WEDGWOOD PEERAGE & TRAINS

If your Wedgwood collecting activities include learning about the family of Josiah Wedgwood, you will perhaps be interested in a new posting on Wikipedia. Click the title of this post to see the news of the new Baronet of Etruria, Sir Ralph Wedgwood, who inherited the baronetcy from his late father, well known Wedgwood family member, historian and active Wedgwoodian, Sir Martin, and his lovely wife Sandy. The rules of inheritance are complicated, and you will note that the son of the second baronet, who is much older than Sir Ralph, is only heir presumptive. Suffice it to say, Sir Martin is much missed in the Wedgwood community and it is nice to know who has inherited his title. Meanwhile our good friend Piers, Lord Wedgwood, yet another lineage with its own set of inheritance 'rules', is having health problems and not traveling for awhile. He's very much missed on the Wedgwood circuit here in USA as well as around the world. We send all our very best wishes for his recovery and return to the china departments of the world!

While researching for this article, I came to learn that there was a famous train engine named the 'Sir Ralph Wedgwood' which was attacked in an air raid by the Germans on 29 April 1942. You can learn about it here. The train was named for the 1st Sir Ralph Wedgwood and we learn a bit more from Wikipedia:

"Sir Ralph Lewis Wedgwood, 1st Baronet CB CMG (2 March 1874 – 5 September 1956) was the Chief Officer of the London & North Eastern Railway for 16 years from its inauguration in 1923. Also chairman of the wartime Railway Executive Committee from September 1939 to August 1941. Knighted in 1924 and created a baronet in 1942. [1]

Wedgwood was the son of Clement Wedgwood and his wife Emily, daughter of the engineer James Meadows Rendel. His elder brother was Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood. He married Iris Veronica Pawson, daughter of Albert Henry Pawson on 24 October 1906 at St. Margaret's, Westminster. They had two children who survived to adulthood; John Hamilton Wedgwood (1907-1989), second baronet and Cicely Veronica Wedgwood (1910-1997), historian.

He was educated at Clifton College and Trinity College, Cambridge,[2] where he became a member of the Cambridge Apostles[3]. He was close friends there with his second cousin, Ralph Vaughan Williams, who later dedicated two of his works to him, "In the Fen Country" and "A Sea Symphony".[4] Ralph Wedgwood was an executor of Joseph Conrad's will in 1924.[5]

An A4 Class locomotive, 4469 Sir Ralph Wedgwood, was named after him but it was destroyed by bombing during World War 2. His name was later given to A4 Class 4466."

Thanks to Tony again, we have additional photos of the Sir Ralph Wedgwood. Above was taken at Ferryhill Locomotive shed, Aberdeen, 17 Jul 1965.
We have recently made friends with a Wedgwood collector in Scotland who is also a train buff. Thanks to Tony we have learned more information about the 'Sir Ralph Wedgwood' and he has piqued our interest in another train, the 'Josiah Wedgwood'.

Regarding the 'Sir Ralph Wedgwood' #4469: "...the destruction in June, 1942 was not the end of the story. In January, 1944, the name was transferred to [engine] # 4466, previously named 'Herring Gull', which ran until withdrawn in 1965....There is a plaque at the National Railway Museum in York marking the spot where #4469 was standing when it was destroyed [on 4/29/42]." "The tender from the original 'Sir Ralph' which lasted until 1960 was coupled to 'Highland Chieftain'. The National Railway Museum at York is the original locomotive depot and the scene of the bombing in 1942."

This photo above is the Sir Ralph at Peterborough about 1952.

To quote Tony further, and to see where our interest in the 'Josiah Wedgwood' began, "The naming tradition was carried out even more recently as a Class 86, 4040 horsepower electric locomotive, built in 1966, was named 'Josiah Wedgwood MASTER POTTER 1736-1795' at Stoke on Trent. I used to see it regularly working London to Scotland trains when I lived in Preston."

In working on something else, I found a great photo and article from Wedgwood Review, the company employee newsletter published in the 1960s to 1980s. We see there how the 'Josiah Wedgwood' looked when brand new compared to the one taken at Wolverhampton, when it had some age on it!

Following the careers of various Wedgwoods who did not spend their lives associated with the Potteries can be as interesting and rewarding as studying about Josiah I's products. A wonderful collection could be made of knowledge about the Wedgwood family almost as large as a collection of Wedgwood pots! Check the Links on our website for a couple of interesting family articles.