Thomas George Dufty Bosley b. 1867

  • Artist (Ceramist)
Thomas George Dufty Bosley was a talented and professional potter who began his career at the age of nine, when he became an apprentice at the Hindmarsh Pottery in Adelaide. Bosley spent most of his working career, which spanned nearly 70 years, in South Australia where he famously created and produced a variety of domestic wares and ornaments including brightly coloured frogs and gnomes playing i
You are viewing the version of bio from Feb. 12, 2013, 11:54 a.m. (moderator approved).
Go to current record

potter, born in the working class village of Brompton, near Adelaide, Bosley was named after his father Thomas and his uncle George Bosley, with Dufty being his mother’s maiden name. Thomas and George had trained and worked as potters in the Staffordshire Potteries district of England before migrating to South Australia in 1866. After Thomas died, George married his brother’s widow. At the age of nine, Thomas joined his stepfather, now one of the chief potters, at the Hindmarsh Pottery, Adelaide as an apprentice. The firm produced a range of domestic salt-glazed stoneware vessels, drainpipes and terracotta wares. After George died in 1892, Thomas became a journeyman potter, travelling to WA to manage a brick-works. He returned to South Australia some 20 years later and managed a large brickyard.

When this closed with the onset of the 1929 Depression, along with other brickyards, Thomas and his son Alfred were left without work. In 1932 Thomas purchased 'a few shillings’ worth of clay’ from his former employers, the Hindmarsh Pottery, and made some ornamental bowls and vases with Alfred and another unemployed potter, selling their work at the newly-established Unemployed Sales Depot. Lady Bonython, Mayoress of Adelaide and a member of the committee suggested further designs based on 'simple lines, firm bases and plain, clear colours’.

Sales encouraged Bosley to establish a small pottery in the rear garden of his home in suburban Mitcham, producing bread crocks, vases and other wares. 'He was adept at the use of brightly-coloured lead-based glazes with a range of creamy to yellow shades and bright green and blue being favourites.’ By the end of 1937 the pottery workshops had been enlarged to employ six assistants, expanded to 12 in the next two years. The pottery became a popular place to visit, if only to see the 'Mitcham Band’ – a group of gnomes playing instruments in the front yard. Frogs, kookaburras and parrots were popular lines. Staff disappeared with the war and by 1941 Tom and Alfred were the only workers left. By 1944 Thomas Bosley, then 77, could only make a pot or two a day. He died in January 1945. Afred struggled to keep the business going with two assistants, but sold it in 1946 to ex-serviceman Ron Bissett, who formed Mitcham Potteries Ltd. It operated under various owners until 1964, though the production of ornamental wares had ceased by 1954.

Writers:
Staff Writer
Date written:
1999
Last updated:
2011

Difference between this version and previous