Bo’ness Pottery

The brownware pottery at Bridgeness in the town, existed from  1766.
The South Pottery started in 1784 and the North Pottery (on the other side of the road) started in 1787.  All three sites constitute what has come to be known as The Bo’ness Pottery.

Dr. John Roebuck, who took over the South Pottery in 1787 created The North Pottery in the same year. The original owner of the Brownware pottery is unknown but Thomas Cowan took over the lease in 1795.

Managers: Dr. John Roebuck, John Roebuck (son of Dr.), Thomas Cowan, James Cuming. James Jamieson and James Shaw plus other Jamieson and Shaw family members while other children achieved their majority culminating in the formation of James Jamieson & Co around 1827.

The firm appears to have prospered through the 1830’s but in the 1840’s several of the major players in the pottery died and young James Jamieson was unable to refinance the business and it was put up for sale in 1847. The sale did not go ahead and the business carried on somehow until young James died in 1854 aged just 27.

After the sale in the same year, John Marshall, a corn merchant and brother-in-law of James, became the owner of the pottery. At the 1861 census, 149 people were employed at the pottery up from 106 ten years previously. In 1867, John Marshall brought his brother-in-law William McNay into the business as a partner.

John Marshall died in 1879 and William in 1880. Charles W. McNay took charge of the pottery after this. This situation continued until 1887 when C.W.McNay left the pottery after a series of disputes with the Marshall Family Trustees. John Marshall Jnr ran the pottery bringing his brother James Marshall in as manager in 1891. The pottery was put up for sale the same year but the sale did not take place.

In 1895 the brothers decided to form a limited company John Marshall and Company Limited to raise capital but this failed and in 1898 the company opted for voluntary liquidation.
A sale of assets took place in 1899