Stoke-on-Trent came into being following the Act of Federation in 1908, this after an aborted attempt to constitute a separate ‘County of the Potteries’ in 1888.

Following the Act of Federation the County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent came into being in 1910.

The six towns of (from north to south) that were included in the borough were:
Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke-upon-Trent, Fenton and Longton. This became the largest amalgamation ever to take place in Britain.

The name Stoke-on-Trent was chosen for the new united Borough.
The new Council met for the first time in March 1910.
On April 1st 1922 a further 9,600 acres of land was added to the Borough giving a total of 21,190 acres.

On June 5th 1925 King George V and Queen Mary visited the town and conferred upon it a Royal Charter elevating the Borough to the status of a city.
The motto is in Latin’ Vis unita fortior’ meaning Strength united is stronger.
Stoke wanted to grow larger and absorb Newcastle-under-Lyme this was rejected in 1930 and again in 1931.

However parts of Trentham and Barlaston were added in 1931.

A brief note about the towns.

Hanley and Shelton were incorporated in 1857 becoming the borough of Hanley.
Longton and Lane End were incorporated in 1865.
Stoke, Penkhull and Boothen were incorporated as the Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent in 1874.
Note the difference between Stoke-upon-Trent and the new City of Stoke-on-Trent.
Burslem which originally means Burgweard’s Elms was incorporated in 1878.
Burslem was the largest of the pottery towns.

Fenton & Tunstall became urban councils as late as 1894 .
Fenton means (farm by a fen or possibly enemies town)
Tunstall means (site of a farm).

Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding areas have become called the Potteries.
Pottery dates back to the 17th century due to abundant supplies of clay ,salt and lead for glazing and ofcourse coal used to fire kilns.
Main pottery manufacturers include Wedgewood, Royal Doulton, Spode, Moorcroft, Portmeirion and Johnson Tiles. (this is by no means an exhaustive list).

Josiah Wedgewood started production in 1759.
In 1769 Wedgewood built a huge factory in a place called Etruria a village he established .
At this time their were other potters examples are Joseph Spode, Thomas Minton, Thomas Whieldon.

Around 1800 ‘fine bone china’ was developed using bone ash in the process.
In 1777 the Trent and Mersey Canal opened.
The area is still the largest clay ware producer in the world.
In 1985 Stoke-on-Trent hosted the first Garden Festival which later became an entertainment complex.

There is a potteries museum in Hanley and the Wedgewood story opened in 2000 as an interactive tour.

The shopping centre in Stoke is called the’Potteries shopping Centre’.
Current population 240,000 approx.

With the best of intention all of the above information is true, correct and given in good faith, however, we cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions contained within the above.

Equally we recommend that should you need or want to find out more you should conduct more detailed independant research.