Thomas Wedgwood IV

Thomas Wedgwood IV
Born	1716 Burslem, Staffordshire, England
Died	23 February 1773(1773-02-23) (aged 56–57) Burslem, Staffordshire, England
Spouse	Isabell Beech
Children	5

Thomas Wedgwood IV (1716 – 23 February 1773) was an English master potter who taught his youngest brother Josiah Wedgwood the trade. ^[1] Following the death of their father, potter Thomas Wedgwood III, Josiah was apprenticed to his eldest brother Thomas for five years, starting in 1744. ^[2]

He was the fourth-generation Thomas Wedgwood to live in the Churchyard House until 1756, when he took up residence at the Overhouse, which he inherited from his cousin Katherine Egerton. ^[3] Prior to that, he had already been leasing the Overhouse Potworks. ^[3] Although he was not as commercially successful as his brother Josiah, his pottery business achieved more material wealth than previous generations of Wedgwoods. ^[3]

Family

The eldest son of the potter Thomas Wedgwood III (1685–1739) and his wife Mary Stringer, Wedgwood was also the great-uncle of naturalist Charles Robert Darwin.^{[ citation needed ]}

He married twice, first to Isabell Beech (1722–1750), who had five children, two of whom died in infancy. His surviving children with Isabell included Thomas Wedgwood V (c. 1745–1787), ^[3] master potter of the Overhouse, from whom descends the famous ceramic designer Clarice Cliff.^{[ citation needed ]} After the death of his first wife, he married Jane Richards (1715–1785), with whom he had three children. ^[3]

References

1. Kerr, Gordon (2009). Art deco. Bath: Pulteney. p. 8. ISBN   978-1-906734-63-3.
2. "Wedgwood, Josiah". Benezit Dictionary of Artists. 31 October 2011. doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00203033.
3. Wedgwood, Josiah Clement (1908). A History of the Wedgwood Family. pp. 109, 120, 136. Retrieved 22 July 2024– via Internet Archive.