Josiah Wedgwood, whose wife survived him, had a family of children. These were, Susannah, baptized at Burslem, on the 2nd of January, 1765, married Dr. Robert Darwin, of Shrewsbury, son of the celebrated Dr. Erasmus Darwin, of Derby (and half-brother to Sir Francis Darwin, M.D., of Breadsall Priory, and Sydnope, Darley Dale,) by his first wife, Mary Howard, of Lichfield, and was the mother, along with other sons and daughters, of Charles Darwin, the naturalist, author of the “Origin of Species,” &c. John, baptized at Burslem, April 2nd, 1766, resided at Seabridge, and married Louisa Jane, daughter of Mr. Allen, of Criselly, Pembrokeshire, and by her had four sons and three daughters (viz., the Rev. John Allen Wedgwood; Lieut.-Col. Thomas Josiah Wedgwood, who married Anne Maria, daughter of Admiral Sir C. Tyler; Charles, who died without issue; the Rev. Robert Wedgwood, who married Frances, daughter of the Rev. Offley Crewe; Sarah Elizabeth; Caroline Louisa Jane; and Jessie, who married her cousin, Henry Allen Wedgwood). Richard, born in 1767, and died in 1782. Josiah, one of the founders of the Royal Horticultural Society, first member of parliament for the borough of Stoke-upon-Trent, of Maer Hall, who married Elizabeth Allen, of Criselly, Pembrokeshire, and by her had four sons and five daughters, viz., Josiah (the third of that name), who married his cousin, Caroline Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Darwin, of Shrewsbury, and had issue Henry Allen Wedgwood, barrister-at-law, who married his cousin Jessie, daughter of John Wedgwood, of Seabridge; Francis Wedgwood, of Etruria and Barlaston, the late head of the Etruria firm, who married Frances, daughter of the Rev. J. P. Mosley, of Rolleston Rectory, and has issue three sons, Godfrey, Clement, and Lawrence, the present members of the firm, and four daughters; Hensleigh, barrister-at-law, of London, who married Elizabeth, daughter of the Right Hon. Sir James Mackintosh, the historian, and has issue Sarah Elizabeth; Mary, who died unmarried; Charlotte, married to the Rev. C. Langton, of Hartfield; Frances, who died unmarried; and Emma, who married her cousin, Charles Darwin, F.R.S., author of the “Origin of Species,” &c. Thomas, who died without issue; and Catherine, Sarah, and Mary Anne.
Fig. 582.—Medallion of Thomas Byerley.
For a time after Josiah Wedgwood’s death, the management of the business devolved mainly on Mr. Byerley, whose experience, and skill were of great value. In 1800 the partners were, however, the brothers Josiah and John Wedgwood, and Thomas Byerley, which arrangement continued until the death of the latter in 1810. Thomas Wedgwood, who suffered constant ill-health, took no part in the management of the business, and died in 1805, at Gunville, Dorsetshire. He was a man of considerable scientific attainments. During his father’s lifetime he prosecuted his studies with his aid and that of Alexander Chisholm, and made such progress in his researches into the properties of light, &c., that in 1792 he communicated to the Royal Society an account of his “Experiments and Observations on the Production of Light from different bodies by Heat and by Attraction.” His continued experiments and researches resulted in the discovery of the process of photography, and in 1802, in conjunction with Sir Humphrey Davy, he made those discoveries known by a paper printed in the “Journal of the Royal Institution of Great Britain,” under the title of “An Account of a Method of Copying Paintings upon Glass, and of making Profiles by the Agency of Light upon Nitrate of Silver; with observations by H. Davy.” This is the first recorded attempt at fixing the images of the camera-obscura (which Wedgwood appears to have used from a youth) by the chemical influence of light.
On the death of Mr. Byerley, the business was carried on by the second Josiah Wedgwood alone, until Martinmas, 1823, when he took his eldest son Josiah (the third of that name) into partnership, the firm being carried on under the style of “Josiah Wedgwood & Son.” Four years afterwards, at Martinmas, 1827, another son, Francis, having been taken into partnership, the style was altered to that of “Josiah Wedgwood & Sons.”
In November, 1841, Josiah Wedgwood, senior, of Maer Hall, retired from the business, and it was carried on by his sons until the following April, when Josiah Wedgwood, junior, also retired. The style of the firm, however, continued to be, as it is to the present day, “Josiah Wedgwood & Sons.”
The manufacture of china, which had never been attempted by the first Josiah, was commenced at Etruria about 1808 or 1809, in the time of Mr. Byerley, who considered that it would be an advantageous addition to the works; but was only carried on for probably nine or ten years, and then finally discontinued. The china was of extremely good quality, both in texture of body, in colour, in glaze, and in decoration. It was not made to any great extent, and is now very scarce. In the Museum of Practical Geology, the Mayer Museum, and other collections, are excellent and characteristic specimens. The mark on the china is the simple name
WEDGWOOD,
in small capital letters, printed on the bottom in red or blue.
“Stone china” was also at one time, to some little extent, made at Etruria, examples of which are now rare. It ceased to be made about the year 1825.