DOULTON, Frederick 1824-1872. Manufacturer. In 1859 Frederick, a younger son of John Doulton, founder of the famous pottery works in Lambeth, took a lease from Dulwich College of the 21-acre Hall Place estate at the present junction of Park Hall Road and South Croxted Road. He came to live at the old mansion, which he renamed The Manor House, and which, according to Blanch, had a magnificent oak staircase, spacious entrance hall, and lofty rooms. The family pottery was headed by Frederick’s elder brother Sir Henry Doulton, who carried it to the peak of its success, and built a new factory for making utilitarian pottery, drain-pipes, etc, in which Frederick invested. It proved very profitable thanks to the great sanitary advances then taking place in London.
Frederick Doulton left the firm in 1862 to pursue a career in politics, sitting as MP for Lambeth from 1862 to 1868. In those years he instigated the development of a large part of his Dulwich estate, laying out much of Alleyn Park and Alleyn Road between 1862 and 1866. Financial difficulties prevented his completion of the project, which was continued by John Westwood who bought his lease in 1869, and who was responsible for demolishing The Manor House itself in about 1882. Four sons and several grandsons of Frederick Doulton attended Dulwich College.
Mary Boast