Major Cecil Wedgwood DSO

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

 (1863-3 July 1916) was a British soldier and partner in the Wedgwood

Wedgwood

Wedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...

 pottery firm.

Wedgwood was the only son of Godfrey Wedgwood

Godfrey Wedgwood

Godfrey Wedgwood was a partner in the Wedgwood pottery firm from 1859 to 1891.Wedgwood was born in Etruria Hall, the son of Francis Wedgwood and his wife Frances Mosley. He was taken into partnership by his father in 1859, and was later joined by his younger brothers Clement and Laurence...

 and his first wife Mary Jane Jackson Hawkshaw, (daughter of the great civil engineer Sir John Hawkshaw

John Hawkshaw

Sir John Hawkshaw , was an English civil engineer.-Early life:He was born in Leeds, Yorkshire and was educated at Leeds Grammar School...

) who died shortly after he was born. He was the great-great-grandson of the potter Josiah Wedgwood

Josiah Wedgwood

Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter, founder of the Wedgwood company, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. A prominent abolitionist, Wedgwood is remembered for his "Am I Not A Man And A Brother?" anti-slavery medallion. He was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family...

.

Wedgwood became a partner in the 1884 with his uncle Laurence Wedgwood

Laurence Wedgwood

Laurence Wedgwood director of the Wedgwood pottery firm.Wedgwood was the youngest son of Francis Wedgwood and his wife Frances Mosley. Wedgewood helped incorporate Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Ltd. in 1895. Elder brothers Godfrey and Clement were also in the business. He was the great-grandson of the...

 and later his cousin Francis Hamilton Wedgwood

Francis Hamilton Wedgwood

Francis Hamilton "Frank" Wedgwood JP and High Sheriff was a partner in the Wedgwood pottery firm.Wedgwood was the eldest son of Clement Wedgwood and Emily Catherine Rendel, daughter of the engineer James Meadows Rendel. He was the great-great-grandson of the potter Josiah Wedgwood...

. He married Lucie Gibson in 1888, and they had two daughters, one of whom married a brother of the Wedgwood pottery designer Daisy Makeig-Jones

Daisy Makeig-Jones

Susannah Margaretta "Daisy" Makeig-Jones was a pottery designer for Wedgwood. She is best known for her range of "Fairyland Lustre" pottery....

;

• Phoebe Sylvia Wedgwood (1893–1972) remained unmarried.
• Doris Audrey Wedgwood (1894–1968) married Thomas Geoffrey Rowland Makeig-Jones in 1928.

Wedgwood was commissioned Lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in the 4th (Militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

) Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment

North Staffordshire Regiment

The North Staffordshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. It can date its lineage back to 1756 with the formation of a second battalion by the 11th Regiment of Foot, which shortly after became the 64th Regiment of Foot...

 in 1883. He served in the Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

, where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

 in 1902. He was First Mayor of the Federated County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...

 in 1910 and 1911.

On the outbreak of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 in 1914 he raised the 8th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment

North Staffordshire Regiment

The North Staffordshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. It can date its lineage back to 1756 with the formation of a second battalion by the 11th Regiment of Foot, which shortly after became the 64th Regiment of Foot...

. He was killed at the La Boiselle during the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. His body was found and identified by James Leather, a 21 year old bandsman and stretcher bearer. He is buried at the Bapaume Post Military Cemetery in Albert, Somme

Albert, Somme

Albert is a commune in the Somme department in Picardie in northern France.It is located about halfway between Amiens and Bapaume.-History:Albert was founded as a Roman outpost called Encre, in about 54 BC...

.

He was succeeded as Chairman and Managing Director of Wedgwood by his cousin Francis Hamilton Wedgwood

Francis Hamilton Wedgwood

Francis Hamilton "Frank" Wedgwood JP and High Sheriff was a partner in the Wedgwood pottery firm.Wedgwood was the eldest son of Clement Wedgwood and Emily Catherine Rendel, daughter of the engineer James Meadows Rendel. He was the great-great-grandson of the potter Josiah Wedgwood...

.

External links

• http://www.wedgwoodmuseum.org.uk/biogresults.asp?BiographySelection=39
• http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=524016