Below are key dates in history for Royal Worcester, from its first beginnings, covering the many owners, commissioning of commemorative pieces right through to modern day production and the closure in 2009.
| 1751 | First Worcester Porcelain factory founded by Dr Wall and 14 partners |
| 1753 | The British Museum is established |
| 1754 | First company showroom opened in Aldersgate Street, London |
| 1756 | Printing on porcelain is invented at Worcester by Robert Hancock |
| 1760 | George III becomes King |
| 1764 | Start of the Industrial Revolution in England |
| 1767 | Exhibition room opened in Spring Gardens, Charing Cross |
| 1768 | Royal Academy founded with Sir Joshua Reynolds as its first president. |
| 1770 | The first Royal dinner service made by Worcester for George III’s brother, the Duke of Gloucester |
| 1773 | The Boston Tea Party |
| 1774 | Dr Wall retired leaving William Davis as manager of the factory |
| 1776 | American Declaration of Independence |
| 1783 | Thomas Flight bought the Worcester factory, for his sons Joseph and John |
| 1783 | Robert Chamberlain establishes a rival porcelain factory in Severn Street, Worcester |
| 1788 | King George III and Queen Charlotte attended the Worcester Music Meeting (forerunner to the Three Choirs Festival) and visited Flight’s Worcester factory |
| 1788 | The most prestigious shop No 1 Coventry Street (off Piccadilly Circus) opened on the advice of King George III, run by Joseph Flight |
| 1789 | George Washington became the first President of the USA |
| 1789 | King George III awarded Worcester its first Royal Warrant, allowing use of the Royal Coat of Arms and the words ‘Manufacturers to their Majesties’ |
| 1802 | Admiral Nelson and Emma Hamilton visit Chamberlain’s factory and order a large service |
| 1804 | Napoleon was crowned Emperor of France |
| 1805 | Nelson dies at the Battle of Trafalgar |
| 1811 | Chamberlain created a book of 400 designs for The Prince Regent |
| 1815 | Wellington defeats Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo |
| 1820 | Chamberlain experiments with bone china production |
| 1825 | The first passenger railway is opened |
| 1830 | Flight, Barr & Barr make the Coronation Service for King William IV |
| 1837 | Queen Victoria ascended the throne |
| 1839 | William Henry Fox Talbot invents the Calotype photograph |
| 1840 | First adhesive postage stamp, the ‘Penny Black’, was issued in Britain |
| 1840 | The former rivals, Chamberlain and Flight & Barr merge to form one company |
| 1847 | The factory Act restricts working to 10 hours per day for women & children |
| 1851 | Australian Gold Rush |
| 1851 | The Great Exhibition held at Crystal Palace |
| 1851 | The Worcester Royal Porcelain Company is managed by Richard William Binns and William Henry Kerr |
| 1853 | David Livingstone discovers Victoria Falls |
| 1854 | The Charge of the Light Brigade |
| 1859 | Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species |
| 1851–1887 | Severn Street factory expanded from 70 to 700 employees. The factory concentrated on figurines and vases and introduced 2,500 new decorative items |
| 1860 | Prince Albert admires the Worcester Enamels and orders a dessert service for Queen Victoria, painted by Thomas Bott |
| 1862 | The formation of Royal Worcester |
| 1862 | Prince Albert dies of Typhoid |
| 1869 | Suez Canal opened |
| 1874 | The first Exhibition of the Impressionists in Paris |
| 1876 | Invention of the telephone (Alexander Graham Bell) |
| 1878 | Royal Worcester displayed The Potter’s Vases at the Paris Exhibition |
| 1880 | The first piece of Royal Worcester Painted Fruit was painted by Octar Copson |
| 1884 | Visit to Royal Worcester by the Prince and Princess of Wales |
| 1885 | Invention of motorcar engine (Benz and Daimler independently) |
| 1887 | Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee |
| 1889 | Royal Worcester buys out the Grainger porcelain company |
| 1889 | Vincent Van Gogh painted Starry Night |
| 1891 | Charles William Dyson Perrins becomes a Director of Royal Worcester |
| 1893 | The Chicago World Fair – George Owen perfects pierced porcelain |
| 1895 | The first cinema opened in Paris |
| 1896 | Hadley & Sons Art Pottery set up in Diglis Road, Worcester |
| 1901 | Queen Victoria dies and Edward VII becomes King |
| 1902 | The Grainger factory closed and the workforce move to Royal Worcester |
| 1905 | Hadley & Sons is bought by Royal Worcester |
| 1908 | Henry Ford produced first Model T car |
| 1911 | Coronation of George V |
| 1912 | Titanic struck an iceberg in the Atlantic |
| 1914 | The start of The First World War, |
| 1914 | The Government asks Royal Worcester to make hard porcelain for use in hospitals, laboratories and schools |
| 1925 | Invention of the television (John Logie Baird) |
| 1926 | The General Strike |
| 1927 | The launch of BBC Radio |
| 1927 | C.W.Dyson Perrins purchased the museum collection |
| 1929 | Wall Street Crash |
| 1931 | Royal Worcester launched a new range of bone china figures at Beaux Arts Gallery, London |
| 1931 | Tableware was revolutionised by the introduction of fireproof porcelain |
| 1934 | Charles Dyson Perrins buys Royal Worcester and becomes Chairman |
| 1935 | George V and Queen Mary are the first limited edition figures made by Royal Worcester |
| 1936 | The launch of BBC television |
| 1936 | Dorothy Doughty designs the first in a series of over sixty models of American Birds |
| 1939 | The start of The Second World War – The Royal Worcester factory is used to make electrical resistors and spark plugs |
| 1946 | The Dyson Perrins Museum Trust founded to care for the museum collection |
| 1947 | Doris Lindner models a portrait of Princess Elizabeth on her horse, Tommy |
| 1948 | The establishment of the National Health Service |
| 1949 | First non-stop round the world flight |
| 1951 | Princess Elizabeth visits the Royal Worcester factory and opens the new museum |
| 1952 | Elizabeth II becomes Queen |
| 1953 | Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first men to climb Everest |
| 1954 | The Worcester Royal Porcelain Co becomes a public company |
| 1958 | The EEC established by the Treaty of Rome |
| 1958 | The first motorway opened in Britain |
| 1961 | First man in Space (Yuri Gagarin, Soviet Union) |
| 1962 | Evesham Pattern was designed by Professor Robert Baker, Ronald Van Ruyckevelt and other members of the team in Royal Worcester’s Design Department |
| 1963 | The Great Train Robbery |
| 1963 | Assassination of US President John F. Kennedy |
| 1968 | The investiture of The Prince of Wales |
| 1968 | Apollo 11, First moon walk (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin) |
| 1972 | Ronald van Ruyckevelt designs a large model of two white doves to celebrate the Silver Wedding of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh |
| 1976 | Royal Worcester and Spode came under common ownership |
| 1976 | Concorde brought into regular service |
| 1979 | Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first woman Prime Minister |
| 1982 | The Falklands War |
| 1986 | Completion of the M25 |
| 1990 | The Berlin Wall is pulled down |
| 2001 | Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh visit Royal Worcester as part of the 250th Anniversary celebrations |
| 2006 | Ceramic Production finished at Severn Street – top painting and gilding only operating |
| 2009 | The Royal Worcester name purchased by Portmeirion Pottery and Severn Street Factory closed |
You can learn more about some of these key dates in history by searching through our archive.