Short answers, pulled from the story.
Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist who founded the Wedgwood company in 1759. He led the industrialisation of European pottery manufacture and developed improved pottery bodies through systematic experimentation.
Josiah Wedgwood was born on the 12th of July 1730 in Burslem, Staffordshire, the thirteenth and last child of his family. He died in 1795, probably of cancer of the jaw, and was buried in the parish church of Stoke-upon-Trent.
Josiah Wedgwood pioneered direct mail, money-back guarantees, travelling salesmen, self-service, free delivery, buy one get one free, and illustrated catalogues. He used royal patronage, such as the "Queen's Ware" name from Queen Charlotte, and showrooms in London and other cities to drive demand.
The anti-slavery medallion carried the words "Am I Not a Man and a Brother?" and was commissioned by Joseph Hooper, a founder of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Wedgwood mass-produced and widely distributed the cameos, making the image popular among abolitionists.
Josiah Wedgwood was the grandfather of Charles Darwin. His eldest daughter Susannah, known as "Sukey", married Robert Darwin and became Charles Darwin's mother, and Charles later married his cousin Emma Wedgwood.
In 1773 Empress Catherine the Great ordered the Green Frog Service from Wedgwood, consisting of 952 pieces and over a thousand original paintings, for a palace later known as Chesme Palace. Catherine paid £2,700, and the service can still be seen in the Hermitage Museum.