Josiah Wedgwood, the thirteenth and youngest son of the potter, Thomas Wedgwood, was born in Burslem, Stoke, in 1730. At the age of nine Josiah left school and joined the family business at Churchyard Works. His father died in 1737 so Josiah was apprenticed to his elder brother.

After an attack of smallpox at the age of eleven, his health deteriorated and work as a potter became difficult. The disease affected his right leg and later it had to be amputated. Unable for a while to work as a potter, Josiah spent his time reading and researching about the craft of pottery.

In 1754 Josiah Wedgwood went into partnership with Thomas Whieldon. Later, Wedgwood ended the partnership and started his own business at Burslem. Wedgwood loved experimenting and invented what became known as green glaze. In 1763 he patented a beautiful cream-coloured pottery. As this was very popular with Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, it became known as Queen's Ware.

Wedgwood now turned his attention to developing what was known as Egyptian Black objects. This included inkstands, salt-cellars, candlesticks, life-sized busts and vases. These black basaltes were sometimes decorated with encaustic colours, silvering, gilding or bronzing.

In 1762 Wedgwood met Thomas Bentley in Liverpool. The two became close friends and in 1768 became partners in a company producing ornamental vases. These were very popular and in 1771 Wedgwood built a new factory called Etruria where he employed famous artists such as John Flaxman to design his vases.

At Etruria Wedgwood greatly increased the output of his workers by introducing what later became known as "division of labour". This involved subdividing all the skills of the potter (mixing, shaping, firing and glazing) and allocating each job to a specialist worker.

Wedgwood was quick to realise the importance of canal transport. In 1766 he joined with the Duke of Bridgewater and James Brindley to start building the Trent & Mersey Canal. When the canal was completed in 1777 Wedgwood was able to bring Cornish clay to his Etruria factory. Wedgwood also used the canal to transport the finished goods by barge to Liverpool or Hull.

At this time Wedgwood became a Unitarian. Like most Unitarians, Wedgwood was a political reformer. He supported universal male suffrage and annual parliaments. He joined the Society for Constitutional Information and became friendly with other reformers such as Joseph Priestley, John Cartwright and the Duke of Richmond.

Wedgwood was also concerned with social reform. In 1787 he helped Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp, to form the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Wedgwood joined the committee and also produced the Abolition Society's seal which showed a black slave in chains, kneeling, his hands lifted up to heaven. The motto read: "Am I Not a Man and a Brother?"

Wedgwood reproduced the design in a cameo with the black figure against a white background and donated hundreds of these to the Society for distribution. Thomas Clarkson wrote that "ladies wore them in bracelets, and others had them fitted up in an ornamental manner as pins for their hair. At length the taste for wearing them became general, and thus fashion, which usually confines itself to worthless things, was seen for once in the honourable office of promoting the cause of justice, humanity and freedom." Josiah Wedgwood did not see the end of the slave trade as he died on 3rd January, 1795.

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