William Cookworthy
Categories: Chemist stubs | English chemists | 1705 births | 1780 deaths | People connected with Plymouth | Cornish people | Natives of Devon | Quakers
William Cookworthy (11 April, 1705 – 17 October, 1780) was a chemist and a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quaker) from Kingsbridge, Devon. He discovered china clay in Cornwall and devised a way of making porcelain, which previously had needed to be imported from China. He was also an associate of John Smeaton, who lodged at his house when he was engaged in building the third Eddystone Lighthouse (1756-1759). Cookworthy helped Smeaton with the development of hydraulic lime, which was essential to the successful building of the lighthouse.