Minton plate, Coming of Age of A H Vernon, 1850

$290.00 AUD

Rare Minton plate, printed with a central inscription around the arms of Vernon, within a flowering wreath border.
Impressed marks for Minton, 1849,
made for the Coming of Age of A H Vernon, 1850

26.5 cm
Condition: small flaws, firing flaw above arms.

ref. Shercliffe 1983: Poynton, A Coal Mining Village, Chapter 11 for a discussion of this event and service.
In 1839, Augustus Henry Vernon was born in Rome, where the family wintered on their 150 ton schooner, the Harlequin. The family estates were important collieries, and the 4th Earl Vernon had taken charge directly of the coal works, later using a full time agent named Thomas Ashworth. Ashworth was a Quaker, and had deep sympathy for the workers at the colliery. As a result, they were among the best paid colliery workers in the nation, and had education and even a form of medical insurance, all provided by their Lord. He also built decent houses which were low rent.
In 1850, the 21st birthday of the future Lord Vernon was a well planned event, described and illustrated in the Illustrated London News. The article begins by stating “The improved value of the property has happily been accomplished by a corresponding advance in the character of the the workmen employed. The Poynton colliery are a very superior class of men to their fellow labourers in some parts of the kingdom. Lord Vernon has provided them with comfortable brick cottages and the days labour is only eight hours.’
Lord Vernon was unable to be present, spending the winter ill in Italy.
It goes on to describe the festivities: a gathering of 2500 tenants and workers marched in procession, as cannon were fired, culminating in a great feast in the school houses built by Lord Vernon, and in a temporary structure just for the occasion. Two oxen, named David and Goliath, had been raised especially for the occasion, and fed the large crowd, along with one pound of bread and a quart of ale each. It took two sittings to feed them all!
The interesting point here is the china they fed off- a special order from the Minton factory, of plates and cups and saucers, which were presented to the diners at the end of their meal!

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