Talk:Josiah Wedgwood

message: see Darwin -- Wedgwood family; is this chap notable enough to have his own article, suggests he was elected to parliament? If so, I can't google the information, so need help! Dunc_Harris|☺ 14:26, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: See ;  Andy Mabbett 14:38, 19 Jul 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Josiah Wedgwood II 

message: As amusing as this is, it seems a bit odd, so I think it should be cited: "Wedgwood's work was of very high quality (when visiting his workshop, if he saw an offending vessel that failed to meet with his standards, he would smash it with his stick, exclaiming, "This will not do for Josiah Wedgwood!")."--209.247.22.104 20:13, 26 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Citing Facts 

message: According to this NYT op-ed, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/opinion/10flanders.html?th&emc=th, JW was a tremendous innovator in sales and marketing, inventing such things as door-to-door sales. Kdammers (talk) 11:52, 10 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Consumate sales operative 

message: Strictly speaking the picture claiming to be the Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion isn't but rather a different depiction of the image that went on the medallion.  A picture of the actual medallion can be found at http://statevillespeaksloyola.wordpress.com/images-of-prisoners/anti-slavery-medallion-josiah-wedgewood-1787/ however, we can't just copy it as the copyright status of the picture is not known.  Someone probably should find a legit picture. --Erp (talk) 00:04, 30 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  image not that of the medallion 

message: I find this a bit odd:
 He was the grandfather of Emma Darwin, Charles Darwin's wife.
Was he not also the grandfather of Charles Darwin, Emma Darwin's husband? 62.84.16.25 (talk) 21:07, 3 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Darwin's Grandfather 

message: There's a line in the section about his work that says "He was the greatest potter that ever lived." Now I know that in these things, it all comes down to subjectivity. Nobody can say for sure, as there are many different criteria for what would quantify a best potter.
I don't know what the tag is for bias on this, but the tag should definitely be placed on this article.
174.56.153.240 (talk) 05:45, 1 August 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Actually it states he was perhaps the most famous potter of his time.  Which is subjective but hedged and I think supportable. --Erp (talk) 13:38, 1 August 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bias 

message: According to the Pyrometric cone article, Wedgewood invented the pyrometric bead (forerunner of the modern cone), but there is no article for the beads. I tried to make it redirect -- I have submitted a request. If anyone knows how to do it easily, please make a redirect? 70.76.64.89 (talk) 22:50, 28 July 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Pyrometric beads 

message: Wasn't Sarah Wedgwood nicknamed "Sukey"? 76.190.213.189 (talk) 03:18, 25 November 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: No, that was his eldest daughter Susannah. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:06, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sarah's nickname 

message: This book source says that he was "an ardent Unitarian" and also says that some of his family were? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 15:52, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: User:Martinevans123 Context please! You are always doing this, which is annoying for others, and unproductive for you. What does the article say? Am I supposed to search through it? Johnbod (talk) 17:51, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Apologies, I was responding to this recent removal, by User:dave souza and should have named him directly. As far as I can see that was the only mention of "Unitarian" in the main body of the article. I'm sorry to say I am not familiar with any of the biographies on Wedgewood. If you are familiar with them perhaps you could advise on how much prominence his Unitarianism, or religious views in general, might be warranted in this article? Martinevans123 (talk) 17:57, 2 January 2024 (UTC)

text: It does mention his family were English dissenters. He was probably named after his maternal grandfather, Josiah Stringer, who was a dissenting minister.  His elder sister, Catherine, also married a dissenting minister, William Willets (or Willet), of Newcastle under Lyme.  Note being unitarian was not  respectable and meeting for unitarian worship was officially illegal.  The first openly Unitarian chapel didn't exist until the 1770s (see Wedgwood's friend, Joseph Priestley, and Theophilus Lindsey) though the existence of unitarians pre-dated that point. Not until the Doctrine of the Trinity Act 1813 did Unitarians receive the same legal toleration as other Protestant dissenters from the Church of England.   Adding information about his religious beliefs would require a look at some of his biographies. Erp (talk) 17:35, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks, these are good points. My edit summary referred to the "Early life' section: no mention in cited source of "grandson of a Unitarian minister and was an active Unitarian', contradicts other sources. The timing of Wedgwood becoming Unitarian is unclear, and needs a source, but it's significant that Unitarianism was followed by subsequent generations of Darwins and Wedgwoods: I'll add a source for that below. . . dave souza, talk 20:03, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: "Timing" may be a bit tricky.  He may have been raised in the beliefs. The DNB entry has "Scarcely anything is known of Josiah's childhood. He was brought up in the thatched Churchyard house and pottery, which Thomas Wedgwood had inherited from his father, and began his education at about the age of six, walking the 7 miles round trip to attend a small school in Newcastle under Lyme. His mother was the daughter of the Unitarian minister at Newcastle under Lyme, and she brought up her children in the same faith."  ()   I think "Unitarian" may be a bit anachronistic but the Unitarian Meeting House, Newcastle-under-Lyme still exists.  Note his grandfather, the minister at Newcastle-under-Lyme (possibly, there seems to be a lack of primary sources, the meeting house had been destroyed by a mob in 1715), had died in 1698; the minister for most of Josiah's life was William Willet (minister from 1727-76) who married as his second wife, Catherine Wedgwood in 1754 (see also the Meeting House's history page https://www.newcastlestaffsunitarians.co.uk/location under "historical events"). Erp (talk) 23:34, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks Erp, that's very useful. Martinevans123 (talk) 09:46, 3 January 2024 (UTC)

text: Yes, I agree, a look at some of his biographies would be a very good idea. But if Dunford (2022) describes him as "an ardent Unitarian", I suspect there is some substance to that claim. Meanwhile I'll remove the Category. Martinevans123 (talk) 17:49, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: The category is appropriate and should be restored – "Alongside respectable Anglicanism, Unitarianism was another important religious tradition in the Darwin and Wedgwood families. Josiah Wedgwood, who was grandfather to both Charles and Emma, was a Unitarian, and this religious background helped to bring the provincial families, the Darwins and Wedgwoods, together in the first place." . . .dave souza, talk 20:03, 2 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Many thanks Dave for the information above. I'd say the category should be restored once there is material in the article to support it. That University of Cambridge source looks very useful. Martinevans123 (talk) 09:41, 3 January 2024 (UTC)

text: I'm confused by the cite to Meteyard as on page 421? It does not seem to be in either volume of her work. BTW I modified the reference to Meteyard's "The life of JW" in the entry to indicate two volumes and put in links to internet archive versions of each volume.  I think he was a unitarian, but, I'm interested in the source(s).  Willets also baptized all of John Wedgwood's  children according to J.C. Wedgwood's "A History of the Wedgwood Family" (page 156) though his oldest child was born in 1760 so post JW's connection (John Wedgwood, 1705-1780, Big House, Burslem, second cousin once removed of JW and uncle of JW's wife, this was the relatively wealthy part of the family before JW made a fortune; see also http://www.thepotteries.org/walks/burslem/d.htm).  Note Willets is a witness to the will (16 June 1739) so Thomas likely knew him beforehand though I agree the connection is through Mary Wedgwood. Erp (talk) 23:53, 7 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: Apologies!! The quote's from Jewitt (1865), have added a link. Thanks for sorting the internet archive sources, google's been very confusing about which volume.. . dave souza, talk 08:20, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unitarian 

message: I wonder whether a map would be useful.  I note the one at http://www.thepotteries.org/photos/map1798.htm which a subsection of one from 1798 (Yates).  Notably it includes Burslem, Etruria, Newcastle-under-Lyne, and the Trent and Mersey Canal all of which are important in  the bibliography (or for that matter the history of the potteries).  A fuller version is at https://digitalarchive.mcmaster.ca/islandora/object/macrepo%3A81078   However I haven't checked out the copyright issues Erp (talk) 05:09, 8 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Map