Royal Brierley

Last updated

Royal Brierley is a fine cut glass ("cut crystal" for marketing purposes) brand, owned by Dartington Crystal and based in North Devon. It is one of the oldest crystal glass brands in England.

Contents

Many of the creations became quality museum pieces. The trading name Stevens & Williams was used until the 1930s when the company became Royal Brierley Crystal to signify its royal warrant of appointment as glassmakers. The first royal warrant was awarded by King George V and the most recent by Charles, Prince of Wales.

History

The history of the company goes back to 1776, when it was set up as an independent family business. [1] Most involved in the history of the company were three families: de Henzel, Honeyborne and latterly, Silver.

Joseph Silver leased the Moor Lane Glasshouse at Brierley Hill. His daughters married William Stevens and Samuel Cox-Williams, who took control of the business in 1847. The company became subsequently known as the Stevens and Williams Glassworks.

Royal Brierley Crystal started production in 1776 and was one of the longest-running businesses in the Black Country.

The 10-acre factory in North Street, Brierley Hill was closed in 2002 and the business moved to Tipton Road. Royal Brierley were taken over by Dartington Crystal in 2005 and over time operations were relocated to North Devon. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Torrington</span> Town in Devon, England

Great Torrington is a market town in Devon, England. Parts of it are sited on high ground with steep drops down to the River Torridge below, with the lower-lying parts of the town prone to occasional flooding. Torrington is in the centre of Tarka Country, a landscape captured by Henry Williamson in his novel Tarka the Otter in 1927. Great Torrington has one of the most active volunteering communities in the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dartington Hall</span> Historic house and country estate in Devon, England

Dartington Hall in Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, England, is an historic house and country estate of 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) dating from medieval times. The group of late 14th century buildings are Grade I listed; described in Pevsner's Buildings of England as "one of the most spectacular surviving domestic buildings of late Medieval England", along with Haddon Hall and Wingfield Manor. The medieval buildings are grouped around a huge courtyard; the largest built for a private residence before the 16th Century, and the Great Hall itself is the finest of its date in England. The west range of the courtyard is regarded nationally as one of the most notable examples of a range of medieval lodgings. The medieval buildings were restored from 1926 to 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steuben Glass Works</span> American art glass manufacturer

Steuben Glass is an American art glass manufacturer, founded in the summer of 1903 by Frederick Carder and Thomas G. Hawkes in Corning, New York, which is in Steuben County, from which the company name was derived. Hawkes was the owner of the largest cut glass firm then operating in Corning. Carder was an Englishman who had many years' experience designing glass for Stevens & Williams in England. Hawkes purchased the glass blanks for his cutting shop from many sources and eventually wanted to start a factory to make the blanks himself. Hawkes convinced Carder to come to Corning and manage such a factory. Carder, who had been passed over for promotion at Stevens and Williams, consented to do so.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Borough of Dudley</span> Metropolitan borough in England

The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England. It was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972, through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stourbridge and Halesowen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brierley Hill</span> Town in the West Midlands, England

Brierley Hill is a town and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Dudley and 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Stourbridge. Part of the Black Country and in a heavily industrialised area, it has a population of 13,935 at the 2011 census. It is best known for glass and steel manufacturing, although the industry has declined considerably since the 1970s. One of the largest factories in the area was the Round Oak Steelworks, which closed down and was redeveloped in the 1980s to become the Merry Hill Shopping Centre. Brierley Hill was originally in Staffordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterford Crystal</span> Manufacturer of crystal

Waterford Crystal is a manufacturer of lead glass or "crystal", especially in cut glass, named after the city of Waterford, Ireland. In January 2009, the main Waterford Crystal manufacturing base on the edge of Waterford was closed due to the insolvency of Waterford Wedgwood PLC, and in June 2010, Waterford Crystal relocated almost back to the roots of glass-making in the city centre. The Mall location holds both a manufacturing facility that melts over 750 tonnes of crystal a year – although most Waterford Crystal is now produced outside Ireland – and a visitor centre with the world's largest collection of Waterford Crystal. As of 2015, the brand is owned by the Fiskars Corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dartington Crystal</span>

Dartington Crystal is a British manufacturer of crystal glassware and it's based in the town of Torrington in North Devon, England. The company manufactures their glassware using traditional glass blowing techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingswinford</span> Human settlement in England

Kingswinford is a town of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands, situated 5 miles (8 km) west-southwest of central Dudley. In 2011 the area had a population of 25,191, down from 25,808 at the 2001 Census.

Benson & Hedges is a British brand of cigarettes owned by American conglomerate Altria. Cigarettes under the Benson & Hedges name are manufactured worldwide by different companies such as Rothmans, Benson & Hedges, Philip Morris USA, British American Tobacco, or Japan Tobacco, depending on the region. In the UK, they are registered in Old Bond Street in London, and were manufactured in Lisnafillan, Ballymena, Northern Ireland, before production was moved to Eastern Europe in 2017.

Swarovski is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens in the Tyrol. It was founded in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski.

Gallaher Group was a United Kingdom-based multinational tobacco company which traded on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, prior to its acquisition by American Tobacco in 1974. In April 2007, it was acquired by Japan Tobacco. Japan Tobacco trades in the United Kingdom as Gallaher Ltd.

Wordsley is a suburban village near Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England. It is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and is north of the River Stour. Wordsley is part of the Kingswinford and South Staffordshire Parliamentary constituency as of 2024. It is bordered by open Staffordshire countryside to the west, Kingswinford to the north, Brierley Hill to the east and Stourbridge to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Crystal</span> Type of cut glass crystal manufactured in Scotland

Edinburgh Crystal was a cut glass manufactured in Scotland from c. 1820s to 2006, and was also the name of the manufacturing company. In addition to drinking glasses, Edinburgh Crystal made decanters, bowls, baskets, and bells, in several ranges.

Sir Eric Dancer is a British businessman and formerly Lord-Lieutenant of Devon.

Robertson's is a British brand of marmalades and fruit preserves that was founded by James Robertson in 1864. The firm was run as a partnership until 1903, when it was incorporated as a limited company – James Robertson & Sons, Preserve Manufacturers, Limited. It produces the "Golden Shred" marmalade, a recipe created in 1874 and registered as a trademark in 1886, among other products including "Silver Shred" a lemon marmalade launched in 1909; "Mincemeat", a traditional Scottish style mincemeat made from raisins, peel, sugar and beef suet; and "Bramble Jelly", a traditional Scottish style jam, strained of its seeds. Robertson's received their first Royal Warrant from King George V in 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diamond West Midlands</span> British bus operating company

Diamond Bus Ltd., trading as Diamond West Midlands, and also operating under the West Midlands Bus brand identity, is a bus operator in the West Midlands. It is a subsidiary of Rotala.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asprey</span> British luxury goods company

Asprey is a United Kingdom-based designer, manufacturer and retailer of jewellery, silverware, home goods, leather goods, timepieces, and books.

Caithness Glass is a Scottish artistic glassware manufacturing company. It was established in Wick, Caithness, Scotland in 1961 by Robin Sinclair, 2nd Viscount Thurso. It was rescued by George Mackie, Baron Mackie of Benshie in 1966. Mackie was chairman for the next two decades. Since 2006, the company has been based in Crieff, Perthshire. The company was created to help create additional employment in the face of continuing decline in local fishing and agriculture and also to take advantage of the easy availability of sand for glassmaking in Caithness. The local sand, however, proved unsuitable for manufacturing clear glass. The company soon specialised in the manufacture of glass paperweights, plus some ornamental glassware. The firm also became well known for supplying the annual trophy for the BBC Mastermind television quiz programme. The company was awarded a Royal Warrant by the Queen Mother in 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moser (glass company)</span>

Moser a.s. is a luxury glass manufacturer based in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The company is known for manufacturing stemware, decorative glassware, glass gifts and various art engravings. Moser is one of the most collected of 20th century decorative glass and has been used everywhere from palaces to local restaurants. From its beginnings in 1857, as a polishing and glass engraving workshop, it developed into a lead-free glass manufacturer lasting through the 20th century until the present. It is considered as the most luxurious Czech brand as well as one of the world's most famous brands of luxury crystal. Every piece of glass that is made by Moser is hand made.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stevens & Williams</span> English glass company

Stevens & Williams was an English glass company located in Stourbridge, established in 1776 under the name of Honeybourne. It is one of the oldest crystal glass brands in England. In the late 1930s it became known as Royal Brierley, and mostly made fine cut glass brand. It is now owned by Dartington Crystal and based in North Devon.

References

  1. "Only members of this family know the secret of the mysterious black powder that goes into every batch of crystal to give Royal Brierley its outstanding clarity."--Royal Brierley.
  2. Dudley News, Published: Oct 29, 2010 Royal Brierley Crystal name vanishes from region. expressandstar.com. Retrieved 10 September 2022.

Further reading