Select Pratt Miscellany



Here are some Pratt stories and accounts over the years:


Sir Roger Pratt

Sir Roger Pratt became one of the leading arbiters of architectural taste in Restoration England, introducing and establishing the astylar 'double-pile' house style, which became the norm during the reign of Queen Anne.  The first house constructed in this style was Coleshill House in Berkshire for his cousin Sir George Pratt. 

Pratt was also a consultant on the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral and the redesign of the City of London after the Great Fire of 1666.  His services were rewarded iby a knighthood, after which he built himself a house at Ryston, retired from architectural work, and spent the rest of his life living as a country gentleman.

Pratt Ware

One of the oldest Staffordshire pottery works was that of Felix Pratt at Fenton, which was in operation continuously from 1775 to 1885. 

Of the many different kinds of pottery made by Pratt and his successors two types are especially popular with present-day collectors. The attractive and colorful cream-tinted earthenware jugs and mugs with relief decoration have long been known as Pratt ware, although they were also made elsewhere in Staffordshire. 

The distinguishing features of this early Pratt ware is the modeled relief decoration and the zigzag and acanthus-leaf borders.  The relief designs were painted under the glaze, and brilliant orange, green, cobalt blue, black or brown, and sometimes purple is characteristic of the ware.  In its deep, strong, and vibrant color it resembles the finest old Italian majolica.  The subject matter on these jugs includes scenes of the sea, hunting scenes, busts of national heroes, genre scenes, and caricatures of the headdresses of the period.


Pratts from North Yorkshire

Platt Name
Born
Place
Died
Place
Thomas
1630
Grinton
1689

Anthony
1659
Grinton


Michael
1661
Grinton
1717

Anthony
1698
Healaugh
1762
Grinton
William
1741
Grinton


James
1747
Grinton
1824
Reeth
James
1771
Grinton
1839

William
1779
Grinton
1824
Gunnerside
James
1792
Muker
1858
Gunnerside
James
1800
Grinton
1867
USA (Iowa)
Thomas
1805
Swaledale
1875

Christopher
1819
Grinton
1903
Undercliff
Metcalf
1826
Gunnerside
1891
USA (Nevada)
William
1828
Gunnerside


John
1839
Gunnerside
1904
Newfoundland
Thomas
1843
Grinton
1918
New Zealand






Daniel Pratt: Alabama's First Industrialist

Daniel Pratt helped provide cotton gins for Alabama's predominant antebellum economic activity, founded Alabama's most prominent early industrial town, and helped lay the foundation for postbellum development in manufacturing and railroad transportation.

In 1831 Pratt left his home state of New Hampshire for Alabama where he was to bring cotton gin manufacturing to cotton fields.  He purchased land on Autauga Creek in 1838 and it was on that land that he built Prattville as the site for his enterprises.  He established a cotton gin factory, a cotton mill, a grist mill, a woollen mill and a foundry, which employed more than 200 people. 

Later, Pratt's gin business grew so large that he contracted with mercantile firms in six different cities to sell his gins; and, after the Civil War, he was shifting his reliance from the cotton economy to the new industrial order of iron and railroad transportation.




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