From the early 19th. century Stourbridge became the centre of English glass manufacture, aided by the proximity of coal as a fuel to heat the furnaces, and an extensive canal network enabling the finished articles to be transported safely and cheaply. By the mid-nineteenth century the fashion for highly decorative and coloured glass was fed by dozens of glass-houses around Stourbridge, Wordsley, and the Black Country.

Among the early nineteenth century factories, Richardsons held pride of place. The family had been active in the glass business for several generations before Benjamin Richardson set up his own glassworks at Wordsley in 1836. The business was held by a succession of the Richardsons family in various partnerships, until it was acquired by Stevens and Williams in the late 1920s. It was from the first at the forefront of experimentation with different colours of glass, and was noted for its classical designs.