William Cookworthy

William Cookworthy 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. In 1768 he founded a works at Plymouth for the production of Plymouth porcelain; in 1770 he moved the factory to Bristol, to become Bristol porcelain, before selling it to a partner in 1773.

12 April 1705

Born on the same birth day (12 April): Alexander Ostrovsky • Ann Miller • Antoine Laurent de Jussieu • Antonio da Sangallo the Younger • Armen Alchian • Chad le Clos • Dan Ahearn • Elizaveta Kulichkova • Gillo Dorfles • Herbert Grönemeyer • Hitomi Yoshizawa • Jean-Pierre Marielle • Jimmy Makulis • Klaus Tafelmeier • Lionel Carole • Michał Życzkowski • Otto Fritz Meyerhof