Between 1865 and 1895, Lane Cove was a part of the Willoughby District.
Pottery Green c. late 1800s
In 1883, William Holford started work establishing a small pottery works on the corner of Nichols Bay Road (now Longueville Road) and Phoenix Street, Longueville (now Lane Cove). Pottery production started under the name ‘Phoenix Pottery’.
By mid-1884, William and his son moved a short distance east to a paddock across Phoenix Street, near the corner of Longueville Road where they purchased land and began establishing their own pottery under the name ‘Holford and Son, Standard Pottery’. The clay, of excellent quality, dug to a depth of 2 metres from a gully at the end of the paddock where Dorritt Street now ends.
The Phoenix Pottery was from 1884 managed by J B Stevenson.
In 1885, Richard Reid took over management of the works. A potter’s stamp was introduced around this with some wares impressed ‘PHOENIX POTTERY COMPANY, NSW’accompanied by the picture of a Waratah (used 1885-1890). In 1886 the pottery was purchased by J Cusick.. The pottery closed in 1890.
After the Phoenix Pottery closed Thomas Wilkes leased the site for a short time from 1891 to ‘T. Wilke’s Bristol Pottery with an emu on its impressed mark.
In 1890 Munro of the Lane Cove Brick and Works Willoughby site entered a partnership with Robert Leiper. They started together under the name ’Sydney Pottery Company’.
In 1893 Robert Leiper and his brother Samuel purchased the original Phoenix Pottery site from Mr Cusick operating under the name ‘Leiper Brothers Bristol Pottery’.
In 1895 the suburb of Longueville was renamed Lane Cove, splitting from the Willoughby Municipality. Whilst the two pottery sites continued under the joint management of Robert Leiper and William Monroe from 1898, they were no longer located in Willoughby.
Pottery Green c. 2020s
Further information for researchers on later developments of the sites is available from the Willoughby District Historical Society & Museum. Visit: Reaearch Queries
Article by Judy Peters & Terry Fogarty
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