THOMAS AND JOHN WEDGWOOD. 159 



into his hands he would have formed it into an extensive 

 manufactory, which would have been of incalculable benefit 

 to Burslem. As it was, the rejection of the proposal led him 

 to look elsewhere for a site for his manufactory, and ulti- 

 mately to establish it where it still stands, a lasting monu- 

 ment to his enterprise, his unwearying industry, and his 

 talents, and of the benefits which he conferred on the neigh- 

 bourhood and on the kingdom at large. 



Thomas and John Wedgwood, of the " Big House," were 

 the sons of Aaron Wedgwood, who died in 1743, by his 

 wife, Mary Hollins. This Aaron Wedgwood, who made the 

 white stoneware of the period, was son of Aaron, the sixth 

 son of the Gilbert Wedgwood from whom Josiah and the 

 other Burslem branches were descended. He married Mary 

 Hollins, and it is a remarkable circumstance, which is thus 

 recorded in the parish register, that they were both buried 

 in one grave, and on the same day : 



" Aaron Wedgwood and Mary his wife, both of Burslem, were 

 interred in y e same grave, April 24, 1743." 



The tomb of this worthy couple still stands in the church- 

 yard, not far from ihe north door of the church. 



About the year 1740, it is said, the two brothers, Thomas 

 and John Wedgwood, left their father Aaron'-s employ, " as 

 lead-ore glaze potters, and commenced the manufacture of 

 white stoneware upon their own account ; but although very 

 industrious and ingenious workmen (one of them being well 

 skilled in burning or firing the ware, and the other an 

 excellent thrower), they were unsuccessful for a long time, 

 and had actually determined to abandon any further attempt 

 to make the white stoneware, when an accidental circum- 

 stance encouraged them to proceed. The water with which 

 they prepared the clay, it seems, became highly saturated 

 with salt, owing to the shard ruck or rubbish from their 

 ovens being placed immediately above their water pool, and 

 which rubbish contained much salt. The rain passing 

 through the shard ruck, dissolved the salt, and carried it 



