Volume Thirteen - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Remarkable Connections - Darwin, FitzRoy, Hawkshaw & Wedgwood . . . .

The Wedgwood Family - The remarkable story linking Penarth Dock with Charles Darwin begins more than seventy years before the dock itself was built. Josiah Wedgwood (1730–1795) was one of Britain's greatest industrial pioneers. By combining artistic design with innovative manufacturing techniques, he transformed the pottery industry and established the world-famous Wedgwood works at Etruria in Staffordshire. His reputation for quality and innovation earned him customers throughout Europe, including Queen Charlotte, who granted him permission to style his products as "Queen's Ware."

Yet Josiah Wedgwood's greatest legacy extended far beyond ceramics.

His daughter, Susannah Wedgwood, married Dr Robert Darwin of Shrewsbury. Their son, Charles Darwin, was born in 1809 and inherited not only the intellectual curiosity of both families but also the financial security provided by the Wedgwood fortune.

That independence proved invaluable. Unlike many Victorian scientists, Darwin did not depend upon a university appointment or professional income. Instead, he was able to devote his life to scientific research, the voyage of HMS Beagle, and eventually the publication of On the Origin of Species.

The family connection became even closer in 1839 when Charles married his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood, further uniting the Darwin and Wedgwood families.

Years later, members of the Hawkshaw family would also marry into the Wedgwood family, creating yet another unexpected link in the story of Penarth Dock.

Did You Know? Josiah Wedgwood was more than a potter.

He was a pioneering industrialist, an advocate of improved transport through Britain's canal network, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and a supporter of the campaign to abolish the slave trade. His famous jasperware medallion depicting an enslaved man with the inscription "Am I Not a Man and a Brother?" became one of the best-known symbols of the abolition movement and yet further links to our Penarth Dock story are included within the Chapter entitled 'Slavery - Echoes of the Past'.