Wilkinson, Mary

Required to teach science, Priestley found he had to learn some. As part of his studies, he wrote a History of Electricity, an effort that was encouraged by Benjamin Franklin, whom he had met in London. With an apparent propensity for meeting famous people, Priestley met and married Mary Wilkinson of a famous family of ironmasters whose work is illustrative of the industrial trend in England. However with his new family responsibilities (and perhaps a bit of his lifelong penchant for rancor), he moved from his teaching position back into the ministry in the town of Leeds. 

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