(1778-1838), ceramic manufacturer

Robert Hamilton, a nephew of James Watt through his first wife, was apprenticed for three years to George Harrison, earthenware manufacturer of Fenton, Staffs. in 1796. During his apprenticeship, the period covered by the journal, he spent much time, when not with Harrison, with the Watt family at Heathfield Hall, near Birmingham, often with childhood companion, Gregory Watt, James Watt's son by his second marriage, who died in 1804 aged 27. Numerous journeys are detailed by Hamilton, including visits to china and porcelain works, to Coalbrookdale and to Herschel.