The Drayton Legacy — Rona Randall

An historical novel set in 18th century Staffordshire with the rapidly industrialising potteries, where Joseph Drayton, Master Potter, runs the family business, untrammelled in his private ambitions, ambitions which include Meg, a gipsy girl who slaves in his turning sheds, but not his gifted younger brother Martin. Martin is bound by indentures to work for five years in Joseph's pot bank but longs for the day when he comes into the Drayton legacy and can express his artistry in a more personal way and in this he is helped by his friend Simon Kendall, the canal digger, a humble genius who can neither read nor write but whose vision as an architect and engineer transforms the potteries trade.