He was born of Quaker parents in Kingsbridge, Devon on 12 April 1705. His father, also called William, was a weaver and his mother was Edith, the daughter of John and Margaret Debell of St Martin-by-Looe in east Cornwall: they had married in 1704. Their children were:
William – 1705
Sarah – 1706
Jacob – 1709
Susannah – 1711
Mary – 1714
Philip – 1716
Benjamin – 1717
William was a bright child but his education was halted when his father died on 22 October 1718 and the family's investment in the South Sea Company failed in the autumn of 1720. William had been offered an apprenticeship, at no cost, by the Bevan Brothers, two Quaker apothecaries, with a successful business in London. As the family had no spare money, William walked to London to take up the offer and, eventually, completed the apprenticeship. He was taken into partnership.
Plymouth
He moved to Plymouth, where he set up a pharmacy as Bevan and Cookworthy. This flourished. He eventually brought his brothers Philip and Benjamin into the partnership and bought out the Bevans' interest in 1745. He became prominent among Devon Quakers, being appointed as an Elder. Among his concerns was that Quakers should not tolerate their members trading in prize goods, as Quakers should not benefit from war. The manufacture of porcelain was at the time attracting great attention in England, and while the factories at Bow, Chelsea, Worcester and Derby were introducing the artificial glassy porcelain, Cookworthy, following the accounts from China of the Jesuit priestPère d'Entrecolles, spent many years in searching for English materials similar to those used in China. From 1745 onwards he seems to have travelled over the greater portion of Cornwall and Devon in search of these minerals, and he finally located them in the parish of St Stephen's near St Austell. With a certain amount of financial assistance from Thomas Pitt he established the Plymouth China Factory at least as early as 1768. The factory was moved to Bristol about 1770, and the business was afterwards sold to Richard Champion and others and became the Bristol Porcelain Manufactory. Although the Plymouth porcelain was not of high quality, Cookworthy is remembered for his discovery of those abundant supplies of English clay and rocks which later formed the foundation of English porcelain and earthenware.
Marriage
In 1735, he married Sarah Berry, a Quaker from Wellington in Somerset. They had five daughters:
Lydia – 1736
Sarah – 1738
Mary – 1740
Elizabeth & Susannah – 1743
Lighthouse engineering
He was also an associate of John Smeaton, who lodged at his house when he was engaged in building the third Eddystone Lighthouse. Cookworthy helped Smeaton with the development of hydraulic lime, which was essential to the successful building of the lighthouse.
Swedenborg
In 1767 Cookworthy, in conjunction with Rev Thomas Hartley, translated Emanuel Swedenborg's theological works, The Doctrine of Life, Treatise on Influx, and Heaven and Hell, from Latin into English. His initial reaction to Swedenborg's works was one of disgust, but with persistence, he was convinced of their merits and was a persuasive advocate. Hartley and Cookworthy later visited Swedenborg at his lodgings in Clerkenwell shortly before Swedenborg's death.
