42 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP. 



working premises consisting of two kilns, a few tile- 

 covered sheds and rooms, and the adjoining Ivy-covered 

 cottage. 



Among the hands whom he employed was his 

 second cousin Thomas Wedgwood, who was engaged as 

 a journeyman for five years at the wages of 22 a 

 year, or at the rate of about 8s. 6d. a week. Thomas 

 had been a potter at the Worcester works, and brought 

 with him the knowledge of the art which he had ac- 

 quired at that important manufactory. 



Wedgwood had other workmen, though they were 

 comparatively few in number. Indeed, he had con- 

 siderable difficulty with these workmen, who were 

 wedded to their own ways, and could scarcely be 

 brought into conformity with their new master's modes 

 of workmanship. It was only by his own personal in- 

 fluence that Wedgwood succeeded in moulding them to 

 his own methods, for he himself conducted in person 

 the production of every article that proceeded from his 

 works. He made his own models, superintended the 

 firing of the ware, and was constantly employed in 

 the various departments of the pottery manufacture. 

 In doing so, he overcame to a large extent the 

 trammels of his bodily afflictions. 



At first he devoted himself more particularly to the 

 ordinary classes of ware which formed the staple pro- 

 ductions of the district; but by carefulness in the 

 manufacture, he gradually acquired a reputation which 

 led to a considerable increase in his trade. He con- 



