Josiah Wedgwood II (3 April 1769 – 12 July 1843), the son of the English 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 indus ...

, continued his father's firm and was a

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 o ...

(MP) for

Stoke-upon-Trent Stoke-upon-Trent, commonly called Stoke is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall form the city of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England. The town was incorporated as a municipal borough in 18 ...

from 1832 to 1835. He was an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, and detested slavery. Josiah and his brother

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

gave their friend

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

a life annuity of £150, with the goal of freeing Coleridge from financial worries and the need to support himself by noncreative work, so that he could pursue his literary and philosophical interests. This was offered in January 1798, and accepted by Coleridge, who was then a probationary minister in the Unitarian Church, with the condition he discontinued in the ministry. In 1807, Wedgwood bought Maer Hall in Staffordshire and his family lived there until his death in 1843. Wedgwood was responsible for the Wedgwood Company's first

bone china Bone china is a type of ceramic that is composed of bone ash, feldspathic material, and kaolin. It has been defined as "ware with a translucent body" containing a minimum of 30% of phosphate derived from animal bone and calculated calcium phospha ...

wares. Wedgwood married Elizabeth Allen (1764–1846) and they had four sons and five daughters, two of whom married their first cousins, the offspring of

Robert Darwin Robert Waring Darwin (30 May 1766 – 13 November 1848) was an English medical doctor, who today is best known as the father of the naturalist Charles Darwin. He was a member of the influential Darwin–Wedgwood family. Biography Darwin was bo ...

and Susannah Wedgwood: * Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood (1793–1880) *

Josiah Wedgwood III Josiah "Joe" Wedgwood III (12 January 1795–11 March 1880), a grandson of the English potter Josiah Wedgwood. Wedgwood was the eldest son of Josiah Wedgwood II and his wife Elizabeth Allen. He was born nine days after the death of his gran ...

(1795–1880); married his cousin Caroline Darwin, sister of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

. * Mary Anne Wedgwood (1796–1798) died as an infant. * Charlotte Wedgwood (1797–1862); married Charles Langton (1801–1886) in 1832. After her death Charles Langton remarried her cousin Emily Catherine Darwin, daughter of

, sister of

. * Henry Allen Wedgwood (1799–1885) married secondly his cousin Jessie Wedgwood, daughter of John Wedgwood (1766–1844). * Francis "Frank" Wedgwood (1800–1888) *

Hensleigh Wedgwood Hensleigh Wedgwood (21 January 1803 – 2 June 1891) was a British etymologist, philologist and barrister, author of '' A Dictionary of English Etymology''. He was a cousin of Charles Darwin, whom his sister Emma married in 1839. Early life We ...

(1803–1891) * Frances (Fanny) Wedgwood (1806–1832) *

Emma Wedgwood Emma Darwin (; 2 May 1808 – 2 October 1896) was an English woman who was the cousin marriage, wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin. They were married on 29 January 1839 and were the parents of ten children, seven of whom survived to adulth ...

(1808–1896); married her cousin

, son of

References and sources

;References

External links

Wedgwood Website
*https://web.archive.org/web/20070928162359/http://www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk/biogresults.asp?BiographySelection=35 1769 births 1843 deaths English businesspeople UK MPs 1832–1835 Darwin–Wedgwood family Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies People from Stoke-on-Trent English potters English abolitionists Wedgwood pottery {{England-UK-MP-stub