William Greatbatch

William Greatbatch (Circa 1735 to circa 29 April 1813) was a noted potter at Fenton, Staffordshire, from the mid-eighteenth to the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. Fenton was one of the six towns of the Staffordshire Potteries, which were joined in the early 20th century to become the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England.

North Staffordshire became a centre of ceramic production in the early 17th century, due to the local availability of clay, salt, lead and coal. The nature and scale of local pottery production changed dramatically during the course of the 18th century as part of the Industrial Revolution.

Greatbatch served as an apprentice to Thomas Whieldon at Fenton Vivian before setting up as an independent manufacturer. He developed and supplied wares to Josiah Wedgwood during a business partnership lasting some twenty years and later, following a bankruptcy, worked directly for Wedgwood at the Etruria works until his retirement.

The exact date and place of William Greatbatch’s birth have not been established. It is thought that he was born around 1735 and the surname Greatbatch suggests a local Staffordshire origin for the family.

Writing in 1829, Simeon Shaw stated that Greatbatch’s father was a farmer at Berryhill who supplied coals to the pottery manufacturers of the area, including Thomas Whieldon, but modern scholars have considered this to be unsupported by evidence.

On 26 March 1759 Greatbatch married Sarah Simpkin and they had three sons, Hugh, William and Richard. The two eldest sons went on the work in the pottery business.

William Greatbatch was apprenticed to Thomas Whieldon at Fenton Vivian, possibly in 1753. Whieldon was one of the most prolific and influential potters of the day and Greatbatch’s apprenticeship would have offered many opportunities. Greatbatch was a highly skilled and innovative modeller and followed in the footsteps of Aaron Wood, one of the greatest Staffordshire modellers who had left Whieldon's employment a few years previously. Greatbatch first met Josiah Wedgwood when apprenticed to Whieldon, during a time when Whieldon and Wedgwood were in business partnership (1754 to 1759).

William Greatbatch left Whieldon’s employment sometime before 1762 and possibly as early as 1760.

...
Wikipedia