Maling Pottery Works

Maling Pottery was started by William Maling in 1762 on the north bank of the River Wear at Hylton. The family had come to England as Huguenot refugees in the 17th century and settled near Scarborough. William Maling moved to Sunderland in the 1720s and later set up the pottery as a business interest for his two sons, Christopher Thompson Maling and John Maling. At first only brown earthenwares were made but at a later date Maling probably produced creamwares and white pottery. According to family tradition, transfer-printing on pottery was first practised in the North East at North Hylton. Sunderland was rich in clay deposits and saw a boom in the pottery industry in the 19th century. The North Hylton Pottery Works was run by the family until John Maling's son, Robert transferred the whole business to a site in the Ouseburn, Newcastle in 1815 (HER ref. 4967), perhaps because the clay deposits were exhausted.