Preston Guild Collectables
1862
Click on pictures to enlarge
The large porcelain cup is from 1862 and has survived in excellent condition.
"A Present from the Preston Guild 1862" is written in gold script, and there is a gilt rim round the lip and base of the cup. It has no manufacturer's mark.
1862 was the height of the depression, which affected Preston badly. Over one quarter of the population were officially declared destitute.
Feelings ran high because of the contrast between the amount of money being spent on the Guild, and the poverty of many of the workers, especially as some of the mill owners were very rich indeed.
However, over 600,000 people attended this Guild, and it was deemed a great success.
The porcelain mug (left) is gilt rimmed with the coat of arms of Preston printed
in pale blue on both sides of the mug.
The words "Preston Guild 1862" are printed around a crest with the words "R. Townley Parker Esq. Mayor."
The dish (right) is unfortunately very damaged. It has a herringbone design round the edge of the dish.
It is inscribed "Preston Guild Festival 1862 R. Townley Parker Esq. Mayor."
The Carte de Visite (below) has two main shields on the front.
In the first are the words "1862 The Guild Portraits Photographer for Life
by Samuel Oglesby and Presented by Him."
In the second shield are the words "To the Corporation of the Borough of Preston to Commemmorate the Guild 1862."
On the back is stamped "Oglesby Photographer to the Queen Preston."
Carte de visites are small representations of photographs, the precursor to postcards and were very colectable in their heydey of the early 1860's.
Unfortunately because of this method of production the names on the shields are too small to read.
However, the Harris Museum have the original presentation photograph and another similar photograph that were in frames and the name tags from the frames.
The photographs were given to Preston in 1874 and were on show in the Town Hall for many years before being passed on to the museum.
The museum have very kindly given us a diagram which shows the names of the Mayor, Alderman and Councillors in the photograph.
Click here to view the names.
The image to the right is of two mugs, both with gold script. The picture was kindly sent to me by another Preston Guild collector. The mugs both have gold script and are of a similar style to each other; they are also similar to the 1862 at the top of this page, and the 1882 mug below.
The image to the left of the impressive jug was also kindly sent to me by another collector. The jug is blue on cream, with the words "Preston Guild Festival 1862" and the name of the mayor, R. Townley Parker esq.
The picture of the 1862 pearlware childs mug by Townley (right) is only three inches tall was kindly emailed to me by someone for inclusion on the website.
Below are six engravings of the 1862 Preston Guild. These were very kindly sent to me by another Preston Guild collector for inclusion on this site.
The engravings were used as pictures in newspapers in the days before it was possible to do so with photographs.
An artist would sketch out the scene and this was sent to the newspaper by the quickest route - usually by train or by horse. When it arrived at the newspaper offices, an artist would then copy the image in reverse onto a block.
An engraver would then carve away all the areas which were to stay white, the raised portion would take the ink and create the printed image.
The blocks would be reused many times by smoothing the surface after printing, so destroying the engraving.
The circulation of the newspaper was very low as it was expensive so only a very few remain.
1882
There was a large increase in the commemorative pottery available in 1882. Much of it depicted pictures of two of the great parks in Preston, Miller and Avenham.
The breakfast cup and saucer (right) are examples of this. The saucer shows a picture of Avenham Park, and the cup shows a picture of
Miller Park on one side and has "A Memento of Preston Guild 1882 Edmund Birley, Mayor" in gold script on the other side.
They are deep turquoise, and were marketed by James Howorth in Preston.
Miller Park was given to the people of Preston by Thomas Miller, philanthropic cotton manufacturer, in 1863, one year after the previous Guild
and one year before his death.
The Guild in 1882 was the first Guild at which Miller and Avenham Parks were officially open for the public.
Avenham has a large natural ampitheatre which must have been a wonderful setting for many of the 1882 celebrations.
The cup and saucer (left) is red on white, with the Preston coat of arms and the inscription reads "A memento of Preston Guild 1882"
over the words "Edmund Birley, Esquire, Mayor."
The base has the Minton factory mark, the lozenge mark for the year of registration and was marketed by James Howorth in Preston.
The gilt script mug (far left) reads "A Present from the Preston Guild 1882." There is gilt around the rim, base and a small amount of gilt design on the handle.
The mug is unmarked on the base.
The cream mug with gold script writing appears to have been quite a popular design in 1862 and 1882.
The picture of the mug (left) was kindly sent to me by another Preston Guild collector and is very similar, although the gold rim is in a different place.
The black script jug (right) inscription reads "A Present from Preston 24th Guild 1882 Edmund Birley Esq Mayor."
The inscription is surrounded by an ornate design which is also both outside and inside the lip of the jug. It is also not marked on the base.
The picture of the mug to the left, with the pink band around the top, was kindly sent to me to be included by another Preston Guild collector and is in the typical style of 1882.
Little is known about the 1882 Guild Mayor, Edmund Birley, a prominent cotton manufacturer in Preston.
The 1882 Guild is more well known for the decision to invite royalty to the event. The Prince of Wales was invited, but with only a few months to go before the Guild, declined the invitation.
In his place his brother, the eighth of Queen Victoria's nine children, was invited and accepted.
Leopold, the Duke of Albany had only just been married that April to Princess Helena of Waldeck.
Sadly, only three days before the Guild celebrations were due to start, the Duke became ill and had to cancel. At this extremely short notice the Duke of Cambridge,
who had previously opened the New Town Hall, stepped in.
It is therefore interesting to find memorabilia with the Duke and Duchess of Albany, such as this Guild medal.
Sadly the Duke, who had haemophilia, died two years later.
He and Helena did have two children as a result of their brief marriage and are the Great Grandparents of King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden.
The jug (left) is a recent addition to our collection, bought in February 2003. It is a small pottery jug with "Preston Guild" and "1882" in raised writing on the front of the jug.
The piece of 1882 fabric (far right) belongs to someone who kindly emailed me the picture of it to include on this website. It was cut at the shortest commercially available length and later 'hemmed' into a tea-towel style item.
Apparently the Harris Museum have several lengths of commerative Preston Guild fabric. We would be interested to hear from anyone who knows what it might have been used for.
The hankerchief (right) belongs to another collector who kindly sent me a photograph to include on this site.
It is an interesting piece of memorabilia that is not china or pottery of this period, and commemorates the Guild Mayor.
The picture of the mug (right) was kindly allowed with permission of another Preston Guild collector. It has "Preston Guild 1882" on the front and the lamb, and also has a very unusual and modern looking pink rim.
The teapot marked "J Morley Penwortham Guild 1882" is an interesting piece - the picture kindly sent to me by someone who saw this website. It looks like the teapot was decorated to order, presumably Morley being the owners name. It would be interesting to know if there are any other similar teapots, or whether this was the only one to commemorate the Guild.
It is not possible to talk about this period of Preston's history without mentioning Joseph Livesey,
founder of the temperance movement.
He is not commemorated on any Guild memorabilia from 1882, but there was memorabilia produced following his death in 1884.
He founded the temperance movement in 1832, believing that alcohol caused many of the hardships endured by working people at that time.
Seven men from Preston took "The Pledge" to abstain from alcohol for all but medicinal reasons.
For more information on Joseph Livesey link to the University of Central Lancashire Library and
The Story of Joseph Livesey
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