The Pettit Pottery, Folly Lane, Walthamstow


William Henry Pettit (1809 - 1891) An early photo and a later one

The Pettits and the Coles were related by marriage. Mary Colley, who married John Cole, was the sister of Ann Colley, who married William Henry Pettit (son of Henry Pettit and Mary). There were less than two years in age between the sisters, so we can assume that they were close. We know from census and rating records that both the Cole and the Pettit families lived and worked on site at the potteries in Green Lanes, Tottenham (the Tile Kilns) as did Mary and Ann's father, James Sharp Colley.

When James Sharp Colley died in 1863, he left £600 (a significant sum in those days) equally between his six children. This provided a nest egg for John and Mary and William and Anne and probably an impetus for both couples to branch out on their own. This was probably exacerbated when, only a month after James Sharp Colley’s death, Anne herself died suddenly of apoplexy (a stroke). She was only 52 years old and, like her father and Daniel and Ann Cole, was buried at Abney Park Cemetery, the local cemetery for the Tile Kilns. Anne’s death would probably have probably given added impetus to John, Mary and William to get away from the Tile Kilns where they had lived as a family and brought up their children.

On site at the Pettit Pottery in Walthamstow, c1900

On site at the Pettit Pottery in Walthamstow, c1900.

Precisely where William went when he left the Tile Kilns is unclear. Anecdotal evidence suggests that he went to set up the Pettit Potteries in Walthamstow, but this was not immediately the case, as the 1871 census for Walthamstow shows that it was John Cole who, no longer at the Tile Kilns and not yet at White Hart Lane, was actually at Walthamstow. He was listed as a pottery proprietor (flower pots), living with his family at Cambrian Cottages, Walthamstow. George Pettit, William’s son, was listed as a potter, living with his wife Julia and daughters Clara and Annie at 3 Cambrian Cottages, Walthamstow, next but one to John. William Pettit did appear 10 years later in the 1881 census as a potter with a new wife Louisa and living in the Cambrian Cottages block at number 6.

So it was John Cole rather than William or George Pettit who started the potteries at Higham Hill, Walthamstow. However, John vacated them shortly afterwards for White Hart Lane, whereupon ownership was taken over by the Pettits. Whether or not this was always the intention, it is impossible to say.

The front of the Pettit Pottery in Walthamstow, c1900

The front of the Pettit Pottery in Walthamstow, c1900.

According to a newspaper cutting in the Vestry Museum at Walthamstow, the pottery started in 1868 and closed in 1943 during World War II because it couldn't get the coal to power the kilns. Both the date and the reason are open to question, as London potteries generally ceased production earlier in the war so that the lights from the kilns would not signal positions to enemy bombers. Sales continued from stocks.

One of the books on Walthamstow history contains the error that the Pettits were previously operating their London Pottery in Harringay. That pottery was never known as the London Pottery, neither was it ever owned by the Pettits, who were previously working alongside the Coles at the Potteries in Green Lanes (now Harringay) (the Tile Kilns).

John and Mary Cole and William and Ann Pettit were a family well after the development of photography, so I hope is that someone with family photos may contact me. I am fortunate to be in touch with four Pettit descendants who have supplied some very interesting material. However, no photos have yet appeared of their Cole cousins.

All the photographs on this page are courtesy of Adrian Pettit, Chris Pettit and Nina Singer. More are available to Pettit descendants on request. As a sample, the following photograph was taken on a Pettit family picnic in the summer of 1911. The thumbnails open up to larger images from which the individuals can be recognised.

The individuals in the photograph are:
1. Edgar Harwood, husband of Annie Pettit and brother of Ruth Harwood 2. Mary B..., a cousin 3. Will Pettit, son of George Pettit 4. Walter Pettit, son of George Pettit 5. Clara Pettit, daughter of George Pettit 6. Annie Pettit, daughter of George Pettit 7. Grace, wife of George Pettit 8. Leslie Pettit, son of George and Grace 9. Bert Pettit, son of George Pettit 10. Julia Pettit, wife of George Pettit	11. Isaac Pettit, brother of George Pettit 12. George Pettit 13. Alice B..., relative of Julia 14. Florrie B..., relative of Julia 15. Sarah, wife of Isaac Pettit 16. Mabel Staines, daughter of Clara 17. Grace Pettit, daughter of Joe and Emily 18. Joe Pettit, son of George 19. Emily, Joe Pettit's wife 20. Heny Pettit, son of Joe and Emily	21. Mabel, daughter of George, wife of Fred Wildman 22. Mary, daughter of Isaac Pettit, wife of Arthur Wildman 23. Donald, son of Henry Pettit and Ruth 24. Fred Wildman, husband of Mabel Pettit 25. Ruth Harwood, wife of Henry Pettit 26. Edie Staine, daughter of Clara 27. Alice Pettit, daughter of Isaac 28. Henry W Pettit, son of Isaac 29. Laurence Wildman, son of Alice and Arthur 30. Arthur Wildman, husband of Alice, then Mary

3. Mary Pettit b.1878, (daughter of Isaac, sister of Henry William), who became the 2nd wife of Arthur Wildman after the death of his first wife.
4. Alice Pettit (Mary's sister) the first wife of Arthur Wildman.
19. The Bride's mother, Jane Elizabeth Harwood, whose husband died 2 years earlier.
26. George Pettit, (son of William Henry b.1809) and his wife Julia
30. Julia Pettit, wife of George Pettit.
29. Isaac Pettit (George's brother)
31. Isaac's wife Sarah (parents of the groom)

Others unknown - unless of course you can identify them! If so please let us know.

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NOTE: There is a 1901 census entry which may be important because it links the names Daniel and Cole, with Tottenham and Walthamstow. It is:

Daniel Cole, head, 33 born Holloway, a tun room man at the brewery, living at 50 Edward Street with his wife Gertrude 33 born at Buckhurst Hill, Essex, and three children Gertrude 8, born at Tottenham, Thomas 3 born Walthamstow and Ivy 1 month born Walthamstow.

Where does this Daniel fit in?

		Key to the names in the picnic picture. Click for a larger, readable version.
The Pettit family picnic, summer 1911. Click for a larger image.