INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
Series One: The Boulton & Watt Archive and the Matthew Boulton Papers from Birmingham Central Library

Part 9: Journals, Notebooks and Diaries of Matthew Boulton

In Part 9 of this microfilm project we cover the Journals, Notebooks and Diaries of Matthew Boulton. There are seven large journal volumes covering the period from 1776 to 1815. These give details of Stock, Cash Receipts, Wages and Expenses at Soho. Entries for 1 January 1776 to 22 June 1782 relate to 'Boulton & Fothergill'; later entries, from 24 June 1782 to 31 December 1816, relate to 'Matthew Boulton'.

Matthew Boulton's manuscript notebooks cover a wide range of different subjects. Some 96 volumes span the period c.1751-1808. Topics include General subjects, Engines and Mining, Cornish Engines: Monthly Performance, Holland, Experiments with Carronades, Thoughts on Carriages, Cornish Adventurers, Copper, Manufacture of Copying Ink, Coinage, The Royal Mint, Soho Mint, Iron, Corn and Meal, Paris, Gilt Buttons, Hard White Buttons, Buckles, Canals, Towns and Number of Inhabitants, Notes and Observations on Steam Engines, Metal and Rolling Trade, Lathes and Turning, Soho House and Garden.

A run of Matthew Boulton diaries covering the period 1766 to 1808, and two boxes of letters, drawings and plans complete the material reproduced in Part 9. These include a letter of 24 August 1778 from James Watt to Matthew Boulton with enclosures entitled 'Directions for erecting an engine' and instructions regarding 'Drainage of the Moeres', with various plans and drawings of Soho estates.

This part gives much detail on the daily running of the Boulton and Watt business and on the innovative inventions which were to form a fundamental part of the Industrial Revolution. The papers contained within this part are a perfect complement to the Watt material covered in early parts and are an excellent source for economic and social historians researching the successes of Boulton and Watt.