Josiah Clement Wedgwood Papers

The papers at Keele consist principally of letters, the majority to members of his family. There are letters from the front addressed to Wedgwood's mother and to his wife during the Boer War and the First World War and two diaries dating from this period. Of particular significance among the non-family papers of this period is a carbon copy of a five page letter from Wedgwood to Winston Churchill begun on 24 April 1915 giving a graphic description of the landings at Gallipolli. A report dated September 1915 gives Wedgwood's impressions of the Western Front, his views on various generals and of conscription. In a powerful letter to Lloyd George dated 11 October 1916 Wedgwood deplores the heavy losses in France, four times those of the French army. In 1918 Wedgwood was sent to Siberia to encourage the Russians to continue fighting and not to trust the German offers. His instructions survive in the accumulation. Further letters reflect Wedgwood's lifelong passionate advocacy of the taxation of land values as described by Henry George and his support for Indian nationalism (discussed in a series of letters from Lajpat Rai). Post First World War correspondents include Asquith, Balfour, Ramsay MacDonald, Henry Newbolt, Walter Runciman, Keir Hardie, Hillaire Belloc, H G Wells, Churchill, Neville Chamberlain, and Anthony Eden.

Josiah Clement Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood (1872-1943), great great grandson of the first Josiah Wedgwood was Liberal M.P. for Newcastle-under-Lyme from 1906 to 1919 and then Labour M.P. for the same constituency from 1919 to 1942.

Reference: Keele University - Special Collections and Archives, Josiah Clement Wedgwood Papers (http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/li/specarc/archives/jcwedgwood.htm). Accessed November 2001.

There are no restrictions on access to these papers. An appointment is required to view the papers.

This collection was deposited as a gift by Wedgwood's grand-daughter.

The collection is uncatalogued.

An authority record exists for Josiah Clement Wedgwood (GB 152 AAR1932).

There are no restrictions on the use of this archive, apart from the requirements of copyright law.

Further deposits are not expected.

Published works about or using the collection:

Reference: Stein, J. B. Our Great Solicitor: Josiah C Wedgwood and the Jews (Selinsgrove, Susquehanna University Press, 1992).

Reference: Wedgwood, J.C., Memoirs of a Fighting Life ( London, Hutchinson and Company, 1951).

Reference: Wedgwood, C.V., The Last of the Radicals, Josiah Wedgwood MP ( London, Jonathan Cape, 1951).