John Wedgwood (horticulturist)

John Wedgwood (baptised 2 April 1766 — 26 January 1844), the eldest son of the potter Josiah Wedgwood, was a partner in the Wedgwood pottery firm 1790–1793 and again 1800–1812.^[1]

Life

Wedgwood was educated at Warrington Academy and Edinburgh University. Wedgwood had an interest in botany and horticulture, particularly the cultivation of tropical fruit and other exotic plants. He was a founder of the Royal Horticultural Society having suggested the idea in a letter to William Forsyth, head gardener to King George III, written 29 June 1801 and chairing the first meeting of the society on 7 March 1804.^[2] He lived in Abergavenny, Wales, and at Kingscote, Gloucestershire.

He was a partner in the Davison and Co. bank in Pall Mall. The Bank failed in 1816, after which time he retired.^[3]

Wedgwood married Louisa Jane Allen (younger sister of his brother Josiah Wedgwood II's wife, Elizabeth "Bessie" Allen) in 1794. He died in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, in 1844, having had six children, one of whom died young:

• Col. Thomas Josiah Wedgwood (1797–1860), married Anne, daughter of Admiral Sir Charles Tyler but they had no children. Fought at the Battle of Waterloo.
• Charles Wedgwood (1800-c.1823)
• Jessie Wedgwood (1804–1872) married her double cousin Henry Allen Wedgwood, son of Josiah Wedgwood II and Elizabeth Allen. They had six children.^[4]
• The Rev. Robert Wedgwood, (1806–1881) Rector of Dumbleton, Gloucestershire.^[5]
• The Rev. John Allen Wedgwood (1796–1862) Rector of Maer, Staffordshire.^[6]
• Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood (1795–1857)

References

1. ↑ http://www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk/learning/discovery_packs/pack/lives-of-the-wedgwoods/chapter/john-wedgwood-1766-1844
2. ↑ Janick, Jules (2008). "The Founding and Founders of the Royal Horticultural Society". Chronica Horticulturae 48 (1): 17–19. Retrieved 25 August 2014. 
3. ↑ Henrietta Litchfield, Emma Darwin: A Century of Family Letters
4. ↑ Litchfield, Henrietta Emma Darwin (1915). Emma Darwin: A Century of Family Letters, 1792-1896. D. Appleton. pp. Volume 2, xx–xxi. Retrieved 20 November 2014. 
5. ↑ "Robert Wedgwood (WGWT823R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge. 
6. ↑ "John Allen Wedgwood (WGWT824JA)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.