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Thomas Maddock (April 1, 1818 – June 16, 1899) was an inventor and potter. He invented devices that made
plumbing fixture A plumbing fixture is an exchangeable device which can be connected to a plumbing system to deliver and drain water. Common fixtures Supply The most common plumbing fixtures are: *Bathtubs * Bidets * Channel drains *Drinking fountains *Hose bi ...
s more practical and started the American indoor toilet industry. Maddock was decorator for a set of
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tableware dishes for President Franklin Pierce.


Early life

Maddock was born in the Staffordshire area of England on April 1, 1818. He was the third child of nine in the family. William, the first child, died at an early age. His other siblings were: three brothers, John, William B., Henry; his four younger sisters were Sarah, Betsy, Mary and Jane. Maddock's father was Thomas Maddock, Sr. His mother was Mary Maddock (née Crompton). His father was a decorator of fine china at the
Davenport Pottery Davenport Pottery was an English earthenware and porcelain manufacturer based in Longport, Staffordshire. It was in business, owned and run by the Davenport family, between 1794 and 1887, making mostly tablewares in the main types of Stafford ...
manufacturing firm as was his uncle, John Maddock Jr. Maddock worked at Davenport Pottery as a decorator while a teenager, under the supervision of his father and uncle.


Mid life

Maddock married Miss Honor Bossoms in 1844 at the age of 26. English pottery business opportunities were not available at the time so they decided to emigrate to America in 1847. Maddock started a business decorating
dinnerware Tableware is any dish or dishware used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. It includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes, and other items for practical as well as decorative purposes. The quality, nature, variety and number of obj ...
in New York with William Leigh, a friend that also emigrated to America contemporaneously. Maddock with Leigh started the first American china decorating shop. The concept of firing of decorated dinnerware was then unknown in America. Maddock obtained prominence by the decoration of dinner services for President Pierce at the White House in 1853. The St. Nicholas Hotel in New York City opened in the same year and the Maddock & Leigh firm decorated dinnerware for them. Maddock joined the thirteenth regiment of the national guard of New York during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...
. After the war he became a sales agent in 1872 for 'Millington & Asthury,' manufacturers of
porous Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure ...
tableware in
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. He became closely associated with their business affairs and on April 4, 1873, a new partnership was formed called 'Millington, Astbury & Maddock.' Millington left the firm to start his own pottery business and the 3-man partnership of 'Millington, Astbury & Maddock' became then the two-man partnership firm of 'Astbury & Maddock'. Maddock and his sons eventually took over this firm and renamed it Thomas Maddock & Sons.


Sanitary ware

Maddock believed that
sanitary ware {{Short pages monitor