William Cookworthy | |
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Born | 12 April 1705 Kingsbridge, Devon, England |
Died | 17 October 1780 | (aged 75)
Scientific career | |
Fields | Pharmacy, Porcelain manufacture |
William Cookworthy (12 April 1705 – 17 October 1780) was an English Quaker minister, a successful pharmacist and an innovator in several fields of technology. He was the first person in Britain to discover how to make hard-paste porcelain, like that imported from China. He subsequently discovered china clay in Cornwall.[1] In 1768 he founded a works at Plymouth for the production of Plymouth porcelain;[2] in 1770 he moved the factory to Bristol, to become Bristol porcelain, before selling it to a partner in 1773.