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November, in the fifth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord King George, Sovereign of Great Britain, &c., Anno Domini 1718.

"RICHARD WEDGWOOD, his X mark.

"Signed, sealed, published, and declared to be and contain the last will and Testament of Richard Wedgwood the Tèstator, and afterwards attested in his sight by Margaret Richards, Margaret Wedgwood, Thomas Bourne."

"Proved 23rd April, 1719, on the Oath of Catherine Wedgwood, Executrix."

The second son of Thomas and Margaret, Thomas Wedgwood, was born in 1660, and married, in 1684, Mary Leigh. He resided, and had his pot-works close to the churchyard at Burslem, where they still exist. By his wife, Mary Leigh, he had a family of four sons and five daughters. The sons, as named in her will, dated 1718, are Thomas (the father of the great Josiah Wedgwood), John (a son Abner appears to have died young), Aaron, and Daniel; and the daughters-Catherine, married to her relative, Dr. Thomas Wedgwood, jun.; Alice, married to Thomas Moore; Elizabeth, married to Samuel Astbury; Margaret, married to Moses Marsh; and Mary, married to Richard Clifton. Mary Wedgwood (Mary Leigh) survived her husband, and by her will, dated January 1st, 1718, devised her personality as will be seen in the following interesting document :

"In the name of God, Amen, the first day of January, Anno Domini 1718. I, Mary Wedgwood, of the Churchyard, in the parish of Burslem, in the County of Stafford, widow, Being weak of body, But of sound and perfect disposing mind and memory, thanks be therefore given to the Almighty for the same, Doe make and ordaine this to be and containe my last will and testament, In manner and fforme ffollowing (that is to say) ffirst and principally I commend my soul into the hands of Almighty God my Creator, hopeing through the merritts, death, and passion of my Saviour Jesus Christ, to receive free and full pardon of all my sins, and to Inheritt Life eternall, and my body to be decently Interred according to the discretion of my Executors hereinafter named. And for such Temporall Estate it hath pleased God out of his superabounding goodness to bestow upon me, I give and devise the same as follows.

Imp. I will that my debts and funerall charges be paid and discharged. Item, I give and bequeath to my son John Wedgwood Three pounds and tenn shillings, and gave to him in my lifetime Sixteen pounds tenn shillings, wch makes his the sume of Twenty pounds. Item, I give and bequeath to my son Aaron Wedgwood ffifteen pounds, and gave to him in my lifetime ffive pounds, wch makes him the sum of Twenty pounds. Item, I give to my son Daniell ffive pounds, and five pounds I gave him in my lifetime, wch makes his the sume of tenn pounds. Item, I give and bequeath to my daughter Mary Wedgwood the sume of Twentythree pounds of Lawful English money, to be paid to her within six months next after my deccase. Item, I give and bequeath to my Daughter Elizabeth Wedgwood the sume of Twenty pounds. Item, I give and bequeath to my Daughter Alice Wedgwood the sume of Twenty pounds. Item, I give and bequeath to my daughter Margarett Wedgwood the sume of Twenty pounds-wch three last Legacies to my three youngest Daughters, I will they shall be paid as they each of them shall attain the respective age of twenty-one years. And each of them to receive yearly interest for their Legacies towards their maintainance and education. Item, I give and bequeath to Thomas Wedgwood, my son-in-law, one Cow. Item, It is my will and mind that if any of my children dye or depart this life before they attaine the age of one-and-twenty years of age, that then such Child or Children's portions shall be equally divided amongst my surviveing Daughter or Daughters. Alsoe it is my will and mind that what overplus (if any be) after my debts, funeral expenses, and Legacies are paid and discharged, the same to be for the maintainance and education of my three youngest Daughters. Item, Lastly, I nominate, constitute, and appoint, my loving brother Thomas Leigh, and my loveing son Thomas Wedgwood, to be the Executors of this my last will and Testament, hopeing they will faithfully execute and performe the same. In Witness whereof I the said Mary Wedgwood, Testator, have hereunto put my hand and seale, the day and year first above written. "MARY WEDGWOOD, her marke X and seale.

"Sealed, signed, published, and declared to be and remaine the Last Will and Testamt of me, Mary Wedgwood, in the presence of David Gibson, Henry Mountford."

"Proved on the 23rd of April, 1719, by the Oaths of Thomas Leigh and Thomas Wedgwood, the Executors therein named, having been first sworn duly to administer."

It will be seen from this interesting document of the grandmother of the great Josiah, that his father (who inherited the pot-works and other property) was made executor to the will along with his uncle, Thomas Leigh. This Thomas Wedgwood, the eldest son, was born in 1687, and married Mary Stringer, by whom, who survived him, he had a family of thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters. The daughters were, I believe, Maria, born in 1711; Anne, born in 1712; Mary, born in 1714; Margaret, born in 1720; Catherine, born in 1726; and Jane, born in 1728; while the sons were Thomas, of the Churchyard and Overhouse, born in 1716; Samuel, in 1718; John, in 1721; Aaron, in 1722; Abner, in 1723; Richard, in 1725; and Josiah, in 1730.

Most of these Wedgwoods were, of course, potters, and carried on, in the different places in which they were located, the ordinary business of the district. One branch of the family settled at Yearsley, in the Yorkshire wolds, at an early date, and commenced pot-making, which was carried on successfully for some generations. In 1682 John Wedgwood, of Yearsley, was "buried in woollen," as were also in 1692 William Wedgwood, and in 1690 Isabell, who was wife of one of these. John, the son of this John Wedgwood, who died in 1707, was, I have reason to believe, the John Wedgwood whose name appears on the puzzle jug engraved on the following page, with the date 1691.

The ware made by the Yorkshire Wedgwoods was the common hard brown ware, made from the clays of the district, and consisted, of course, mainly of pitchers, pancheons, porringers, and other vessels of homely kind. From researches I have made, I have succeeded in tracing out, with tolerable accuracy, a pedigree of the Yorkshire Wedgwoods for seven or eight generations, ranging from the middle of the seventeenth century down to the present time, when their descendants are still living in the district, not as potters, but in other equally useful walks of life.

So well known were the Wedgwoods of this district, that

one member of the family has been immortalised in song, thus:

"At Yearsley there are pancheons made

By Willie Wedgwood, that young blade."

For this interesting fragment of a Yorkshire ballad I am indebted to my friend, the Rev. Robert Pulleine, Rector of Kirkby Wiske.

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Pancheons, it may be well to note, are thick coarse earthenware pans, made of various sizes, and used for setting away milk in, and for washing purposes. They are made in several localities, and, besides being sold by earthenware dealers, are hawked about the country by men who make their living in no other way.

CHAPTER II.

BIRTH OF JOSIAH WEDGWOOD.-HIS FATHER AND GRANDFATHER.-BOYHOOD AND EARLY LIFE.-INDENTURE OF HIS APPRENTICESHIP.-ABNER WEDGWOOD.—THE ASTBURYS. THE SECRET OF THE ELERS DISCOVERED BY STRATAGEM.-DISCOVERY OF THE USE OF FLINT.-THOMAS CHURCHYARD WORKS, BURSLEM, AS THEY WERE, AND AS THEY ARE.-DESCENT OF THE PROPERTY. - - MESSRS. BRIDGWOOD AND CLARKE. PROCHARACTER OF JOSIAH

WEDGWOOD.—THE

66

DUCTIONS OF THE WORKS.
WEDGWOOD AS AN APPRENTICE.

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JOSIAH WEDGWOOD, it will have been seen, was-like another self-made man, Sir Richard Arkwright, who was born only two years later-the youngest of a family of thirteen children; and therefore, whatever patrimony there might be in the family, it is tolerably certain the usual fate of younger sons-that of having to work out the problem of their fortunes-must have awaited him. How successfully he solved that problem future chapters will amply show.

He was born in July, 1730, and was baptised on the 12th of that month, as will be seen by the following extract from the parish register of his native place, Burslem :-"1730.-Josiah, son of Thomas and Mary Wedgwood, bapd July 12th."

His father was, as has been shown in the preceding chapter, Thomas Wedgwood, eldest son of Thomas Wedgwood, potter, of the Churchyard House and Works, by his wife Mary Leigh. Thomas Wedgwood, the father of Josiah, was baptised at Burslem in 1686-7. The following is the entry in the register of that parish:

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