Person    | Male  Born 1730  Died 3/1/1795

Josiah Wedgwood

Master potter. Born in Burslem, Stoke, Staffordshire, into a potters family. Married his cousin, Sally. Childhood smallpox left him with a limp. His inability to operate the potters wheel meant he turned to design and management instead.  It is said he often used his stick to smash items that he felt were not good enough. Contacted the Cherokees Indians to find a source of the whitest possible clay. His London showrooms became a fashionable place to visit. Flaxman, Stubbs and Lady Diana Beauclerk all provided designs for him. Promoter of social reform and active in the fight against the slave trade. Wedgwood is nowadays compared with Henry Ford for his innovative introduction of methods of mass production.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Josiah Wedgwood

Commemorated ati

Josiah Wedgwood

Charming plaque, in the Wedgwood blue pottery style.

Read More

Spirit of Soho Mural

Interesting that Coca Cola are specifically mentioned on the panel but not as...

Read More

Other Subjects

Worshipful Company of Founders

Worshipful Company of Founders

Founders were workers in brass and brass alloys or tinplate. They made small objects such as candlesticks and weights and measures. From their website (link now dead): "Today ... the Founders' Com...

Group, Craft / Design, Liveries & Guilds

2 memorials
John Hutton

John Hutton

Glass engraver. Born New Zealand. Moved to London as a young artist. Best known for work at Coventry Cathedral, where he is buried.

Person, Craft / Design, New Zealand

2 memorials
John Penfold

John Penfold

Surveyor and architect. Born John Wornham Penfold in Haslemere, Surrey. He was a founding member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is best known for designing the British hexagona...

Person, Architecture, Craft / Design

1 memorial
Beau Brummell

Beau Brummell

Born as George Bryan Brummell in Downing Street, his father being Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, Lord North. A gambler and dandy and one of the Prince Regent's favourites, he set the dres...

Person, Craft / Design, France

2 memorials
Rex Silver

Rex Silver

Textile designer.  Born Reginald in Islington, the son of Arthur. In 1914 he was living at 1 Haarlem Road, Hammersmith.  In 1922 he married Sybil L. Peerless in Hendon, Middlesex.  At the time of h...

Person, Craft / Design

1 memorial