Children's Web Magazine
Josiah Wedgwood is the famous English potter who was born on the 12th July 1730 in Burslem Staffordshire. He was the youngest of Thomas and Mary Wedgwood's children. His father was also a potter and came from a family of potters.
Wedgwood began working for his older brother Thomas as an apprentice in 1739. However he suffered an attack of smallpox which caused his knee to be weakened by the illness, this made it more difficult for him to work the potter's wheel. So he had begun to concentrate more on design and technique. It was these qualities that made his name as a potter. It was fortunate for him that he had chosen to concentrate on them as by 1768 he had to have the leg amputated.
His brother refused him a partnership in the family firm so instead he went into business with John Harrison which lasted a couple of years. And then with Thomas Whieldon this lasted five years. Whieldon then had a reputation for inspiring young potters. His use of techniques was ahead of the times. Both Harrison and Whieldon were based in Stoke - on - Trent Staffordshire. By 1759 Wedgwood had set up his own factory in Burslem. Within a few years he was so popular both in England and the Continent he had to open a new factory close by. In 1769 he went into partnership with Thomas Bentley he called the factory Etrutria after the region in Italy where beautiful vases had been discovered. He also built cottages there for his factory workers.
Wedgwood used to experiment a great deal which brought about the discovery of glazes that are still being used by Wedgwood today. His Queen's Ware range was named after Queen Charlotte. This was because in 1762 he was appointed the queen's potter. Queen's Ware was cream coloured earthenware. He also created what was known as Jasperware the traditional blue china. It also came in yellow, black, lilac, olive, sage green or a light or dark blue. This extremely tough and partly transparent stoneware meant it was able to be coloured. But black basalt was not the same as black Jasper. Black basalt was similar to the early black porcelain found in Etruria.
He married his third cousin Sarah Wedgwood and they had seven children. The eldest of whom married Robert Darwin and their son was the naturalist Charles Darwin. Josiah Wedgwood died on the 3rd January 1795 he had suffered from regular pain for most of his life yet due to his determination he had managed to conquer it and become a famous potter.
© Children's Web Magazine 2007