| AdminHistory | In 1828, Benjamin Richardson joined the Wordsley Flint Glass Works, run by George and Charles Wainwright. He started the firm of 'Webb and Richardson' in 1829, with his brother William Haden Richardson, and Thomas Webb, another local glass manufacturer.
Benjamin Richardson is reputed to have invented the method of etching on flint and table glass using acid. The first machine for threading glass was used at the Richardson Works in Stourbridge. Benjamin was an 'experimentalist' in the art of glassmaking and introduced chrysolite, topaz and other new colours to the Stourbridge glass industry. His innovative and artistic style later earned him the title of 'the father of the glass industry'.
In 1836, Thomas Webb left the company to found 'Thomas Webb & Sons'. The third Richardson brother, Jonathan, then joined the firm. In 1841, William Haden Richardson bought the White House Glassworks. By 1842, the company became known as 'W. H., B. & J. Richardson'. By 1852 this name was discontinued when the firm became insolvent. However, in 1853 the company reopened, carrying only the name of 'Benjamin Richardson'. In 1863, a partnership was formed between Benjamin and Jonathan Richardson, and their nephews Philip Pargeter and William James Hodgetts , and the firm became 'Hodgetts, Richardson & Pargeter'. Philip Pargeter left the firm in 1871, and Henry Gething Richardson, son of Benjamin, joined the firm which then became 'Hodgetts, Richardson & Son'.
Some of the most famous craftsmen who worked for the Richardson company were John Northwood, carver of the famous replica of the Portland Vase; Joseph Locke, a celebrated glass etcher and cameo craftsman; and Alphonse Lechevrel, a French cameo glass sculptor, who created a well-known vase entitled 'Raising an Altar to Bacchus'. This vase can be seen at Broadfield House Glass Museum, Kingswinford.
William Haden Richardson died in 1876 aged 91 years. Benjamin Richardson retired around 1882, and died in 1887 at the age of 85. The company was taken over by Henry Gething Richardson in 1881, and became 'Henry G. Richardson' some time before 1892. Around 1897, Henry Gething Richardson went into partnership with his sons, Benjamin and William Haden Arthur Richardson, and the firm then became 'Henry G. Richardson & Sons'.
The 1881 Census (RG11/2891, folio 34, page 17) shows Henry Gething Richardson as a Flint Glass Manufacturer, employing 74 men, 20 boys and 16 women. He lived with his wife, Elizabeth, and their 6 children, including Benjamin and William, at 'The Hawthorns', Wordsley, Kingswinford. A Lease of this property, dated 1904, is to be found amongst the records (D7/D1/4), so the family appear to have lived there for quite a long period of time.
'Henry G. Richardson & Sons' was taken over by Thomas Webb & Sons Ltd. in 1930. According to an Agreement, dated 25th July 1930 (D7/D1/5), the Company of Henry G. Richardson & Sons was sold to Webb's Crystal Glass Co. Ltd on that date. A new private limited company called Henry G. Richardson & Sons Ltd. was set up at this time, as a subsidiary of Webb's Crystal. The new company moved to Dennis Glassworks, where Webb's continued to produce some of the Richardson patterns and market them under the Richardson name until the early 1960s.
The records in this Collection were deposited at Dudley Archives & Local History Service.They were catalogued as part of the 'Documenting the Workshop of the World' Project, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, in August 2005, by Liz Newman, Project Archivist, with the assistance of Roger Dodsworth, Keeper of Glass at Broadfield House Glass Museum. Other records of the Richardson Company were deposited separately and have been catalogued with the Thomas Webb & Sons Ltd. collection, ref: DTW. Fine examples of Richardson glass including pieces which formed part of the Benjamin Richardson bequest to Stourbridge Council in 1953, can be seen at Broadfield House Glass Museum, Kingswinford.
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