Sir John Hamilton Wedgwood, 2nd Baronet
TD (16 November 1907 - 9 December 1989),
British politician and industrialist.
Born in
Newcastle upon Tyne, Wedgwood was the son of
Sir Ralph Wedgwood, 1st Baronet and his wife
Iris Veronica Pawson, daughter of Albert Henry Pawson. He was a great-great-great-grandson of the master potter
Josiah Wedgwood. His younger sister was the historian
C.V. Wedgwood. Sir John was educated at
Winchester College, at
Trinity College,
Cambridge and in
Europe, where he learnt several languages.
He married Diane Hawkshaw in 1933. She was the daughter of Oliver Hawkshaw, the granddaughter of Cecily Mary Wedgwood, and the great-granddaughter of
Francis Wedgwood (1800-1888), and Ruth Stewart Hodgson, granddaughter of
William Forsyth QC. He was the son of
Ralph Wedgwood, grandson of
Clement Wedgwood, great-grandson of
Francis Wedgwood (1800-1888). This meant that they were
second cousins. They had four sons and one daughter.
He joined
the family pottery firm in 1931 and was appointed Deputy Chairman in 1955. He worked as a
travelling salesman and representative of the firm, a role which took him across the globe.
During the
Second World War he served as a
Military Intelligence Staff Officer in the
Arctic and in
Italy. In 1948 he rejoined the
Territorial Army and became the
2nd in command of the
North Staffordshire Regiment.
In 1982 he remarried the mediaeval art historian
Pamela Tudor-Craig.
His uncle
Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood had been a
Liberal and
Labour politician and cabinet minister. John Wedgwood stood for the
Liberals at the
1945 election, but was not elected. He then deserted the Liberals to become the
Conservative Party's candidate for
Leek, but was not elected there either. He did however serve as
magistrate for
Stone, Staffordshire.
Wedgwood had a love for
outdoor pursuits, particularly
cave diving and
mountain climbing. He was a life vice president of the
British Sub Aqua Club.
He inherited the
Wedgwood Baronetcy and title on the death of his father on 5 September 1956. On his own death in 1989 the Baronetcy passed to his son, the 3rd baronet
Sir Martin Wedgwood (born 1933; died 12 October 2010[1]).