William Henry Goss (30 July 1833

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

- 4 January 1906

Stoke upon Trent Stoke-upon-Trent, commonly called Stoke is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall form the city of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England. The town was incorporated as a municipal borough in 187 ...

) was an English potter notable for having developed the souvenir trade in pottery with his

Goss crested china Goss crested china is typically in the form of small white glazed porcelain models, made from 1858 to 1939, carrying the coat of arms of the place where they were sold as a souvenir, thus being a form of model heraldic china. Other factories, ...

Gossware

Born in London to Richard Goss and Sophia Mann, William was a student at the School of Design at

Somerset House Somerset House is a large Neoclassical complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("O ...

in London, from where in 1857 he was employed as chief artist of the Stoke upon Trent firm of

William Taylor Copeland William Taylor Copeland, MP, Alderman (1797 – 12 April 1868) was a British businessman and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London and a Member of Parliament. Family and business The family traces its descent back to John of Copeland ...

. W. T. Copeland eventually bought the business interests of his partner Josiah Spode. Shortly after, in 1858, William started his own business in Stoke upon Trent. At first he produced ivory porcelain of such quality as to merit an award at the 1851

International Exhibition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

. His experiments led to marked improvements in jewelled porcelain and heraldic china. It was not until the 1880s, under the influence of his sons Adolphus, Godfrey, Victor and Huntley, were the famous small white-glazed vases and pots with heraldic arms for presentations being produced. These items made up a large portion of his production. These were soon joined by small items depicting interesting local scenery. In 1906, a ''League of Goss Collectors'' was founded, becoming the ''International League'' in 1918 The business was taken over by Cauldon Potteries in 1929, the name Goss still being used. Finally it became a subsidiary of the Royal Doulton group. By 1940, the Goss factory had ceased production. In the late 1960s, ''Gossware'' became very collectable and in 1970 a modern Goss Collectors club was founded. Nearly all pieces of Gossware can be identified by a goshawk crest on the base with W. H. Goss printed underneath. Pieces made after 1931 also have the word ''England'' below the mark. Besides his work in pottery, he wrote a few books, was the biographer of Llewellynn Jewitt,Llewellyn Jewitt
aboutDerbyshire, accessed November 2011 was vice-president of the North Staffordshire Field Club, a fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

and the

Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is a long-established institution that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Associate Fellows can be lay enthus ...

. His wife was Georgiana Goldswain whom he married in 1854 and they produced seven children, his son Adolphus later joining the business. He was buried in

Hartshill Hartshill is a large village and civil parish in North Warwickshire, England, 2.5 miles (4 km) north-west of the town of Nuneaton. The parish borders the district of Nuneaton and Bedworth at the south, the North Warwickshire district parishes ...

cemetery.

Books

*William Henry Goss, The Life and Death of

Llewellyn Jewitt Llewellynn Frederick William Jewitt (or Llewellyn) (24 November 1816 – 5 June 1886) was a British illustrator, engraver, natural scientist and author of ''The Ceramic Art of Great Britain'' (1878). His output was prodigious and covered a l ...

(London: Henry Gray, 1884)

References

External links

The Goss & Crested China Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goss, William Henry 1833 births 1906 deaths English potters Staffordshire pottery People from Stoke-on-Trent Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society

Gossware

Books

See also

References

External links