Josiah Wedgwood II

{{Short description|British potter (1769–1843)}}

{{Other people|Josiah Wedgwood}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=November 2016}}

{{more citations needed|date=February 2021}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Josiah Wedgwood II

| image = Josiah Wedgwood II MP by William Owen.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Josiah Wedgwood II by William Owen.

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1769|04|3|df=yes}}

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| death_date = {{Death date and age|1843|07|12|1769|04|3|df=yes}}

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| spouse = Elizabeth Allen

| children = 9

| parents = Josiah Wedgwood
Sarah Wedgwood

| relatives = Thomas Wedgwood (brother)
Susannah Darwin (sister)
Charles Darwin (nephew)

}}

Josiah Wedgwood II (3 April 1769 – 12 July 1843), the son of the English potter Josiah Wedgwood, continued his father's firm and was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-upon-Trent from 1832 to 1835. He was an abolitionist, and detested slavery.

Josiah and his brother Thomas gave their friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge a life annuity of £150, with the goal of freeing Coleridge from financial worries and the need to support himself by noncreative work, so that he could pursue his literary and philosophical interests. This was offered in January 1798, and accepted by Coleridge, who was then a probationary minister in the Unitarian Church, with the condition he discontinued in the ministry.{{cite book|last=Dickins|first=Gordon|title=An Illustrated Literary Guide to Shropshire|year=1987|publisher=Shropshire Libraries|page=19|isbn=0-903802-37-6}}

In 1807, Wedgwood bought Maer Hall in Staffordshire and his family lived there until his death in 1843.

Wedgwood was responsible for the Wedgwood Company's first bone china wares.