Maria Byerley

She was the daughter of Thomas Byerley of Etruria, Staffordshire, a nephew by marriage and sometime partner and manager of the pottery works of Josiah Wedgwood.

Her father had successfully run the London showroom but Josiah Wedgwood had managed the money.

When their uncle Josiah died in 1795 the business ceased to thrive, Maria Byerley, and her sister Frances, started a school to provide for their own upkeep.

[1] The notable families who sent their children included the future "Mrs Gaskell",[2] the American granddaughters of Joseph Priestley, the Scottish artist's model and wife of John Everett Millais, Effie Gray and the niece of Harriet Martineau.

[1] In 1841 she and her sister Jane retired but the school continued under the leadership of the Misses Ainsworth at Stratford.