Henry Doulton

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Sir Henry Doulton (born July 25, 1820 in Vauxhall, England; died November 18, 1897 in London) was an English inventor and manufacturer of pottery.

From the age of fifteen, he was actively employed in the pottery works of his father, John Doulton, at Lambeth. One of the first results of his many experiments was the production of good enamel glazes. 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. The company exhibited at the Centennial Exposition of 1876 in Philadelphia. In 1877 works were opened at Burslem, where almost every variety of china and porcelain, as well as artistic earthenware, has been produced. Works have since been opened at Rowley Regis, Smethwick, St Helens, Paisley and Paris. After the Paris exhibition of 1878, Henry Doulton was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.

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. In 1849 he married Sarah, the daughter of Elizabeth and James Lewis Kennaby; Sarah died in 1888. Sir Henry Doulton took an active interest, as almoner, in St Thomas' Hospital.

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