William Weston Young

William Weston Young (1776–1847) Quaker Entrepreneur of Bristol and Glamorganshire; artist, botanist, wreck-raiser, surveyor, potter, and inventor of the firebrick.

William Weston Young, born 20 April 1776, Lewin's Mead, Bristol, England, into a devout Quaker family, the third son of Edward Young, a Bristolian merchant and Sarah (Sally) Young (née Weston). He was educated at Gildersome Quaker boarding school in Yorkshire, which among other things gave him a rudimentary knowledge of science which he was to apply in his invention of the silica firebrick.

After a flustered attempt to emigrate to America in 1794, involving his ship being captured by a fleet of French men-of-war, his ultimate escape from captivity and arduous journey home, Young settled back in Bristol, found employment and married fellow Quaker, Elizabeth Davis, in April 1795. In 1798, Young had acquired the financial backing (with notable help from his uncle Thomas Young, father of the physicist, physician and egyptologist Dr Thomas Young) to lease a farm and water mill from John Llewellyn of Ynysygerwn, at Aberdulais, in the Neath Valley, Glamorganshire. After a lucrative start to his new venture as a miller, corn-factor and farmer, a large purchase of corn, beans and grist coinciding with the Treaty of Amiens, which crashed the value of his goods, as well as some unfortunate dealings with men of false credit brought Young into trouble with his own creditors, and was made bankrupt in May 1802.

Young's early bankruptcy had lasting impact upon his career, no longer independent – he sought employment and so put his artistic skills to use. On 23 January 1803, Young and his wife moved to new lodgings in Swansea, Glamorganshire, where he had gained employment under fellow Quaker, Lewis Weston Dillwyn, as a "draftsman" at Dillwyn's Cambrian Pottery, where he remained until August 1806. Dillwyn and Young, both in their mid twenties, struck up a close friendship due to their common interest in natural history. Many of Young's painted wares feature accurately depicted flora and fauna as well as the taxonomic names of the illustrated species. Collections of this pottery can be seen at the V&A Museum, South Kensington, The National Museum of Wales, Cardiff and at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea.

...
Wikipedia