Eighteenth Century Pan Possibly from Newburyport, Massachusetts Recovered at a Trading Post in New Brunswick

The Bayley family of potters are an important name when it comes to the first group of landmark potters who helped establish the coastal Massachusetts red earthenware industry in the eighteenth century. Joseph Bayley (1701-1761) was the first in the family to enter the potter's trade in Rowley, Massachusetts; however, reportedly due to religious reasons he left Rowley in 1735 for Newbury (today Newburyport), Massachusetts - whereas, there is no indication or proof today that he continued to manufacture pottery after he left Rowley for Newbury.

A son, Daniel Bayley (1725-1799) established the Daniel Bayley Pottery Comany in Newbury (ca. 1766-1799) in 1766, where a number of family members threw red earthenware pots through the lifespan of this business until 1799. Those family members included, Daniel Bayley, Jr. (1755-1799), Nathaniel Bayley ( 1774-1849) and William Bayley (1766-1799); although, I am certain there were additional family members or other potters involved with the business, as well.

Nevertheless, there are examples of this company's production that are known to have survived today, which are scattered throughout private collections and museum collections that  represent how some of the output at this business appeared before 1799.

Massachusetts author, Lura Woodside Watkins (Early New England Potters and Their Wares) actually salvaged a large number of sherds, wasters and kiln furniture from the Bayley Pottery site in the 1930s when construction crews were digging their way through the entire site for a new highway underpass that went directly through the Bayley property.

In today's report, I would like to revisit a slip decorated hand-thrown pan that I briefly touched upon a few years ago - the pan was found in Canada in the 1950s, where archaeologists have attributed it to the Daniel Bayley Pottery in Newburyport.

According to the curator of the New Brunswick Museum, Peter Larocque, "The pan attributed to the Daniel Bayley Pottery of Newbury(port), Massachusetts was uncovered during an archaeological dig in 1955-1956 at Portland Point within the city limits of Saint John, New Brunswick. The site was where Massachusetts businessmen, 'Simonds, Hazen and White,' setup a trading post in the 1760's."


Distance that Pan Traveled in the 1700s

Map Showing the Distance Between Newburyport, MA and Saint John, NB
This is Approximately a 370 Mile Drive Today

Photo Courtesy: Mapquest

I asked Mr. Larocque whether this pan was an obscurity - or if there was a possibility that Bayley Pottery was exported into Canada - his reply was fascinating; "It is unclear whether this was an item for sale or in use at the trading post. By the late 1770s, there was a small town growing up around the trading post and the newly erected Fort Howe nearby. My suspicions are that since the principals in the company were from or near Newbury(port) it is likely that the material did come from there. Some of the company's ledgers exist in various collections locally, but I have not examined them personally. I would say that it is not an obscurity - and, that Bayley's Pottery was imported here on an intermittent basis in those early years."

According to the Canadian website, 'Historic Places,' "The British constructed Forte Howe in 1777 as a response to several requests from the residents around the mouth of the Saint John River that their small settlement be protected from further attacks by American privateers. With its location on a towering rock offering unmatched views of the harbour and up the river.  Fort Howe and its garrison provided protection to the surrounding settlements through the end of the War of 1812. The original fort consisted of a blockhouse and barracks within a palisade on the western end of the hill, and a blockhouse on the eastern end, and was manned by a detachment of the Royal Fencible Americans under Major Gilfred Studholme. After the founding of Parrtown, later renamed Saint John, in 1783, the fort served as the military headquarters, as well as the first civil jail for the new town. Following a fire in 1819 that destroyed the original barracks, the fort fell into disrepair and by 1870 the remaining original fortifications had been removed."

I think this pan is a remarkable discovery that reveals red earthenware products made in Newbury(port), Massachusetts were possibly exported well-over three-hundred miles north into New Brunswick before 1775. I have previously documented on this website that Bayley Pottery was exported into Maine before the American Revolution; however, a Canadian context is even a greater discovery for the history of this potter's business.

Note: Pictured below, I have also shown a sample group of the sherds that Lura Woodside Watkins collected at the Daniel Bayley Pottery site, which reveal a very-similar slip decoration in both manner and the width of the brush or tool used to apply the slip when compared to the dish recovered in New Brunswick.

Pan Recovered in New Brunswick

Daniel Bayley Pottery Co. Attributed Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Dish - Newburyport, MA
Recovered in Saint John, NB in the Mid-1950s
Stands 3 1/8" Tall

Measures 14 1/8" in Diameter
Circa Late-1760's or Early-1770s
See Article for More Information
Photo Courtesy: Peter Larocque, New Brunswick Museum - Saint John, NB

Sherds Recovered at the Bayley Site in Newburyport, Mass.

 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Sherds Found in Newbury(port), MA
Uncovered by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company
Ca. 1764-1799
Notice the Similar Manner of the Slip Decoration Compared to the Pan Found in New Brunswick
Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Sherd Found in Newbury(port), MA
Uncovered by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company
Ca. 1764-1799
Notice the Similar Manner of the Slip Decoration Compared to the Pan Found in New Brunswick
Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

 18th Century Slip Decorated Red Earthenware Chamber Pot Sherd Found in Newbury(port), MA
Uncovered by Lura Woodside Watkins at the Site of the Daniel Bayley Pottery Company
Ca. 1764-1799
Notice the Similar Manner of the Slip Decoration Compared to the Pan Found in New Brunswick
Photo Courtesy: The National Museum of American History, The Smithsonian - Washington, D.C.

Please Stay Tuned...Much More to Come...