“I respect looby888 for stating the case of the Unitarian Church even though others have differing opinions on Wedgwood. What baffles me is if there is graffiti on the side of St George's church why hasn't a representative come on here and explained what is going on? St George's looks like it is being neglected.”

“One should remember that we cannot impose our modern attitudes and perceptions on the past. Material wealth and success was often seen as being a sign of being blessed by God especially amongst the reforming churches and this went hand in hand with charitable works and private philanthropy. Land was also seen as a suitable investment for those who did not wish to sully themselves by being involved in trade or, worse, the usurous practices of banking.

Whilst the power of the State did use religion in the form of the Established Church to attempt to impose a moral orthodoxy on society at large, it is difficult to claim that this was its primary purpose and harder to even show that it was taking place in any formal sense post-Enlightment. The plethora of independent reforming churches who taught a radicalised Christianity were often at odds with the mainstream churches and the authorities. It was the reforming churches who were at the forefront of the anti-slavery movement, after all, and occasionally quite violently so.”

“The Pottery Industry was beneficial in a number of ways and to different people.
1. It provided the poor people living here with employment, even though it was for a pittance, often very dangerous and reduced there life expectancy. (white slavery)
2. Occupied large parts of former Glebe Land which came into the hands of the government after the English Civil War. And
3. Polluted the land to reduce the variety of uses for it.
It's all about manipulation of the people and until we UNITE, we will always be manipulated by these GIMP' - Geezers Involved in Manipulating the People for greed.

The Church was important to a lot of people, but the land it held was more important to others and has provided them with a lot of wealth over the years. But I think its about the people, "Toasted the GRIST.”

“looby888, it's a good and valid point that people are products of their eras. However, Josiah Wedgwood knew all about the injustices and evils of the black slave trade and fought against it. All the while though he seemed to be blind to the miserable slavery going on in his own factory back yards (some call it the white slave trade). All fine and good; but what doesn't sit well with me is how these people are cast in history as religious virtuous figures and what amazes me more is how many going out of their way to defend their supposed godliness. My ancestors were no doubt 'culled' by the likes of Wedgwood so their dynasty could live in splendour. At the turn of the twentieth century the average age for a pottery worker was just 46. I don't think reality should be dressed up that's all. Neither you nor I nor anybody else knows what Josiah Wedgwood was really like.”

“Jenniferecc - yes there were some very poor practices and these should not be brushed over. But I think that we should (a) judge people by the standards of their days and not by ours and (b) try to balance out the good and the bad.

Children had worked in pre-industrial times often working the long hours that they would have done in factories. Schooling was not made mandatory until 1876 and the expectation in families was for children to work as soon as they could. This is not to excuse Wedgwood but to set his actions in some sort of context.

None of us are perfect. The judgement of his peers was that Wedgwood was a decent man who worked hard, made significant advances in pottery production and employment practices and was committed to social change.”

“looby888. Your link proves the point that people-yes people were moulded to his factories. When mentioning Wedgwood I meant the whole dynasty but accept that it looked like I was referring to Josiah 1. Your link comes from the Wedgwood museum which is no doubt going to portray Josiah (and his successors) in a virtuous light. The BBC documentary some months back also propagated that Josiah made 'little cottages for his 'little workers to live in'-I really don't buy it. The truth can be found in the link:

http://tinyurl.com/78leuo

It is hard to face but the Wedgwood's exploited people and children at that. Josiah 11 attended a tribunal in 1812 and knew full well that lead poisoning was killing his workforce.”

“Jenniferecc - the Josiah Wedgwood referred to here was not a Victorian having been born in 1730. He was a social reformer and fought to end the slave trade when this went very much against mainstream thinking. http://tinyurl.com/ynoz4c

Although there were issues with the employment of child labour in the Victorian times this was under his grandson Josiah III

Whilst Josiah I would have employed child labour he did attempt to change not only working practices but also the skills and life choices of his workforce. http://tinyurl.com/7a5xqyb

He was a liberal reformer and made a significant positive impact on this area, this country and this world.”

“Wedgwood lived in an era of Victorian puritans where religion was used as a tool to strike fear into people to subjugate them. His class would have used it to control the workforce (maybe unwittingly). For example that age old phrase: 'the devil makes work of idle hands'. These things we will never know. We will also never know if he thought it was wrong for children to work in his factories. One wonders if he could have interpreted anything in the bible to maybe think that using child labour was wrong.”

“Josiah Wedgwood was a significant supporter of Unitarianism (his maternal grandfather was a Unitarian minister) and in particular of the Newcastle-under-Lyme Meeting House (Which has a chapel within it). He would have believed that his interpretation of the Bible was correct and would not have worried about incurring the wrath of God.

2012 marks the 350th anniversary of the Great Ejection - this was when 1700 Church of England ministers were ejected from the Church because they could not in all conscience accept the 39 Articles and the Book of Common Prayer. For the next 250 years non-conformists experienced varying difficulties - from ministers losing their livelihoods, being hounded out of their homes and sometimes their countries - to people being denied education (it was not until 1913 that professors at Oxford and Cambridge universities could be non-Anglican) and being debarred from public office. Joseph Priestley (a friend of Wedgwood's) the discoverer of oxygen was forced to flee first Birmingham (his home was torched) and then London (he was sent letters accusing him of being the devil and his effigy was burnt). He lived his last years in America.

Our own Meeting House was burnt down in 1715, being rebuild in 1717 with the compensation award by the Stafford Assizes. It was well hidden, attempting to keep a low profile, and only became prominent when the by-pass was built in the 1960's and many houses around it were knocked down.

Thankfully we now live in a tolerant and religiously diverse society when your religion does not dictate what you can and cannot do. Many Unitarians these days would not call themselves Christian although we value our heritage, some of which is Christian. Many of our local places of worship open their doors to the public during heritage open days on the second weekend in September.

Louise Rogers, Secretary of the Unitarian Meeting House”