Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Josiah Clement Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood, (16 March 1872 – 26 July 1943), sometimes referred to as Josiah Wedgwood IV, was a British
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
and
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
who served in government under
Ramsay MacDonald. He was a prominent
single-tax activist following the political-economic reformer
Henry George
Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
. He was the great-great-grandson of the famous potter
Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indust ...
.
Biography
Josiah Wedgwood was born at
Barlaston
Barlaston is a village and civil parish in the borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is roughly halfway between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the small town of Stone. According to the 2001 census the population of the ...
in
Staffordshire
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
, the son of
Clement Wedgwood. He was the great-great-grandson of the potter
Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indust ...
. His mother Emily Catherine was the daughter of the engineer
James Meadows Rendel. He was educated at
Clifton College
''The spirit nourishes within''
, established = 160 years ago
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school
, religion = Christian
, president =
, head_label = Head of College
, head ...
and then studied at the
Royal Naval College,
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
.
He
married his first cousin Ethel Kate Bowen (1869–1952), daughter of Sir
Charles Bowen, 1st Baron Bowen in 1894 but she left him in 1913 and divorced him in 1919. Since divorce at that time required a guilty party, he agreed to take the blame and was found guilty of adultery and desertion of his wife and children. This led to criticism from the press and pulpit. More criticism was levelled after the divorce was final and he revealed that the desertion was a formality and the adultery staged. They had seven children:
*Helen Bowen Wedgwood (1895–1981), married the geneticist
Michael Pease
Michael Stewart Pease OBE[Supplement to the London Gazette](_blank)
11 June 1966, p ...
, son of
Edward Reynolds Pease
Edward Reynolds Pease (23 December 1857 – 5 January 1955) was an English writer and a founding member of the Fabian Society.
Early life
Pease was born near Bristol, the son of devout Quakers, Thomas Pease (1816–1884) and Susanna Ann F ...
. One of their sons was the physicist
Bas Pease
Rendel Sebastian "Bas" Pease FRS (2 November 1922 – 17 October 2004) was a British physicist who strongly opposed nuclear weapons while advocating the use of nuclear fusion as a clean source of power.
Biography
Pease was born at 9 Brunswick ...
and one of their daughters, Jocelyn Richenda Gammell Pease (1925–2003), married
Andrew Huxley
Sir Andrew Fielding Huxley (22 November 191730 May 2012) was an English physiologist and biophysicist. He was born into the prominent Huxley family. After leaving Westminster School in central London, he went to Trinity College, Cambridge ...
, the biologist.
*Rosamund Wedgwood (1896–1960)
*
Francis Charles Bowen Wedgwood (1898–1959), 2nd Baron Wedgwood. He was father of the 3rd Baron.
*
Josiah Wedgwood V
Josiah Wedgwood V (20 October 1899 – 18 May 1968) was the Managing Director of the Wedgwood pottery firm from 1930 until 1968 and credited with a transformation in the company's fortunes.
Wedgwood was one of seven children of Josiah Wedgwood I ...
(1899–1968), managing director of Wedgwood. He was father of Dr
John Wedgwood (1919–2007), former heir presumptive to the barony.
*
Camilla Hildegarde Wedgwood (1901–1955), anthropologist
*Elizabeth Julia Wedgwood (1907–1993)
*Gloria Wedgwood (1909–1974)
In 1919 he remarried; his second wife was Florence Ethel Willett (1878–1969).
Military and political career
![Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Josiah_Wedgwood%2C_1st_Baron_Wedgwood.jpg)
Proficient in
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
, he joined the workshops of an arms manufacturer,
Elswick. In 1891, he was commissioned in the
1st Northumberland (Western Division, Royal Artillery). He worked for a year from 1895 as an Assistant Naval Constructor in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
before returning to
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
to head the drawing office of another arms manufacturer,
Armstrong Armstrong may refer to:
Places
* Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places
Antarctica
* Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands
Argentina
* Armstrong, Santa Fe
Australia
* Armstrong, Victoria
Canada
* Armstrong, British Columbia
* Armstrong ...
. Following the outbreak of the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
in late 1899 he was given the army rank of
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
on 3 March 1900, and for three years commanded a volunteer battery of the
Royal Field Artillery equipped by Elswick. He remained in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
after the war, spending two years as a
Resident Magistrate in the district of
Ermelo in the
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal.
* South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...
. His studies of native land laws gave him an interest in
Land Reform
Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...
. Influenced by the writings of
Henry George
Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...
, he developed a lifelong belief in the
Single Tax
A single tax is a system of taxation based mainly or exclusively on one tax, typically chosen for its special properties, often being a tax on land value. The idea of a single tax on land values was proposed independently by John Locke and Bar ...
, advocating a tax on property to replace taxes on income and goods as a way of securing for workers the full reward for their work. He became president of the League for the Taxation of Land Values in 1908.
Having returned to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, Wedgwood was elected as
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
Newcastle-under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme ( RP: , ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. The 2011 census population of the town was 75,082, whilst the wider borough had a population of 1 ...
at the
1906 general election. Though he stood for the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, he made it clear that he would take an independent line in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
if necessary, in accordance with his conscience. He was re-elected at both the
January
January is the first month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is also the first of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The first day of the month is known as New Year's Day. It is, on average, the coldest month of the ...
and
December 1910 elections, and that year was also elected to
Staffordshire County Council
Staffordshire County Council is the top-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Staffordshire, England.
62 councillors sit on Staffordshire County Council. Staffordshire operates a cabinet-style council
In England, local auth ...
, remaining a councillor until 1918. He became disillusioned with the Liberals after 1910, when it became clear that the government would not honour campaign commitments to land reform and opposing vested interests. His disillusionment was increased by the government's reaction against the
Suffragette
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
s, whom he also supported. In 1913 he staged a
filibuster
A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
against the government's
Mental Deficiency Bill, which he saw as authoritarian and unjust. Over the course of two days in Parliament, he tabled 120 amendments and made 150 speeches in Parliament, sustaining himself with only
barley-water and
chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...
according to press reports, until his voice gave out. This campaign brought him to public attention outside of his own constituency and the Land Reform movement, and he became known as a leading backbencher.
World War I
Following the outbreak of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he volunteered for service with the
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, holding the rank of
lieutenant-commander
Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...
. He returned to mechanical work and was posted to the
Armoured Car Section of the
Royal Naval Air Service
The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...
. He served in Belgium and France in 1914 with the armoured cars. He was wounded in the
Dardanelles Campaign in 1915, receiving the
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...
for his service during the
landing at Cape Helles
The landing at Cape Helles ( tr, Seddülbahir Çıkarması) was part of the Gallipoli Campaign the amphibious landings on the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on 25 April 1915 during the First World War. Helles, at the foot o ...
, commanding the machine guns on
SS ''River Clyde''. It was while serving at Gallipoli that he met volunteers of the
Zion Mule Corps
The Jewish Legion (1917–1921) is an unofficial name used to refer to five battalions of Jewish volunteers, the 38th to 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers in the British Army, raised to fight against the Ottoman Empire during ...
commanded by
Joseph Trumpeldor
Joseph Vladimirovich (Volfovich) Trumpeldor (21 November 1880 – 1 March 1920, he, יוֹסֵף טְרוּמְפֶּלְדוֹר , russian: Иосиф Владимирович (Вольфович) Трумпельдор ) was an early Zionist a ...
that would affect his views about British policy on
Palestine. Back in Parliament he expressed concern at under-staffing and support for
national service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
, though he also defended the rights of
conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
s. Later that year he was posted as an army captain to the staff of General
Jan Smuts
Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, (24 May 1870 11 September 1950) was a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher. In addition to holding various military and cabinet posts, he served as prime minister of the Union of South Af ...
in
East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa:
Due to the historical ...
. In 1916 he was part of the
Mesopotamia Commission of Inquiry.
Promoted to Major he commanded a machine gun company in the 2nd South African Infantry Brigade in 1916. In 1917 he became Assistant Director of Trench Warfare with the rank of colonel. At the start of 1918 he was sent to
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
where his mission was to encourage continued Russian participation in the war and to gathering intelligence on
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
control in Siberia.
1918 General Election
In the
1918 General Election he sought re-election. There has been some confusion regarding his specific affiliation at the time of the election. He was officially supported by his local Liberal Association and he was officially endorsed by the Coalition Government. This led to him being described in many sources at the time as a Coalition Liberal. However, during the election campaign he publicly distanced himself from the Coalition Government. His own local election campaign was minimal because he was not opposed. In his election address he stated "I come before you, the same impenitent independent radical that you first elected in 1906". This had led some to incorrectly describe him in 1918 as an 'Independent Radical' even though in 1906 he was classified as a 'Liberal'. The usually reliable
F. W. S. Craig
Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compilin ...
, in his book ''British Parliamentary Election results, 1918-1949'' described him as an 'Independent Liberal'. However his status as an official Liberal rather than an Independent Liberal was subsequently confirmed when he attended the first meeting of the Liberal parliamentary party on 3 February 1919.
Joining Labour
In 1919, Wedgwood took the
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
whip
A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...
in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
and joined the
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...
. He enjoyed the freer atmosphere of Labour and the party warmly welcomed him, electing him joint Vice-Chairman of the
Parliamentary Labour Party
In UK politics, the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) is the parliamentary group of the Labour Party in Parliament, i.e. Labour MPs as a collective body. Commentators on the British Constitution sometimes draw a distinction between the Labour ...
in 1921. Wedgwood maintained his reputation for championing new ideas and the interests of outsiders and underdogs. He supported a number of unpopular causes, including opposition to the reparations from Germany contained in the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
. In 1920 he criticised the government's partition of
British territories into Palestine and Transjordan, and continued to attack what he saw as its bias against
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
for the next two decades. That year he also led a commission from the Labour Party and the
TUC to
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, which reported on the harsh treatment of suspected communists under the
Horthy regime that succeeded the revolutionary Communist dictatorship of
Béla Kun
Béla Kun (born Béla Kohn; 20 February 1886 – 29 August 1938) was a Hungarian communist revolutionary and politician who governed the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919. After attending Franz Joseph University at Kolozsvár (today Cluj-Napoc ...
. He supported refugee causes in Britain, particularly that of anarchists from the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, such as
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
. Most of all he became known for his support of the
Indian independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
.
Cabinet and the Lords
![1924 Josiah Wedgwood](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/1924_Josiah_Wedgwood.jpg)
There was tacit co-operation between Labour and the opposition Liberals in some seats at the
1923 general election, and Wedgwood ran unopposed in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Having been re-elected Vice-Chairman of the party in 1922 and 1923, Wedgwood expected a seat in the Cabinet when Labour formed its first government at the start of 1924. There was speculation in the press that he would be made
First Lord of the Admiralty
The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
and some expectation that he would become
Secretary of State for the Colonies
The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, British Cabinet government minister, minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various British Empire, colonial dependencies.
Histor ...
or for
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.
Sidney Webb
Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield, (13 July 1859 – 13 October 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, who co-founded the London School of Economics. He was an early member of the Fabian Society in 1884, joining, like Geo ...
believed Wedgwood would prefer to become
President of the Board of Trade
The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. This is a committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centu ...
, and was willing to step aside in his favour. However,
Ramsay MacDonald initially offered him only the junior position of
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the First Lord of the Treasury, first lord of th ...
. After some pressing, MacDonald gave him a seat in the Cabinet, but with the sinecure title of
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...
rather than a departmental portfolio. In this capacity, he performed various de facto tasks in government. Later in the year, he was appointed Chief Industrial Commissioner, succeeding
Arthur Henderson
Arthur Henderson (13 September 1863 – 20 October 1935) was a British iron moulder and Labour politician. He was the first Labour cabinet minister, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1934 and, uniquely, served three separate terms as Leader of th ...
in a difficult position as the government's decision to maintain some of its predecessor's policies on industrial action caused much friction within the Labour movement. He was sworn into the
Privy Council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...
in 1924.
He chaired a Cabinet Committee to contemplate the use of the Emergency Powers Act against strikes in the transport industry. He took a strong line on a number of issues, opposing disarmament and the promise of a loan to the Soviet Union. He was also wary of the state undertaking
public works
Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...
purely for the sake of doing so, without any utilitarian benefit.
After the fall of the government, Wedgwood publicly criticised MacDonald's leadership and Labour's reliance on civil servants. He sat on Labour's front bench in opposition, speaking on, amongst other policy areas, local government, where he encouraged
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...
. He was not offered a position in the second Labour government. In March 1929, he became chairman of the House of Commons Records Committee. He began compiling a history of the Commons, a subject that consumed his interest. He wrote a history of Staffordshire's parliamentary representatives from the thirteenth century to the First World War, and two volumes of biographies of MPs of the 15th century. Wedgwood's work in this area led eventually to the establishment of the
History of Parliament
The History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in w ...
Trust. Throughout the 1930s, he continued to speak in the Commons on issues of importance to him, particularly the Single Tax and native resistance to colonialism. In 1930 and 1931 he was made Mayor of Newcastle-under-Lyme after successfully campaigning for the town to remain independent of Stoke-on-Trent.
From the mid-1930s he was critical of
appeasement
Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governm ...
and of limitations on the migration of Jews to Palestine (
1939 White Paper
The White Paper of 1939Occasionally also known as the MacDonald White Paper (e.g. Caplan, 2015, p.117) after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary, who presided over its creation. was a policy paper issued by the British government ...
) and of German refugees to Britain and worked tirelessly to help European Jews. The actor
Heinz Bernard
Heinz Bernhard Löwenstein, known as Heinz Bernard (22 December 1923 – 18 December 1994) was a British actor and director and theatre manager. Of Polish-Jewish and German-Jewish descent, he lived and worked in Israel from 1971-81. He trained a ...
's life was saved as a result of a
parliamentary question
A question time in a parliament occurs when members of the parliament ask questions of government ministers (including the prime minister), which they are obliged to answer. It usually occurs daily while parliament is sitting, though it can be ca ...
asked by Wedgwood which resulted in his being given a visa to Britain.
In the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, he joined the
Home Guard
Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense.
The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting wi ...
in 1940. In 1941 he toured the
United States of America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
, putting Britain's case against
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
at public meetings. Whilst Wedgwood was in America,
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
offered him a
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:
Australia
* Australian peers
Belgium
* Belgi ...
, inviting him to sit for Labour in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
. Wedgwood accepted,
resigning as MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme after 36 years and becoming Baron Wedgwood, of
Barlaston
Barlaston is a village and civil parish in the borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is roughly halfway between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the small town of Stone. According to the 2001 census the population of the ...
in the
County of Stafford
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
on 21 January 1942. The following year he died in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
at age of 71.
Zionism
Wedgwood was impressed by his contact with the
Zion Mule Corps
The Jewish Legion (1917–1921) is an unofficial name used to refer to five battalions of Jewish volunteers, the 38th to 42nd (Service) Battalions of the Royal Fusiliers in the British Army, raised to fight against the Ottoman Empire during ...
in 1915, while serving in World War I, but said that he first became aware of
Zionism
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is ...
"as a creed" in 1916 when
Dorothy Richardson
Dorothy Miller Richardson (17 May 1873 – 17 June 1957) was a British author and journalist. Author of ''Pilgrimage'', a sequence of 13 semi-autobiographical novels published between 1915 and 1967—though Richardson saw them as chapters of o ...
invited him to address a Zionist meeting.
[Bloom, Cecil]
“Josiah Wedgwood and Palestine.”
''Jewish Historical Studies'', vol. 42, 2009, pp. 147–172. JSTOR, . Accessed 29 January 2020. In October 1926, Wedgwood, a devoted Zionist, visited Palestine and challenged the
Mandatory government's policies in his 1928 book ''The Seventh Dominion'', accusing the British administration of hindering the country's social and economic development.
In 1942 he prefaced the booklet ''STOP THEM NOW'', the first public report printed in English about the non-stop destruction of the Jews in German-occupied territories, in which he says : "The Huns and the Mongols, Tamerlane with his mountains of skulls, all these demons of long ago were patterns of chivalry compared with the pureblooded devils into which Hitler has converted Germans."
Legacy and commemoration
*Wedgwood Memorial College, a residential college founded in
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
in 1945 was named after him.
*Nachal Reuven, a
moshav
A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...
in central
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, was renamed
Gan Yoshiya
Gan Yoshiya ( he, גַּן יֹאשִׁיָּה, lit. ''Josiah's Garden'') is a moshav in central Israel. Located near the Green Line in the Tulkarm area, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council. In it had a population ...
( he, גן יאשיה, lit. ''Josiah's Garden'') in his honour.
*The ''Josiah Wedgwood'', a 1946
Aliyah Bet
''Aliyah Bet'' ( he, עלייה ב', "Aliyah 'B'" – bet being the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet) was the code name given to illegal immigration by Jews, most of whom were refugees escaping from Nazi Germany, and later Holocaust sur ...
ship (originally the
Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...
corvette ) was named after him. The ship was later part of the
Israeli Navy
The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...
as INS ''Wedgwood'' (K-18).
*Streets in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
,
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
and
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
bear his name.
Robert Fulford's column about place names
/ref>
Arms
See also
*Darwin–Wedgwood family
The Darwin–Wedgwood family are members of two connected families, each noted for particular prominent 18th-century figures: Erasmus Darwin, a physician and natural philosopher, and Josiah Wedgwood, a noted potter and founder of the eponymous ...
References
Further reading
*Paul Mulvey (2010) ''The Political Life of Josiah C. Wedgwood: Land, Liberty and Empire, 1872-1943''
*J. C. Wedgwood (1940) ''Memoirs of a Fighting Life'' (autobiography)
*C.V. Wedgwood
Dame Cicely Veronica Wedgwood, (20 July 1910 – 9 March 1997) was an English historian who published under the name C. V. Wedgwood. Specializing in the history of 17th-century England and continental Europe, her biographies and narrative hist ...
(1951) ''Last of the Radicals''
*Joshua B. Stein (1992) ''Our Great Solicitor: Josiah C. Wedgwood and the Jews''
*Gabriella Auspitz (2004) ''My Righteous Gentile: Lord Wedgwood and Other Memories'' Labson
VIAG
External links
*
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