Sir Henry Doulton

Pottery manufacturer, born in London, UK. He entered his father's pottery there, and in 1846 introduced stoneware drain pipes instead of flat-bottomed brick drains. In 1848 he started works near Dudley, later the largest in the world, and introduced fine porcelain ware in the 1880s, for which the company is better known.

From the age of fifteen, he was actively employed in the pottery works of his father, John Doulton, at Lambeth. In 1846 he initiated in Lambeth the pipe works, in which he superintended the manufacture of the drainage and sanitary appliances which have helped to make the firm of Doulton famous.

In 1870 the manufacture of "Art pottery" was begun at Lambeth, and in 1877 works were opened at Burslem, where almost every variety of china and porcelain, as well as artistic earthenware, has been produced.

In 1872 the Art department was instituted in the Doulton works, giving employment to both male and female artists, among whom such workers as George Tinworth and the Misses Barlow obtained a reputation outside their immediate sphere. In 1887 Henry Doulton received the honor of a knighthood, and a few years later was awarded the Albert Medal by the Royal Society of Arts.

Appropriately, after death his mausoleum at West Norwood Cemetery was built of red pottery tiles and bricks from the Doulton Works.