Born on this day into a Quaker family, which lost its money  in  1705, William Cookworthy (1705 – 1780) was apprenticed to Bevan and Bevan, Quaker chemists in London.  His family was so poor that he had to walk all the way to the capital.

After completing his apprenticeship, the Bevan family supported Cookworthy in establishing his own pharmacy in Plymouth, Bevan and Cookworthy.  Within a matter of years, he brought two of his brothers, Philip and Benjamin into the business and bought his Bevan partners out.

Through this occupation, he became aware of the chemistry of the porcelain industry and learning that the china clay was imported from Virginia he decided to search for suitable English mineral resources and succeeded in the Breage and Tregonning Hill parts of Cornwall. 

Cookworthy subsequently established a china works in Plymouth, which he later relocated to Bristol although still continuing to  purchase the raw materials from Cornwall, notably the St. Austell area which is now famous for its clay tips comprising waste materials from the quarrying process.   

Cookworthy and his wife, Sarah, were friends with John Smeaton who lodged with them whilst constructing the third Eddystone lighthouse and helped developed the lime used in its construction. Among numerous other projects, Smeaton was also responsible for the design of a pier at St. Ives and the new port of Charlestown financed by Charles Rashleigh (November 17^th).