William Taylor Copeland

Alderman, Lord Mayor William Taylor Copeland MP
William Taylor Copeland (Mary Martha Pearson, 1835)
Member of Parliament for Coleraine
Member of Parliament for Coleraine
Member of Parliament for Stoke upon Trent
Preceded by	Hon. George Anson
Succeeded by	John Ricardo
Member of Parliament for Stoke upon Trent
Personal details
Born	1797 London, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Residence	Russell Farm
Religion	Church of England
Website	[1]

William Taylor Copeland, MP, Alderman (1797 – 12 April 1868) was a British businessman and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London and a Member of Parliament.

The family traces its descent back to John of Copeland, who in 1346 captured the King of Scotland at the Battle of Neville's Cross.

Copeland was the only son of William Copeland, partner of Josiah Spode in the Stoke Potteries, of Staffordshire and of Portugal Street, London. He succeeded his father as head of the porcelain firm in Portugal Street, London and eventually bought out the interests of the Spode family in the business in the Potteries and London. He ran the business in partnership with Thomas Garrett between 1833 and 1847. After the dissolution of the Copeland and Garret partnership, it traded as W.T. Copeland and Sons.

In 1866 Copeland was appointed china and glass manufacturer to the Prince of Wales. He became a director of the London and Birmingham Railway Company. He was also a major investor in Fenton Park Colliery.

William Taylor Copeland was a Director of the North Staffordshire Railway Company from 1846 to 1852. He was also the first Chairman of the Provisional Directors of the Trent Valley Railway Company (TVRC), appointed on 11 April 1844 at their first meeting. He resigned his post in February 1845, his letter of resignation being read and accepted at the TVRC Board meeting on 15 February. His successor was Edmund Peel, brother of Sir Robert Peel.

In 1826 he married Sarah Yates. They had ten children, of whom a daughter and four sons survived. The sons were William Fowler Mountford Copeland (1828–1908), Edward Capper Copeland (1835–1875), Alfred James Copeland (1837–1921), and Richard Pirie Copeland (1841–1913).

His cousin, William Copeland Astbury, wrote about William Taylor Copeland, the family, and the Copeland Spode business in his diaries, 1831-1848

"The Hunt" collection, first introduced in 1930 as everyday earthenware, was inspired in 1830, when W.T. Copeland, of Spode, offered the great sporting artist, John Frederick Herring, Sr., a house on his Essex estate. The relationship between the two men resulted in a collection of paintings. Most of the scenes used for "The Hunt" are taken from these works. The title of the featured painting is on the backside along with the official royal insignia of Spode, encapsulating its English heritage. More than two centuries of tableware tradition and the sporting life are represented in each piece.