John Gerald Potter (1829–1908) was an English wallpaper manufacturer, known also as a patron of

James McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

Background

The printing of

calico Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...

was introduced to

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...

in Lancashire by James Greenway, in 1776. John Potter (1773–1838), a Manchester merchant, married his daughter Sarah, and had a family of four sons and five daughters, of whom two died young. The sons included Charles Potter (1802–1872) and his brothers Alfred (born 1804), Harold (born 1806), and Edwin (born 1810). Of the daughters, Sarah Jane (born 1799) married the Hon. Anthony Oliver Molesworth of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, and Julia (born 1817) married Nathaniel James Merriman and was mother of

John X. Merriman John Xavier Merriman (15 March 1841 – 1 August 1926) was the last prime minister of the Cape Colony before the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910. Early life He was born in Street, Somerset, England. His parents were Nathaniel Jame ...

. James Greenway set up the Dob Meadow Print Works for calico in 1808. He was joined in the business by John Potter, and William Maude, another son-in-law. Charles Potter, John's son, came to work there in the 1820s. In 1831, however, John Potter and William Maude were bankrupted. Charles Potter and William Ross, in 1832, set up a new partnership, Potter & Ross, printing calico. Potter & Co., wallpaper manufacturer in Darwen, was founded by Charles Potter, Harold Potter and Edwin Potter in 1840, spun out of the calico printers Potter & Ross. The new business depended on Patent No. 8302 of 1839, obtained by Harold Potter, adapting a calico printing technique to wallpaper. Edmund Potter, another calico printer, was a nephew of John Potter (1773–1838), the son of his brother James. There was therefore a family connection between the wallpaper Potters and

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was he ...

, granddaughter of Edmund Potter. She showed she was aware of it, in a letter about a frieze of some of her characters.

Life

John Gerald Potter was the only son of Charles Potter (1802–1872) and his wife Grace Gordon, born at

Dinting Dinting is a district of Glossop in Derbyshire, England. The district falls within the Simmondley ward of the High Peak Council. It is a small village and has no shops, other than a fish and chip takeaway; the nearest are in neighbouring Glossop ...

, Derbyshire in July 1829. He became a partner in Potter & Co., wallpaper manufacturers, in 1849. In 1854, with Robert Mills, Potter took out a patent for carpet manufacture improvements. A family partnership, "The Darwen Carpet Company", was dissolved in 1858. In 1862 Potter gave evidence to the Children's Employment Commission. In 1864 he replaced his father as senior partner of the wallpaper firm. Francis Seymour Haden - Mytton Hall 1859

Francis Seymour Haden - Mytton Hall 1859

Having lived in Earnsdale, Potter came to live at Mytton Hall, in Whalley. The connection with Whistler came through his brother-in-law George Chapman, a minor artist and school friend of Whistler. Potter was the first owner of '' Symphony in White, No. 2: The Little White Girl'', an 1864 picture by Whistler. He also came to own ''Nocturne: Blue and Silver – Cremorne Lights'' of 1872, now in the Tate collection; and other paintings. In the 1890s Whistler took offence when Potter resold ''The Little White Girl'' for a profit. Three times an unsuccessful

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

candidate for , Potter contested the constituency first in 1865. According to the diary of Charles Tiplady, he was encouraged to do so by Ernest King, who owned the ''Blackburn Times''. He stood again in 1868. In the resulting 1869 by-election, he stood with

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially, a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...

. He stood for a last time in 1885, for , when he had the support of

Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, (21 July 182621 April 1893; known as Lord Stanley from 1851 to 1869) was a British statesman. He served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs twice, from 1866 to 1868 and from 1874 to 1878, and also ...

, who had left the Conservatives to become a Liberal. From 1884 Potter lived in London. In 1885 he was a director of the Omaha Cattle Company. In later life, he lived on the continent of Europe.

Family

Potter married in 1851 Eliza Adelaide Chapman, daughter of James Chapman, R.N.. They had three sons and three daughters; John Charles Potter (1854–1920) was the eldest son. The eldest daughter Grace married in 1878 James Mellor. The youngest daughter, Julia Dasha, married Evelyn Scudamore, son of

Henry Scudamore-Stanhope, 9th Earl of Chesterfield Henry Edwyn Chandos Scudamore-Stanhope, 9th Earl of Chesterfield, DL, JP (8 April 1821 – 21 January 1887) was a British peer. Life and family He was the eldest of four sons of Sir Edwyn Francis Scudamore-Stanhope, 2nd Baronet. He married Do ...

, and was mother of

Edward Scudamore-Stanhope, 12th Earl of Chesterfield Edward Henry Scudamore-Stanhope, 12th Earl of Chesterfield (9 February 1889 – 2 August 1952), was an English nobleman. Life He was the only son of The Honorable Evelyn Theodore Scudamore-Stanhope, the fifth and youngest son of Henry Scudamore-S ...

Lych-gate at entrance to Sunnyhurst Wood - geograph

During the

Lancashire Cotton Famine The Lancashire Cotton Famine, also known as the Cotton Famine or the Cotton Panic (1861–65), was a depression in the textile industry of North West England, brought about by overproduction in a time of contracting world markets. It coincided wi ...

years 1862–3, Eliza Potter was an organiser of "mothers' kitchens" in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

, providing meals for nursing mothers. She also set up an

orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, John Gerald 1829 births 1908 deaths English art patrons 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century English businesspeople