across the odd snippet or reference to Thomas Till or extended family that we would like to share on this page.
Probably the most recorded 'snippet', however, is that Till & Son were awarded a Certificate of Merit at the Paris Exhibition in 1855. Details can be found in the French /English Catalogue entitled ;
"Universal Exhibiton 1855, Catalogue of the Works Exhibited in The British Section of the Exhibition in French and English with exhibitors' PROSPECTUSES, PRICES CURRENT, &..."
["Eposition Universalle, 1855 Catalogue des objets expose's Les section dans Brittanique de L'Expostion en Anglais et Francais avec des prospectus, prix courants, etc., des exposants.]
Details of the entry can be found on page 47. Till.,T., and Son can also be found in the index at the back of the catalogue
Section B. Stoneware, Exhibition no. 1231, Till., T., and Son, Sytch Pottery, Burslem, Stoke-upon-Trent. Sandstone Earthenware
[1231 Till., T., et fils 'a Stoke-nur-Trent, Stafford, A. [Anglais] - Potteries de gr'es]
We have not been able to find any further reference such as an advert or illustration of what was exhibited unfortunately. We are hoping to be able to search other records such as The Staffordshire Sentinal which has a few references to the Till family during production. We recently bought a souvenier coin that was produced for the Paris Exhibition. Now all we need to do is find out what Thomas and Edwin took for display at the exhibition... I wonder if they bought a souvenier coin?!
The Life Boat Journal of the National Life Boat Institution recorderd on page 555 under the Staffordshire, Hanley Branch, that they received a donation towards their cause by Till, T. and Son for one pound and ten shillings. [That is equivilant to £1.50 today but I'm perfectly sure it was a respectable sum to donate before 1861...]
"To Thomas Till, Esq.
We the Employe's of the Firm of
Messrs. TILL & SONS
beg to present you the Senior Member of the Firm with a LIFE SIZE PORTRAIT. Painted in Oil of
yourself accompanied by a Framed Address expressing our high respect and esteem for you as our
Employer and as one who has successfully passed through half a Century of Commercial success as an
Earthenware Manufacturer and who is the Oldest Manufacturer in the Staffordshire Potteries now living
We feel that it would be very remiss on our part to allow the present opportunity to pass without showing in
some way our appreciation of your uniform conduct during pro patria of that long period and at the same
time bearing our cordial testimony to your manly and straightforward business method and honesty of purpose which has beget in us a feeling alike of respect and confidence
We wish especially to recognise your willingness on all occasions to promote our comfort by your genial
disposition and our welfare by your Christian example; endeavouring always to elevate us severally and
mentally and engender a good feeling between employer and employed.
We therefore ask your acceptance of these small Tokens of our Regard for your good qualities,
and we pray that God may preserve the lives of yourself and family in health and prosperity for many
years and that you may ultimately receive that great reward laid up for the good and faithful.
Signed by a few of the oldest hands on behalf the Workpeople;
Joseph Hesketh, Joseph Robinson, Thomas Peake, Joseph Lovekin, Hiram Gater, Thomas Lees
Sytch Pottery
Burslem
March 2nd 1877"
We were sent some photos from who we believe to be direct descendents of Richard Till [Thomas Till's father] and Martha Till [Thomas Till's stepmother and Richard's 2nd wife] We are still researching this however and have to rely on the information we have been given so far from the family and the records we have searched.
We had originally intended posting the photographs when we had confirmed the family positions but we decided that we are confident they are close enough family members to warrant inclusion in Thomas Till's family history. It is thought that the best link is back to Samuel Till (Thomas Till's half-brother) but this will be confirmed as we complete more research and link the family members (see photographs above) with others in the Till family.
Neither Edwin or William produced male heirs so the Till line becomes more complicated when looking for direct family ties but there are plenty of half siblings and extended family so the ties can be made.
Finally a big thank you to all the individuals who have contacted us with information about Thomas Till and his family during 2011.
A special thank you to Cynthia Russell who is a direct descendent of Richard Till and his second wife, Martha (Thomas Tills father and step-mother) and is great- great- grandaughter to Thomas Till's half-brother. Cynthia has provided us with a great deal of information about the family and we are slowly piecing everything together before publishing. She also remembers visiting Rocklands, Thomas Till's final home, when she was younger. Sadly Rocklands no longer exists and has now been replaced by a retirement complex which is called 'Rocklands'. The address frequently quoted from the 1891 census is apparently inaccurate and we have used the correct address provided by Cynthia.
"...I notice that on your website Rocklands is listed as in Post Hill, which is on the census. This was a typo error on the census, as the correct address was
Rocklands, Second Avenue, Port Hill, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Newcastle ST5 8RE, United Kingdom It can be found on google maps as it is now an Anchor retirement home but is still called Rocklands..." Cynthia Russell
She has been in contact with other family members in the hope that photographs of Thomas Till or extended family are available and was able to locate the few on this page. We are very grateful for the help she has provided us with so far.
We are working on a proper family tree so that it will be easier to see the relationship between the Till family dating back to Thomas Till's grandparents. In the meantime we are adding information as we confirm it. Apologies if it is a little difficult to make sense of just yet.
Thank you also to the many who have given us permission to use photographs of their Till items on this website. Contributions by others enriches our own experience of maintaining this website and we are always delighted to hear from people interested in our collection.
