On the failure of the eminent firm of John and William Turner, of Lane End, the first named entered the service of Thomas Minton, and became, in fact, the practical potter of the firm after the death of Poulson. He effected great improvements in the bodies and glazes, and in the general character of the productions of the works. Soon after Mr. Minton had commenced business, a scheme having been set on foot for monopolising the sale of Cornish clay, he and his partners purchased an estate of eighty-four acres on Hendra Common for a comparatively trifling sum, and also certain rights and a leasehold interest in Treloar Common, where there was abundance of china clay and stone, as also other valuable minerals. Having secured the property, Mr. Minton took steps to associate with him the leading manufacturers to work the mines. In this he appears to have been successful, and the first meeting of “the Hendra Company” was held at the Swan Inn,[42] Hanley, on the 8th of January, 1800, Mr. Thomas Byerley in the chair, who represented the firm of Josiah Wedgwood and Byerley; Hollins, Warburton & Co., by Mr. John Hollins and Mr. John Daniel; Mr. William Adams, in person; and Minton, Poulson, and Pownall, by Mr. Minton and Mr. Poulson. These manufacturers composed the whole of the Company, and they agreed to purchase a part of Minton, Poulson, and Pownall’s property. Mr. John Brindley, of Longport, was appointed agent to the Company. The minutes of the meetings are brief in the extreme, and there is no recital as to the objects of the Company, but there are a few particulars which may interest the present race of manufacturers as contrasting their present improved position, as regards the supply of material, with what it was in those days. July 24, 1800, stone was ordered to be sold at 50_s._ per ton at Etruria wharf, and 42_s._ at Runcorn; fifteen tons were a boat-load. A vessel, called the _Venus_, brought to Runcorn ninety-nine tons, and the freight was £72 7_s._ 9_d._ China clay was £6 per ton at Polemear. [Illustration: Figs. 205 to 210.--Messrs. Minton’s Productions.] [Illustration: Figs. 211 to 214.--Messrs. Minton’s Productions.] It would seem that Mr. Minton had visited Cornwall several times--the first time in 1798, and we are afforded an insight into the difficulty and expense of travelling at that period, by the fact that the cost of each journey was nearly thirty pounds. It seems that Mr. Minton must have got the mines into something like working order during these visits, as an immediate supply of clay and stone was available at the time the Company was formed, and there is proof of this in the following document:--