George Francis Henry Wade
George Francis Henry Wade 1982 – .
Written by George Wade
Sir George Wade, Tony George Wade, Jeremy George Wade and George Francis Henry Wade in 1985.
Sadly the only photo of the four Georges!
I was born in Stoke on Trent in 1982 and lived near Market Drayton. I went to early school in Mucklestone before moving to Prep School in Shropshire. I remember in my early years my grandfather bringing home box loads of Whimsieland animals. I was also a signed up member of the Piggy Press club and collected all of the Natwest pigs.
I remember going to the first Wade fair with my father and family and we were all shocked by the number of people. I was hooked and bought the spirit penguin set at the first fair. We then attended nearly all of the Wade fairs but sadly never made it to a US fair.
I did make it to Ireland when they put on the fabulous Wade Ireland exhibition.
I remember buying my first piece of Wade pottery on eBay in 1998. It was the Stoke City Football club centenary tankard. My love of Wade and Stoke City meant I had to have it and there began an amazing eBay journey.
After leaving school I went to work for my local auction house in Shrewsbury and quickly realised that you could buy almost any Wade in auction and sell it for a profit on eBay. I quickly became a powerseller named ‘georgefh’ and fell in love with being a Wade dealer.
I never mentioned on my page that I was a member of the family so it seemed to surprise a lot of buyers when they received their winning emails. I remember one US collector asking if I was a member of the Wade family or perhaps just worked there. It made us all laugh to think of a factory full of George Wades!
Along the way I met so many wonderful people from across the world and learnt so much from them. I adored travelling the country buying at auctions and at fairs. I was lucky to also be able to work on the sale of a huge Wade collection at the auction house I worked for and got to catalogue it.
I was also able to buy from some of the most famous Wade auctions including the William Harper auctions and 1997 BBR auction.
Part of the William Harper collection I bought at auction. Wish I had kept them!
I then spent three years at Newcastle University to study archaeology and museum studies but I kept my eBay shop running and the North East gave me a host of new auction houses to visit. My housemates could never believe that a table of Wade whimsies could pay for my university ski trips!
One summer holidays I had the pleasure of working in the Potteries Museum washing broken pottery that has been dug up in Stoke. Sadly no Wade!
After university I went back to working for my local auction house and really concentrated on my eBay shop. My father being a car dealer was a great support in helping me setup my business and was very proud. He was very pleased I was so into the family history. I was lucky to be able to buy some incredible pieces during this period including items from Fred and Anne Howard including their Faust Lang Stoat which had set the auction record for a piece of Wade when they bought it. This went to a very happy US collector. I was also able to sell not one but two Jonah in the Whale pieces. I bought a large collection of whimsies in one lot in an auction and Jonah was one of them. The other whimises were worth more than I paid for the full lot so Jonah did’t really owe me anything. Eventually when I came to sell it I had no idea what it would make. I had never seen another on eBay. After a crazy last few minutes on a Sunday night Jonah and the Whale sold for £1,850!
Surely a world record for a Wade Whimsie that still stands today?
Another world record I think I might have is for a Natwest Pig. I wasn’t contacted by a lady who was a similar age to me who told me she had won a NatWest Bank competition in the 1980’s and got a trip to go on a treasure hunt with TV star Anneka Rice and at the end she found a gold Sir Nathaniel full of money. I was quite sceptical to start with as this was the time some fake pigs were appearing but when she sent me family photos of her on the hunt and her in the piggy press I knew I needed to help sell her pig. It made £1,650 on eBay which is assume is a record for a single pig?
This excellent Natwest Pig website has more information about these 6 gold pigs that were made.
If you know of any other World record prices for Wade please do let me know and I will add a dedicated section to the site.
It was around this time that I started working for a London software company who were pioneering live internet bidding for traditional auction house so that instead of attending in person you could bid online. I became their Midl ands UK representative and would travel the country running the internet bidding. This was my dream job as I was now being paid to visits auctions and could continue to run my eBay business and was introduced to many new auction houses including Potteries Specialist Auctions in Stoke owned and run by Bill Buckley. Bill had always sold a lot of Wade and continues to today.
Bill very kindly gave me additional work cataloguing Wade for his auctions which was great fun.
Eventually the online bidding was taking off and I was asked to move to London to join the company full time.
I carried on with my eBay business for sometime but it soon became impossible to juggle both and the eBay world was changing and became less enjoyable.
I was sad to leave Staffordshire and to give up playing rugby for Stoke but I had a great time in London working for a very exciting company.
I also met my future wife, Ellie, while working in London. We got married in 2012 and then moved to North Yorkshire in 2013. Harriet Wade was born on February 1st 2015 (100 years to the day after my Stoke City hero Stanley Matthews. Walter Wade was then born in November 2018.
Yorkshire is home for us now but we make frequent trips back to Staffordshire to visit my mother, other family and watch Stoke City Football Club.
In December 2022 when we received the devastating news that Wade Ceramics had gone into administration we were all heart broken. My father and I worked tirelessly trying to see how we could form a rescue plan but time was against us and we couldn’t make it happen. We were delighted to later hear that RKW had bought the brand and would be continuing the Wade name. They are making some excellent tableware and we wish them every success in the future. Please do support them! https://www.wadepottery.co.uk/
We didn’t know what was going to happen to the name for serval anxious months so I decided to re register George Wade and Son Ltd as it had lapsed and was not part of the administration.
My father was very emotional when I sent him the paperwork and I promised him that one day I would try and have Wade pottery made again in Stoke by a member of the family.
Tragically my father died last year of a sudden heart attack aged just 73 so didn’t get to see this website or know that I am now having Wade pottery made again in Stoke. I know he would have been so proud. He had his own very successful career in the classic car trade. You can read more about my wonderful father here. https://georgewadeandson.com/history/jeremywade/
It was only after his death and incredible funeral with over 400 people attending that i really started to focus on this website and to make our dream a reality.
Shockingly in early 2024 I was diagnosed with two high grade brain tumours which has changed my life. I was very lucky that they were caught early and i had the most amazing treatment in London. Two years later after six operations, chemotherapy and radiotherapy I am doing remarkably well and feeling fit and healthy. I have scans every few months and will never be safe but I am just grateful to my incredible family and friends who support me. It has been tough but a highlight has been raising money for the National Brain Appeal. You can read more about some of the challenges I have taken on here. https://www.nationalbrainappeal.org/george-wade/
I was so happy to run the London Marathon last year with my father watching on!
