THE WEDGWOODS. 



CHAPTER I. 



BURSLEM A HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS AGO. WOLSTANTON. 



JAMES BRINDLEY, " THE SCHEMER." THE WEDGWOODS OF 



HARRACLES AND THEIR ALLIANCES. HAZELRIGG, VEN- 

 ABLES, AND FENTON FAMILIES. HORTON HALL, CHURCH, 

 AND MANOR, THE DE BURSLEM FAMILY : THEIR ALLIANCE 

 WITH THE WEDGWOODS. GILBERT WEDGWOOD AND MAR- 

 GARET BURSLEM. BURSLEM WEDGWOOD. DESCENT OF 



THE " OVERHOUSE," " CHURCHYARD," AND " BIG HOUSE " 

 FAMILIES. THOMAS WEDGWOOD AND MARGARET SHAW. 



BURSLEM, the birthplace of Wedgwood, is called the " mother 

 of the potteries," while Wedgwood himself is usually styled 

 the " father of potters." With these two close relationships 

 to the potters of England my narrative of the career of the 

 " great Josiah" will, of course, begin, and as it proceeds will 

 trace out the progress of the one and the works of the other, 

 and show how the perseverance, the industry, the energy, and 

 the taste of the latter have conduced, not only to the pros- 

 perity of the former, but to that of the whole district and of 

 the commerce of the kingdom. Daring the early part of the 

 century which saw the birth of Josiah Wedgwood, and in 

 the latter portion of the preceding one, the potters of Burslem, 

 which in Plot's time was the principal seat of the trade, had, 

 as I have already shown, made much progress in improving 

 their art. Men had risen up amongst them who produced 

 wonders when compared with what had been done by their 



