CHAPTER XXI. CHILDREN OF JOSIAH WEDGWOOD AND THEIR ALLIANCES— - ON the 3rd of January, 1795, as I have stated, Josiah Wedgwood died. By this wife, of whom I have before spoken, he had a family of eight children. The eldest child, Susannah, baptised 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, both in Derbyshire), by his first wife, Mary Howard, of Lichfield, and was the mother, along with other sons and daughters, of Charles Darwin, author of the "Origin of Species," &c. The second child of Josiah Wedgwood was John, baptised at Burslem, April 2nd, 1766. He was of Seabridge, and married Louisa Jane, daughter of Mr. John Bartlett Allen, of Criselly, Pembrokeshire, and by her had four sons and three daughters, viz., the Rev. John Allen Wedgwood; Lieut.-Colonel 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. The third of Josiah Wedgwood's children was Richard Wedgwood, who was born in 1767, and died in 1782. The fourth was Josiah Wedgwood, one of the first two members of parliament for the borough of Stoke-upon Trent. Mr. Wedgwood, who was of Maer Hall, married Elizabeth Allen, sister to Louisa Jane, wife to his brother John, and daughter of Mr. John Bartlett Allen, of Criselly, Pembrokeshire, and by her had four sons and five daughters, viz., first, Josiah Wedgwood (the third of that name), who married his cousin Caroline Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Darwin, of Shrewsbury, and had issue; second, Henry Allen Wedgwood, barrister-at-law, who married his cousin Jessie, daughter of John Wedgwood, of Seabridge; third, Francis Wedgwood, of Etruria and Barlaston, the present highly respected head of the Etruria firm, who married Frances, daughter of the Rev. J. P. Mosley, of Rolleston Rectory, and has issue three sons, two of whom, Godfrey and Clement, are in partnership with their father-and four daughters; fourth, Hensleigh Wedgwood, barrister-at-law, of London, who married Elizabeth, daughter of the Right Hon. Sir James Mackintosh, the historian, and has issue; fifth, Sarah Elizabeth; sixth, Mary, who died unmarried; seventh, Charlotte, married to the Rev. C. Langton, of Hartfield; eighth, Frances, who died unmarried; and, ninth, Emma, who married her cousin, Charles Darwin, F.R.S., author of the "Origin of Species," &c. The next child of Josiah Wedgwood was Thomas, who died without issue, of whom I shall have more to say presently; and the remaining children were three daughters, Catherine, Sarah, and Mary Anne, who all, I believe, died unmarried. At the time of Josiah Wedgwood's death, the sole partners in the firm were himself, his son Josiah, and Thomas Byerley-Mr. John Wedgwood, the eldest son, having previously withdrawn from business, and become a banker in London. The active business management at this time 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, as I shall relate, until the death of the latter in 1810. That Mr. John Wedgwood, familiarly called "Jackey ' by his father, took at one time an active and confidential part in the manufacture at Etruria, is proved by the following fragment of a letter from his father, the Great Josiah, by which it will be seen that the mixing-the most "ticklish" part of the potter's art-was entrusted to him during his father's absence. The letter runs thus, and is extremely interesting as showing the care which Wedgwood bestowed on the details of the business, even when away from home: "Mr. Wood wrote to you last night to get some of the Cameos of fine white Clay made as soon as possible, of proper subjects, for inlaying from the size of the Statues to the small Gems; but if you have not a sufficient quantity of fine Clay, proved to be good, then to begin with the Bracelet sizes & less. "I have now reed the tryals, 1332, which you apprehend to be over-fired. They are just the reverse, & only want more fire to make them excellent. The Gems made of this body shod be fired in the very topmost sagar of the Bisket oven, with only a thin Disk or Bat over them to prevent their being discolour'd by the flame. I suppose it works pretty well; & as I think it will agree pretty well with the common Bisket, you may wash a few Batts for the Medusa heads, Diomeds, &c., to try if it will answer, & by that means you may get up an assortment sooner than you can if you wait to have Clay enough all of the same kind. But this will not do for those Statues where Arms, &c., are to be added; for those it will be necessary to grind some 1332 in a Dish, and face this with Joseph may set some more grinders to some work Diomeds not . . a number of the Cameos, such as the Statues, The new Boys as soon as may be. Fine heads, relief, and so down to the small Gems, as soon as they can be made. I have wrote to Jackey to weigh some more 1332 for Joseph; but you may use any of your Nos. up that you find good, and some that are not good in the Bisket will be better in the white oven, such as 1207, 1194, 1225; but 1194 will be good very high in the biskett oven 1308, 1309. "Jackey will mix some 1194 & 1205, both of which will be very good at the top of the Bisket oven." Mr. Thomas Wedgwood, who suffered from constant ill health, took no part in the management of the business. He was a man of refined tastes, devoted, so far as health permitted, to scientific pursuits, and was widely and deeply respected. To him and to his brother Josiah, conjointly, Samuel Taylor Coleridge was indebted for that substantial assistance which proved the turning-point of his life, and enabled him to devote his talents to literature. The aid thus liberally and disinterestedly given by the Wedgwoods is so nicely spoken of by Mr. Coleridge's biographer, Cottle, that I cannot forbear quoting the following passages from his interesting narrative. Mr. Cottle says: "Mr. Coleridge, up to this day, February 18th, 1798, held, though laxly, the doctrines of Socinus. On the Rev. Mr. Rowe, of Shrewsbury, the Socinian minister, coming to settle in Bristol, Mr. Coleridge was strongly recommended by his friends of that persuasion to offer himself as Mr. R's successor; and he accordingly went on probation to Shrewsbury. "It is proper here to mention, in order that this subject may be the better understood, that Mr. Poole, a little before the above period, had introduced Mr. Coleridge to Mr. Thomas and Mr. Josiah Wedgwood. These gentlemen formed a high estimation of Mr. C's talents, and felt a deep interest in his welfare. At the time Mr. Coleridge was considering whether or not he should persist in offering himself to the Shrewsbury congregation, and so finally to settle down (provided his sentiments remained unaltered) into a Socinian minister, the Messrs. Wedgwoods, having heard of the circumstance, and fearing that a pastoral charge might operate unfavourably on his literary pursuits, interfered, as will appear by the following letter of Mr. Coleridge to Mr. Wade: "Stowey.-My very dear friend,-This last fortnight has been eventful. I received one hundred pounds from Josiah Wedgwood, in order to prevent the necessity of my going into the ministry. I have received an invitation from Shrewsbury to be the minister there; and after fluctuations of mind, which have for nights together robbed me of sleep, and I am afraid of health, I have at length returned the order to Mr. Wedgwood, with a long letter, explanatory of my conduct, and accepted the Shrewsbury invitation.' . . . "The two Messrs. Wedgwoods, still adhering to their first opinion, that Mr. Coleridge, by accepting the proposed engagement, would seriously obstruct his literary efforts, and having duly weighed the 'explanatory letter' sent them by Mr. C., addressed him a conjoint letter, announcing that it was their determination to allow him for his life one hundred and fifty pounds per year. This decided Mr. Coleridge to reject the Shrewsbury invitation. Mr. C. was oppressed with grateful emotions to these his liberal benefactors. He always spoke in particular of the late Mr. Thomas Wedgwood as being one of the best talkers, and possessing one of the acutest minds, of any man he had known. While the affair was in suspense, a report was current in Bristol that Mr. Coleridge had rejected the Messrs. Wedgwood's offer, which the Socinians in both towns ardently desired. Entertaining a contrary wish, I addressed a letter to Mr. Coleridge, stating the report, and expressing a hope that it had no foundation. The following satisfactory answer was immediately returned: "My very dear Cottle,-The moment I received Mr. Wedgwood's letter I accepted his offer. How a contrary report could arise I cannot guess. . . . . I hope to see you at the close of next week. I have been respectfully and kindly treated at Shrewsbury. -I am well, and now and ever your grateful and affectionate friend, S. T. COLERIDGE.'" Other allusions to this truly generous action on the part of the brothers Josiah and Thomas Wedgwood occur in the same work, and Coleridge himself, in his "Biographia Literaria," says:-"While my mind was thus perplexed, by a gracious Providence, for which I can never be sufficiently grateful, the generous and munificent patronage of |