For more than 300 years, the Wood family has been interwoven with the story of the Potteries in North Staffordshire. From early eighteenth-century figure modellers to Victorian industrialists and twentieth-century manufacturers, the Wood name became synonymous with craftsmanship, innovation and civic pride in Burslem – the “Mother Town” of the Potteries.
Their legacy reaches from hand-modelled Toby Jugs to large-scale industrial production, from small workshops to factories employing thousands, and from local trade to international export.
Earlier Roots: Family Tradition and Memory
Family tradition traces the lineage of the Wood dynasty back to Ralph Wood of Cheddleton, known as “the Honest Miller” (born 1676), who operated mills in Cheddleton, Shelton and Burslem. His name is preserved on a biscuit-fired earthenware bust of his grandson, Enoch Wood, inscribed with details of his life.
The family tree further associates this Ralph with an earlier Ralph Wood, described as a Cheddleton landowner who fought at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, and even with Thomas Wood, Bishop of Lichfield (1671–1692). While such claims cannot be fully substantiated through surviving documentation, they were recorded by Enoch Wood himself and remain part of the family’s inherited narrative.
What is historically secure, however, is that by the early eighteenth century, members of the Wood family were already active in the Staffordshire pottery trade.
The Three Brothers: Foundations of a Dynasty
The recognised beginning of the pottery dynasty lies with three brothers:
- Ralph Wood (1715–1772)
- Aaron Wood (1717–1785)
- Moses Wood (1719–1791)
Ralph Wood I and II: The Art of Character
Ralph Wood I trained within the emerging Staffordshire pottery tradition, working with figures associated with Thomas Whieldon and learning techniques in coloured glazes using metallic oxides.
By the 1750s he was producing salt-glazed wares in Burslem and, by around 1762, is widely credited with popularising the Toby Jug – the seated figure holding a jug of ale that became one of the most enduring icons of British ceramics.
His figures captured humour, vitality and social character. Genuine examples are now held in museum collections worldwide, including the The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
His son, Ralph Wood II (1748–1795), continued the tradition. Both father and son marked some of their pieces, and their distinctive modelling and glaze work allow many unmarked pieces to be attributed to them.
Aaron Wood: The Master Modeller
Aaron Wood was regarded as one of the finest mould-makers and block-cutters of his generation. Working closely with Thomas Whieldon and supplying moulds to other potters, he played a crucial technical role in enabling consistent and detailed production at a time when the industry was expanding rapidly.
Contemporaries described him as lively and genial, admired for both his artistry and character.
Moses Wood: The Line of Continuity
Unlike his brothers, Moses Wood did not leave the same artistic legacy. His importance lies elsewhere: through his descendants, the Wood name continued into the nineteenth century and beyond.
As historian Frank Falkner observed in 1912, it was through Moses that the line of descent connects the celebrated eighteenth-century figure makers with the later industrialists of Wood & Sons.
Aaron Wood (1717–1785) by William Caddick at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. Image credit: Walker Art Gallery.