{"id":17841,"date":"2025-08-03T08:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/?p=17841"},"modified":"2025-07-25T15:05:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T14:05:49","slug":"josiah-wedgwood-1769-1843-from-pottery-to-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2025\/08\/03\/josiah-wedgwood-1769-1843-from-pottery-to-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Josiah Wedgwood (1769-1843): from pottery to politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today (3rd August) marks the anniversary of the birth of Josiah Wedgwood MP in 1769. Wedgwood has a special significance for the History of Parliament Trust, being the great-grandfather (and namesake) of our founder.<\/em> Dr Kathryn Rix<\/a> of our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project looks at his brief career as MP for Stoke-on-Trent.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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\"A
 <\/span>Josiah Clement Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood, Benjamin Stone (1911), \u00a9 National Portrait Gallery<\/a>, London, CC BY-NC-ND 3.0<\/a><\/span>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The name Josiah Wedgwood is commonly associated with pottery. However, the Wedgwood family were not only a family of potters, but were also involved in politics. Josiah Clement Wedgwood (1872-1943) was a particularly prominent politician who founded the History of Parliament Trust<\/a>. Between 1906 and 1942 he was a Liberal and then a Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was not, however, the first member of his family to enter the Commons. His great-grandfather and namesake, Josiah Wedgwood, is among the 2,591 MPs we are researching as part of the House of Commons, 1832-68 project. Like his great-grandson this MP sat for a Staffordshire constituency, representing Stoke-on-Trent from 1832, after failing to get elected for Newcastle-under-Lyme the previous year. However, his parliamentary career was much shorter than his great-grandson\u2019s: he only sat in one Parliament before standing down at the 1835 election.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"An
 <\/span>Josiah Wedgwood II (1769-1843), by William Owen (Image credit: Wedgwood Museum via artuk.org)<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Josiah Wedgwood (1769-1843) was the second son and namesake of the famous potter and inventor, Josiah Wedgwood (1730-95). He followed his father as head of the family\u2019s pottery manufacturing firm, based at Etruria near Stoke-on-Trent. Although he was the second son and had lived as a country gentleman in Dorset before his father\u2019s death, taking little interest in the business, its management fell to him because of his older brother\u2019s \u2018chronic incompetence\u2019 and his younger brother\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wedgwood has been depicted as a \u2018plodding\u2019 and unimaginative man, who lacked his father\u2019s genius, but he proved effective at cutting the company\u2019s costs in the face of foreign competition and the loss of European markets during the wars with France. In 1828 he closed the firm\u2019s famous London showroom and \u2013 in the words of his great-grandson, Josiah Clement \u2013 \u2018committed the unpardonable vandalism of selling off the stock, patterns, and moulds there stored\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standing as a Reformer at Stoke-on-Trent in 1832, Wedgwood declared his strong support for the \u2018immediate abolition of slavery\u2019. He was keen to remove the monopolies held by the East India Company and the Bank of England, and wanted to alter the corn laws. Although he was an Anglican \u2013 not sharing the Unitarian faith of his father \u2013 Wedgwood advocated reform of the Church of England. He did not, however, support further electoral reform, voicing his opposition to the secret ballot and triennial parliaments. He topped the poll, almost 200 votes ahead of his fellow potter, John Davenport, also a Reformer, who won the second seat.<\/p>\n\n\n

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 <\/span>Emma Darwin (n\u00e9e Wedgwood), George Richmond (1840).<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

While Hansard records more than 12,000 contributions<\/a> in Parliament from Josiah Clement Wedgwood, his great-grandfather was a silent member. He was, however, a regular presence in the division lobbies, where his votes included support for a low fixed duty on corn, the shortening of slave apprenticeships and the replacement of church rates with an alternative source of funding. His youngest daughter Emma was among the women who witnessed debates in the Commons from the \u2018ventilator\u2019 \u2013 the space in the attic from where women could peer into the Commons chamber below through holes designed for drawing out foul air. In a letter to a friend in August 1833 she recorded a notable incident, when Daniel O\u2019Connell accused the press of not reporting him fairly or accurately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Harriet [Gifford] and I went to the Ventilator to hear O\u2019Connell\u2019s quarrel with the Reporters, whom he accuses of reporting his speeches falsely, whereupon they say now they will not report a word more of his; so now he declares they shall not report at all, and he had the gallery cleared of all the strangers and the reporters amongst them yesterday.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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\"A<\/a>
Sketch of a ventilator in Ladies Gallery Attic in St Stephens,  Frances Rickman (1834). Courtesy of UK Parliament, Heritage Collections, WOA 26<\/a><\/span>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Despite his success at the poll in 1832, Wedgwood was told that he was unlikely to retain his seat at the 1835 general election, and retired from politics. In his later years he was affected by a form of \u2018palsy\u2019 or Parkinson\u2019s disease. He retired from the family business in 1841, two years before his death. Seven of his children survived him, including Emma, who had married her cousin (and Wedgwood\u2019s nephew), the natural scientist Charles Darwin in 1839. Wedgwood\u2019s second son Francis (Frank), the grandfather of Josiah Clement Wedgwood, continued the management of the family\u2019s pottery firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an updated version of an article originally published on the Victorian Commons website<\/a> on 5 September 2018, written by Dr Kathryn Rix<\/a>.<\/em> It is based on the biography of Wedgwood written for the House of Commons, 1832-68 project by Dr Henry Miller.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today (3rd August) marks the anniversary of the birth of Josiah Wedgwood MP in 1769. Wedgwood has a special significance for the History of Parliament Trust, being the great-grandfather (and namesake) of our founder. Dr Kathryn Rix of our House of Commons, 1832-1945 project looks at his brief career as MP for Stoke-on-Trent. The name Josiah Wedgwood is commonly associated with pottery. However, the Wedgwood … Continue reading Josiah Wedgwood (1769-1843): from pottery to politics<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37726181,"featured_media":17846,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4706867,774275561,124494893,1450539],"tags":[774276156,35890,774276157,12311695,1198216,183332,774276158,53607,774275503],"class_list":["post-17841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-19th-century-history","category-victorian","category-victorian-commons","category-women-and-parliament","tag-emma-darwin","tag-featured","tag-josiah-clement-wedgwood","tag-josiah-wedgwood","tag-newcastle-under-lyme","tag-staffordshire","tag-stoke-on-trent","tag-ventilator","tag-women-and-parliament"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/VA_WMT_5615-001.jpg?fit=626%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2QYNW-4DL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2378,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2018\/06\/20\/commemorating-josiah-c-wedgwood\/","url_meta":{"origin":17841,"position":0},"title":"A Fighting Life: Commemorating Josiah C. Wedgwood, founder of the History of Parliament project","author":"History of Parliament","date":"June 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Today we hear from our Public Engagement Officer, Sammy Sturgess about our recent event in Westminster to launch our activities to commemorate the life of the founder of the History of Parliament project and lifelong crusader for democracy, Col. Josiah C. Wedgwood MP...\u00a0 On 12 June in Parliament, amid the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "History of Parliament Trust"","block_context":{"text":"History of Parliament Trust","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/history-of-parliament-trust\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/dsc_1983-copy-md.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/dsc_1983-copy-md.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/dsc_1983-copy-md.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/dsc_1983-copy-md.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/dsc_1983-copy-md.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/dsc_1983-copy-md.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":141,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2013\/01\/25\/colonel-josiah-wedgwoods-questionnaires\/","url_meta":{"origin":17841,"position":1},"title":"Colonel Josiah Wedgwood’s Questionnaires: An introduction","author":"History of Parliament","date":"January 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Priscilla Baines has recently published a new book, \u2018Colonel Josiah Wedgwood\u2019s Questionnaire: Members of Parliament 1885-1918\u2019. Her work analyses the replies to questionnaires sent in 1936 by the History of Parliament\u2019s founder, Josiah Wedgwood, to gain personal reflections from his fellow MPs on their experiences in the House. This is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Modern"","block_context":{"text":"Modern","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/periods\/post-1945-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2517,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2018\/09\/20\/formative-years-of-josiah-c-wedgwood\/","url_meta":{"origin":17841,"position":2},"title":"Life before Parliament: the formative years of Josiah C. Wedgwood, 1872-1904","author":"History of Parliament","date":"September 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night at the new Newcastle-under-Lyme Library the History of Parliament's\u00a0Sammy Sturgess and\u00a0Emma Peplow, along with British Academy \/ Wolfson Foundation Research Professor Paul Seaward,\u00a0gave a talk about the life of Josiah C. Wedgwood to local history enthusiasts. They were graciously introduced by Zagham Farhan, the Member of Youth Parliament\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Modern"","block_context":{"text":"Modern","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/periods\/post-1945-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/img_7939.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/img_7939.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/img_7939.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/img_7939.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/img_7939.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/img_7939.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2461,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2018\/08\/09\/commemorating-josiah-c-wedgwood-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":17841,"position":3},"title":"Commemorating Josiah C. Wedgwood: new HLF funded project","author":"History of Parliament","date":"August 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Today\u2019s blog is the first in the series about our activities in Staffordshire as part of our HLF funded project, Commemorating Josiah C. Wedgwood. We'd also like to to give special thanks to the Remembering Eleanor Rathbone Group for their time, support and enthusiasm\u00a0for the project. We are delighted to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Modern"","block_context":{"text":"Modern","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/periods\/post-1945-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hlfhi_blk.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hlfhi_blk.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hlfhi_blk.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hlfhi_blk.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historyofparliament.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/hlfhi_blk.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":556,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2013\/12\/17\/class-and-parliament\/","url_meta":{"origin":17841,"position":4},"title":"Class and Parliament","author":"Emma Peplow","date":"December 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"MPs\u2019 social background has been making the news recently, after a study conducted by the Conservative think tank Policy Exchange demonstrated that only 4% of today\u2019s MPs have been \u2018manual workers\u2019. Of course, for much of the period covered by the History of Parliament, MPs were largely members of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Social history"","block_context":{"text":"Social history","link":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/category\/topics\/social-history\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":210,"url":"https:\/\/historyofparliament.com\/2013\/03\/12\/col-josiah-wedgwoods-questionnaires-3-using-the-results\/","url_meta":{"origin":17841,"position":5},"title":"Col. 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