Wilkinson Mary

Full Name: Mary Wilkinson

Achievements: Married Joseph Priestley

Born: 1744, Blackbarrow, near Furness, England

Died: 1796, Northumberland, PA. Aged 52

Language: English

Father: Isaac Wilkinson

Mother: Unknown

Siblings: John; William; Henry

Spouse: Joseph Priestley

Children: Sarah; Joseph; William; Henry

Education: Unknown

Life & Times:

Wilkinson's father Isaac and her brothers William and [brother was] John Wilkinson* were three of the great ironmasters of 18th-century England.

At 18, she married noted scientist and theologian [married] Joseph Priestley* in Warrington. The couple had a daughter and three sons.

In 1767, she moved with Priestley to Leeds, England, and then in 1780, to Birmingham to live with her brother John's family.  In 1791, their house in Birmingham was ransacked and burned by a mob who objected to Priestley's support of the French revolution. In August, 1793, Wilkinson's three sons emigrated to the United States.

In less than a year, Mary Wilkinson and Priestley followed, taking up residence in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, where he built a new home and laboratory.  Mary Wilkinson died there two years later.

Assessment: She helped Priestly financially.

Oneliner: Mary Wilkinson, wife of Joseph Priestley

Bibliography:

• Ron Ravies, John Wilkinson, The Dulston Press, Kingswinford, West Midlands, 1987.