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): Alicia Coppola • Carlos Sainz Sr. • Charles Napier (actor) • Christos Iakovou • Dan Ahearn • Elizaveta Kulichkova • Eric Bailly • Guillaume Thomas François Raynal • Helen Forrest • Henry Clay • Jörn Lenz • Louis Beel • Martin Lister • Oliver Postgate • Reuben Gant • Robert Cliche • Scott Turow • Tiny Tim (musician) • Tulsi Gabbard