Now I am a fan of Great Lives, which is a Radio 4 series, and while I have always maintained that history is not just about the "great and the good", it is nevertheless instructive to hear about people who left their mark.
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| Josiah Wedgwood |
And so to Josiah Wedgwood, who was the subject of today's programme which the sleeve notes explain, "When Josiah Wedgwood had part of an injured leg amputed, he encouraged his workers to celebrate the anniversary as St Amputation Day.
This remarkable man from Stoke on Trent built a pottery empire that made him famous round the world. He's nominated here, on location, by the former MP for Stoke Central, Tristram Hunt, now head of the Victoria and Albert museum in London. The programme includes an interview with the head of Royal Staffordshire, Norman Tempest, plus readings from Brian Dolan's biography, The First Tycoon.
Tristram Hunt's latest book is called The Radical Potter.
The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer for BBC audio in Bristol is ex-Stoke resident Miles Warde".
And just to balance the history of great people, next week's episode feature Peggy Seeger on her husband Ewan MacColl who "was born Jimmy Miller in Salford, which he wrote about in 1949 in his song, 'Dirty Old Town.' He made his name in theatre, was married to Joan Littlewood, and after the Second World War he was a powerful force behind the folk revival. He also with Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker created the famous Radio Ballads. Peggy is joined in discussion by Peter Cox, author of Set Into Song. The programme is heavily illustrated with MacColl's music and his voice".**
Picture; Portrait of Josiah Wedgwood from The Scientific Correspondence of Joseph Priestley by Priestley, Joseph. New York, New York: Collins Printing House, 1892. This file was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the Science History Institute as part of a cooperation project.
*Josiah Wedgwood, master potter, Great Lives, Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000z5j8
**Peggy Seeger on her husband Ewan MacColl, Great Lives, Radio 4, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000zdqv
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