Some
History
And
this is really a placeholder... Just based on our own small library...
So,
from John Watkins "Universal Biographical Dictionary"
undated, but Byron was a young poet with some potential, we find
attributed to the "Gentleman's Magazine" the
following:
WEDGWOOD
(Josiah), an ingenious manufacturer, was born in 1730. He succeeded
to his father's business, which was that of a potter; and in 1760
he began those improvements, in the Staffordshire-ware, which
made his fortune. In 1763 he obtained a patent for an article,
to which he gave the name of queen's ware. From that time he went
on in the invention of several sorts of porcelain, and the imitation
of beautiful stones. He also projected the grand Trent canal,
for the junction of the Trent and the Mersey. To his pottery,
near Newcastle-under-Line, he gave the name of Etruria. He died
in 1795. Mr. Wedgwood was a fellow of the royal and antiquarian
societies.
Anyway,
aside from that, in 1774 a plaque/medallion of Sir William Hamilton
was made by Wedgwood and is even now at home in the British Museum.
And
here, as they say, is where the story really starts.
