Royal Doulton is not just Royal Doulton .

During the last 50 years , they have bought out many of the famous china companies that you may be familiar with . Some of these companies kept thier original name , others were swallowed up under the Royal Doulton umbrella and lost thier identity .

1968 Doulton bought Minton China ( founded by Thomas Minton in 1793 )

1968 - Doulton bought the Thomas Bennet group - hotel china producers

1969 - They bought Webb Corbett ( crystal ) and Beswick China (established 1890 ) . Webb Crystal was rebranded under the Doulton name .

1972 - One of  the biggest ceramic mergers ! Pearson PLC purchased Doulton & Co , combined both huge companies under Royal Doulton Tableware trademark .

The Pearson group had already bought Colclough China in 1944 . They had also bought Booth's Pottery .  In 1952 , Pearson had purchased a major English retailer - Lawleys Group which included Ridgway and Adderly ( those little floral baskets ) . In 1957 , Pearson had bought Swinnertons and Alcock , Lindley and Bloor . They also purchased Royal Albert , Royal Crown Derby and Paragon .

So...... After all these purchases and mergers - Royal Doulton also has a large group of affilated companies with names you must all have heard of .... 

A HUGE china company now .