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At the outbreak of World War One, the Wedgwood family were one of the most significant families in Staffordshire, for both the economy and the wider community, through their pottery business.

Cecil Wedgwood was a partner in the pottery firm and had been the first Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent.

When war broke out, he was too old to enlist to fight but the army said he could raise a battalion – and he ended up raising three.

Cecil was killed on 3 July 1916 at La Boiselle. Another member of the family, Josiah Wedgwood IV, was MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme during WW1 and served in France, Gallipoli & Africa as well as visiting America to try to encourage them to enter the war. He wrote extensively to his seven children while they were at home where Belgium refugees and conscientious objectors stayed during the war.

Â鶹Éç Radio Stoke presenter Tim Wedgwood is descendent of this famous Staffordshire family. He’s been investigating the role of these 2 famous Wedgwood men during WW1 – starting at the Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston where he heard the stories told there about Cecil.

Location: Wedgwood Museum, Barlaston, Staffordshire ST12 9ER
Photograph shows the interior of the transferrers shop at Etruria in 1913, courtesy of The Wedgwood Museum
Presented by Tim Wedgwood

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