INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
Series Three: The Papers of James Watt and his Family formerly held at Doldowlod House, now at Birmingham Central Library

Part 1: Correspondence, Papers & Business Records, 1687-1819

Part 2: Correspondence, Papers & Business Records, 1736-1848

Part 3: Correspondence, Papers & Business Records, 1736-1848

Detailed Listing - Part 3

James Watt junior, 1769-1848 Personal correspondence (continued)

REEL 41

JWP 3/49 1822 Letters to and from James Watt junior, including a copy letter to Mr Ferrier on the Rhine vessel, and others concerning steam tugs on the Rhine. (8 documents)

JWP 3/42 1822-1823 Letters and documents concerning steam navigation; mainly the claim by William Symington for remuneration for his inventions for propelling canal barges and the experiment of towing the Rafael. Contains an important letter from Symington to J A Walker, 1822, describing the development of his ideas from theory to practice, “...Another larger trial took place in 1789 on the Forth of Clyde near Carron ironworks, amidst hundreds who with loud exclamation hailed us from the banks whilst gliding along the canal”, and the way in which Henry Bell of Glasgow, designer of the “Comet”, and Robert Fulton both examined his boat before constructing their own successful steam vessels. (9 documents)

JWP 6/52 1829 Letters from various correspondents in answer to his request for information about Humphry Davy for a biography by Dr Paris who had applied to him for information. Includes a letter from Josiah Wedgwood jnr about Davy and Gregory Watt in Cornwall in 1797-98. (6 documents)

JWP W/10 1833-1839 Letters from various correspondents, with a few copy replies by James Watt junior. Correspondents include Sir Francis Chantrey, W Arago, P Ewart, J B Pentland; most letters concern Arago’s Eloge. (68 documents)

JWP 4/83 1834 Letter from James Gibson, sending anecdotes for James Watt to be sent on to Arago. (1 document)

JWP W/12 1834-1837 Letters from W Arago, concerning his Eloge historique de James Watt.
(23 documents, numbered 77-100)

Miscellaneous papers

JWP 3/63 [1796]-1848 Current account statement for Messrs Boulton & Watt 1796-1825, with related letters, 1842-48; concerns accounts with A J & G Weston, solicitors, allegedly outstanding for patent lawsuits. (3 documents)

JWP C2/15 1804-1807 Papers relating to will and property of his brother, Gregory Watt. (1 bundle)

JWP JW/2 1809 The Edinburgh Review, no 26, January 1809, containing an article on the steam engine (pp 311-333), with annotations by James Watt junior. (1 document)

REEL 42

JWP C4/D25 1809-1810 Architectural plans and decoration drawings for Miss Boulton’s house at Thornhill, including Bullock & Gandy’s design for greenhouse, and sketches for saddle room wall, kitchen dresser, bookcases etc. (13 documents)

JWP C4/C18 nd [c1810] Large plan of Heathfield House grounds with pencil annotations apparently used for landscape design. (1 document)

JWP 3/47 1812-1813 Sketch of Mr Girard’s boiler and price comparisons for cotton. (1 document)

JWP C4/D28 1814-1836 Miscellaneous collection of plans and engravings, including a plan of a house by John Rennie, 1819; designs of a maze, summerhouse etc for the garden of Aston Hall, 1836; drawing of Miss Floyd’s cottage, Sidmouth, n.d.; drawing of honeycomb wall at Chilham Castle, Kent, nd; plan of a large greenhouse, nd. (15 documents)

JWP W/3 [1816] Manuscript copy of Thomas Savery’s Navigation Improved, 1698 (dated by watermark). Probably copied by Mylne. (1 document)

JWP 3/46 1817, 1819 Table re rate of the Caledonian's passage from Rotterdam to Cologne, October 1817, with a list of deeds belonging to Mrs Watt’s mortgage, 1819. (2 documents)

JWP JW/13 1817-1818 Description of a German tour, probably Watt junior’s trip across the channel and down the Rhine by steamboat [not certainly identified]. (1 volume)

JWP 3/34 nd [c1820] Manuscript description in German of a collection of c200 Werner’s crystals. (1 document)

JWP 3/44 [1822], 1847 Extracts from the journal written by James Brown on board the ‘James Watt’, when towing the ‘Royal George’ yacht, [1822], enclosed with a letter of 1847. (1 volume)

JWP C4/C9 1823 Prospectus of Wye Steam Navigation Company. (1 document)

JWP G/11 1824 Fourth report from the Select Committee on artisans and machinery. (1 document)

JWP JW/5 1825 The century of inventions of the Marquis of Worcester, 1825 edition, with notes probably added by Robert Mylne. (1 volume)

JWP C4/C12-15 1825-1829 Drawings by William Creighton, William Hollins, William Bridgens and Thomas Rickman for the James Watt Memorial Chapel at St Mary’s Church, Handsworth. (4 rolls)

JWP C4/D24 nd [c1825] Designs for a cottage [in Aston Park?]. (6 documents)

JWP 3/51 nd [c1825] Manuscript short history of the steam engine, probably written by James Watt junior. (1 document)

JWP 3/24 1826 Deed of agreement of the Dublin and London Steam Marine Company, with a list of stockholders, [printed in Dublin]. (44 pages)

JWP 3/26 nd [c1825] Memoir of James Watt by James Watt junior and Francis Jefferey from the supplement to the Encyclopaedia Britannica volume 6. (32 pages)

JWP C4/16-17 1827-1837 Architect’s drawings of the Greenock Library, with site plans etc (William Burn, archt.) (2 rolls)

REEL 43

JWP JW/4 1829 The Edinburgh Journal of Science, no 19, with a ‘Biographical Account of Alexander Wilson, late Professor of Practical Astronomy in Glasgow’, (pp1-17), also ‘Account of the Steam Engines in Cornwall’ by W J Henwood (pp 34-49) and ‘On the Duty of Steam Engines in Cornwall’ by John Taylor Esq F R S “To The Editors of the Philosophical Magazine and Annals”, (pp 425-431) (1 volume)

JWP 4/79 1829 Miscellaneous papers concerning steam navigation, including a ‘Short History of Steam Navigation written at the request of Capt Basil Hall’. (1 bundle)

JWP C4/D34 1830 Engraving of a Braithwaite and Ericson locomotive. (1 document)

JWP 4/75 nd [c1830] List of employees of Boulton & Watt, with notes on the nature of their employment, their salaries, and the circumstances of their deaths or their leaving the company’s employment, covering the years 1808-1830, with a history of the steam engine, nd, and draft letters to William Adam about piracies. (4 documents)

JWP 3/33 1831-1836 Papers concerning the General Steam Navigation Company, including two printed Acts and an alphabetical lists of the Directors, 1836. (1 bundle)

JWP 3/55 1834 Reports by eminent engineers on the improvement of the river Clyde from 1752 to 1834, Glasgow, 1834. (1 document)

JWP G/4 nd [c1834-1838] 1st proofs of M Arago’s Eloge historique de James Watt, with corrections and additions by James Watt junior. (1 bundle)

JWP G/3 nd [c1834-1838] 2nd proofs of M Arago’s Eloge historique de James Watt, incorporating many of the corrections from the first proofs. (1 bundle)

JWP C4/D26 1835-1837 Architectural plans and elevations for Heathfield House, including designs for lodge, 1835, summer house, 1836 and garden house, 1836. (7 documents)

JWP C4/D19 c1835-1837 Plans and drawings of Greenock Library (Edward Blore, architect) (1 parcel)

JWP G/19 1837 Notes on Arago’s memoir of James Watt and additional memoranda. (15 pages)

JWP G/16 (1837) Abstract of the dates relative to the origin and progress of steam navigation, 1837, with details of vessels, tonnage, steam power etc supplied by Boulton & Watt (watermark 1847). (1 document)

JWP 3/72 1839, 1846 Obituary and register, compiled by James Watt junior, noting the deaths of employees, family and friends and other memoranda; “William Creighton found frozen in the road, 22 January 1815; therm. at 9°”; “Zaccheus Walker died at Soho, April 1822”; “J. Furnell Tuffin died October 1820”; “William Creighton died February 1831 in his 52nd year”, with a letter from Agnes Gibson, 1846. (1 volume)

JWP G/5 1839 Published version of M Arago’s Eloge historique de James Watt, Paris 1839; uncut. (1 volume)

JWP G/17-18 1839 Reviews of Arago’s Eloge from Glasgow Herald, 4 October 1839 and Glasgow Constitution, 11 December 1839. (2 documents)

REEL 44
JWP JW/3 1840 The Edinburgh Review, no 70, with an article on the life of Thomas Telford, without annotations. (1 volume)

JWP 3/25 [1845] Extract from Henry Brougham’s Lives of Men of Letters and Science, 1845 (pp 337-448 with information on Black, Watt, Priestley, Cavendish and Davy) (1 document)

JWP 4/56 1845 Report by Messrs Hart of Glasgow of a conversation with James Watt in 1817, in which he recollected the early days of the steam condenser, with a related letter from James Watt junior, 1845. (Printed in James Watt and the Steam Revolution) (1 document)

JWP 3/48 nd [post-1848] Short memorandums of the different firms under which Mr Boulton and Mr Watt and there sons have carried on business, 1775-1830, post-1848. (1 document)

JWP 3/61 nd Plan of a house (unidentified). (1 document)

JWP 3/62 nd Unidentified drawing. (1 document)

JWP 3/70 nd Packet of small printed labels endorsed ‘Stamps to prevent forgery’. (1 bundle)

JWP C4/C1-3 nd Handwritten extracts from James Watt’s correspondence with Dr William Small and Dr John Roebuck, with a single sheet noting the dates of letters addressed to Watt at Kinneil. (3 documents)

JWP C4/C8 nd Handwritten ‘Essay on improvements in the art of bleaching’ with pencil note on the title page ‘by James Rennie, A M’. (1 volume)

William Hamper’s Collections for the Parish of Aston

William Hamper’s collections relating to the parish of Aston came into James Watt junior’s possession in the 1830s; correspondence about their acquisition is in the Muirhead papers at Birmingham Central Library (also published by Adam Matthew Publications). The papers were arranged by Hamper or his executors in a series of parcels, numbered bundles 1-13; (C4/F1-14, C5/15 and C5/24, below, have lost their wrappings but were apparently bundles 1,4, and 9 respectively).

JWP C4/F1-14 c1740-1829 ‘Some account of the parish of Aston...being Dugdale’s History ...with considerable additions and illustrations by William Hamper, 1821’, with a large quantity of supporting material. Loose papers include ten estate plans reduced by Hamper from original surveys by Tomlinson c1760 and others, including a survey of Water Orton, 1831; drawings of funerary monuments by Hamper and J Clarendon Smith; plans of Kilcup Charity Estates (two plans by John Snape, 1806, 1807) and Billinglsley estate, nd; plans of proposed arrangement for new Deritend chapel, c1740 (apparently showing relationship to previous church); engravings of Holy Trinity, Bordesley, nd [c1820]; drawings of Ward End Chapel and Water Orton Bridge; pew certificate for Aston church, 1790; engravings of Sheriff’s map of Birmingham, 1792 and sale plan of land at Duddeston, 1829. (1 volume, 1 bundle)

REEL 45
JWP C5/16 nd [early 19th century] Three printing plates, depicting Ward End church, a portrait of Mary Bond d.1611 aged 97, and two seals. [bundle 2] (3 documents)

JWP C5/17 nd [early 19th century] Wood blocks of facsimile autographs of people connected with the parish of Aston. [bundle 3] (16 documents)

JWP C5/15 1367-1828 Portfolio marked ‘Aston Manor (& general memoranda about Aston parish)’, containing Hamper’s collection and working notes. Includes letters from Lord Weymouth to Sir Charles Holte, 1701; innkeeper’s bill to Edward Cotton, 1727; inventory of Elizabeth Holte, 1647; particulars of the lordship of Aston, 1680; numerous notes, apparently by Hamper, concerning charities, the Golden Cross inn, incumbents of the parish since 1254, gravestones and monumental inscriptions, extracts from the parish records, wills, register of death from smallpox since 1784, list of local dialect words; folder of notes about Aston Hall, including an inventory of pictures and arms, 1815, a genealogy of the Holte family from 1321 and notes on the family history by Sir William Dugdale; five deeds, including one of 1369, and letter from Thomas Holte, 1637, with enclosure. (1 portfolio)

JWP C5/18 1345-c1830 Portfolio marked ‘Deritend and Bordesley’ containing similar material to C5/15, above, for the hamlets of Deritend and Bordesley, including Hamper's notes, various private Acts of Parliament, estimates for repairs to Deritend Chapel, 1792 and Deritend Bridge, 1789, with a coloured plan of the bridge, trust deed and plan of Billingsley Charity Estate, deeds 1345-1684, and sale posters for land, 19th century, [bundle 5]. (1 portfolio)

REEL 46
JWP C5/19 1411-c1830 Portfolio marked ‘Duddeston, Nechells, Saltley and Little Bromwich’, containing similar material to C5/15, above, for those hamlets, including Hamper’s notes, deeds, 1411-1418 etc, [bundle 6]. (1 portfolio)

JWP C5/20 early 19th century Portfolio marked ‘Castle Bromwich and Water Orton’ containing similar material to C5/15, above, for those hamlets, including Hamper’s notes, [bundle 7]. (1 portfolio)
JWP C5/21 [?15th century-c1830] Portfolio marked ‘Erdington (including Pipe) and Witton’ containing similar material to C5/15, above for those hamlets, including Hamper’s notes, pedigree of Bagot family of Pipe Hall, and two early deeds, [bundle 8]. (1 portfolio)

JWP C5/24 c1200-14th century Box of medieval deeds with seals (some quite fine), mostly relating to Erdington, [not numbered but apparently bundle 9]. (1 box)

JWP C5/22 15th-17th century Bundle of old deeds of Aston and Birmingham, [bundle 10]. (1 bundle)
JWP C5/23 14th-18th century Box of ancient seals relating to Aston etc, including one of Sir William Bagot, 1393/94, [bundle 11]. (8 seals)

REEL 47
JWP C5/26 [?16th century] Copies of title deeds to property in Aston, [bundle 12] (3 rolls)
JWP C5/25 1447-1590 Deeds of Duddeston, 1468-81; Bordesley, 1447/8; Birmingham and Duddeston, 1589/90; Saltley, 1470/71; Nechells, 1540/1; Birmingham and Bordesley, 1507/8, 1511; Duddeston and Handsworth, 1531/2, [bundle 13]. (10 documents)

Gregory Watt, (1777-1804) Personal correspondence

JWP 6/14 1792-1801 Letters from his parents. James Watt writes with Soho news and Mrs Watt with domestic news and news of friends. (69 documents)

JWP C2/14 1796-1804 Letters from various correspondents, including William Creighton, John Southern, James Keir, Dr Headlam, A Albertini, Robert Muirhead, Gilbert Hamilton, Josiah Wedgwood jnr (about a figure Gregory had commissioned), Francis Jeffrey and Davies Giddy. (126 documents)

REEL 48

JWP C2/9 1797-1804 Letters from his brother, James Watt junior, about family business. (18 documents)

JWP 4/70 1798-1800 Letters from M Deriabin about minerals, including one long letter from St Petersburg and a list of minerals. (10 documents)

JWP C2/11A 1798-1803 Letters to, but mainly from, Gregory Watt. (10 documents)

JWP 6/10 1801-1804 Letters from William Creighton about lead mines, geology, architecture, a tour in Scotland etc, with sketches and drawings in the text. Includes sketch plan and section of the black lead mine at Old Cumnock, and tables of geological strata. (27 documents)

JWP 3/17 1802-1804 Press-copy letter book of Gregory Watt, including private letters to R Hamilton of Stoke and Mr Jackson of Ayr, not indexed. (1 volume)

JWP 6/22 1803-1804 Letters from Gregory Watt to William Creighton, mostly concerning mineralogy. (15 documents)

JWP 6/5 1804 Letters from various correspondents, including Thomas Campbell and John Young, and correspondence with Francis Jeffrey. Also includes Gregory Watt’s Observations on basalt and the transition from the vitreous to the stony texture, London 1804. (1 folder)

Miscellaneous papers

JWP 6/1 (1775)-1802 Commonplace book, mostly dating to 1801-02, including notes on Rome, extracts from printed sources etc; only 20 pages filled. The volume is uniform with JWP 6/2 (please see Reel 50), Gregory’s notes on mineralogy, and although not certainly identified as being his, appear to be so. (1 volume)

JWP C4/D33 1790-1840s Numerous drawings, designs, exercise books, maps, some signed Gregory Watt, J[essie] Watt, J Miller, A Miller, J Watt Gibson Watt, including some drawings of busts by Gregory Watt, drawings of churches signed J Watt, and numerous fabric designs and drawings of trees. (1 bundle)

JWP C4/18A nd [c1793] Exercise book. (1 volume)

JWP 6/7 1793 Manuscript copies of poems by various authors, including Thomas Campbell, Tooke’s seditious songs, and G Steevens etc; also Fillan and Oscar, nd, [printed]. (1 bundle)

JWP C1/34 nd [c1793] Drawing by Gregory Watt. (1 document)

JWP JW/7 1794-1795 Folder containing a diary, October 1794-July 1795 and miscellaneous papers including a printed catalogue of minerals. (9 documents)

REEL 49

JWP 6/3 1794-1795 Translation of the first book of Homer’s Iliad and Society Speeches, by Gregory Watt. (1 volume)

JWP 6/13 1794-1795 Commonplace book of poems presented to Gregory Watt by Thomas Campbell, 1794; with a translation by Gregory Watt of the Choephorae of Aeschylus, 1795. (2 volumes)

JWP 6/60 1777, nd [c1795] Choephorae of Aeschylus, Glasgow, 1777; with manuscript translation by Gregory Watt. (1 volume)

JWP 6/6 1795-1801 Poems by Gregory Watt on various subjects. (1 envelope)

JWP 6/4 1796 School essays on a variety of subjects. (2 volumes)

JWP 6/8 1797 Fragment of a novel by Gregory Watt in imitation of Sterne, Castle of Otranto and Sir Bertrand; a rough draft (104 pp), never corrected or completed. (1 volume)

JWP 6/9 1797 Translation of Bürger’s ‘The Parson’s Daughter’ by Gregory Watt. (1 document)

JWP 6/15 1797-1801 Folder containing receipts and accounts. The folder is formed from the cover of an old volume, with a few pages of accounts not cut out, undated but post-1795; these include several payments of interest, eg “for dinner at Lunar meeting” etc and one loose account dated 1797 also refers to expenditure at a Lunar Society meeting. (60 documents)

REEL 50

JWP 6/58 1797-1804 Three printed books: Walter and William, an historical ballad, London, 1797, signed by William Withering jnr; a presentation copy of T Campbell, The pleasures of hope, Edinburgh, 1799, with many pencil markings; and a presentation copy of Professor Young’s Martial effusions of ancient times addressed to the Spartan Hosts, London, 1804. (3 volumes)

JWP C4/C11 1798-1802 G Wad (ed.), Tabulae Synopticae Systematis Oryctognostici Werneriani with a lengthy manuscript ‘Mineral sistem’, 1802, in the handwriting of Gregory Watt. (1 volume)

JWP 6/16 nd [c1798-1800] A bundle of loose papers labelled ‘Mineralogical and Metallurgical’, including accounts of furnaces etc. (22 documents)

JWP C2/8 1798-1802 Accounts of ‘mineralogical expenses’. (1 volume)

JWP 6/2 1799-1804 Notes on mineralogy, including observations on minerals in water etc. (1 volume)

JWP C2/24 1800 Packet containing Rules and Orders, List and request for money from the Linnean Society of London. (1 bundle)

JWP 6/12 1800-1801 Leather folder containing two maps of Scotland by Gregory Watt, a poem by Thomas Campbell, and school poems by Gregory Watt, apparently returned, by William Withering jnr, after Gregory’s death. (1 folder)

JWP C2/13 1801 Packet containing lettre d’indication, plan of the Exchange, notes and letters of credit of Hammersleys & Co. for Gregory Watt’s European travels. (1 bundle)

JWP C2/16-23, & C2/25 1801 Introductory letters for Gregory for his European tour, from Lord Hawkesbury, Mr Hatchett, Dr Headlam, Mr T Musgrave, M Miollis, M Leveque and the French Commission to England among others. (9 bundles)

JWP C2/26 1801 Licence to go to France. (1 document)

JWP C2/1 1801 Memoranda of travels in Germany, Switzerland and France, with a few sketches. (1 volume)

JWP C2/6 1801-1802 Mineralogical remarks on a journey from Hamburg to Basle and from Verona through Tyrol, Bohemia, Saxony and the Hartz to Holland (about 40 pp, small quarto). (1 folder)

JWP 6/40 1801-1804 Miscellaneous accounts, 1801-1802, with four letter from Gregory Watt to his brother, James Watt junior about coal beds, mines etc, and (in June 1804) his desire to give up business. (1 bundle)

REEL 51

JWP C2/11B 1802 Papers relative to his tour of 1802. (1 bundle)

JWP C2/2 1802 Memoranda of Travels in France and Italy, with a few sketches. (1 volume)

JWP C2/7 nd [c1802] Printed Geological map of Italy. (1 document)

JWP C2/3 1802 Memoranda of travels in Italy, Germany and Holland, with a few sketches. (1 volume)

JWP 6/57 1802-1804 Passports of Gregory Watt. (1 bundle)

JWP 6/39 1803 Bundle of miscellaneous accounts. (1 bundle)

JWP C2/4 1803 Memoranda of travels in Scotland, with a few sketches. (1 volume)

JWP C2/5 1803-1804 Memoranda of travels in Scotland, with a few sketches. (1 volume)

JWP C2/27 1803-1804 Small bundle of accounts. (1 bundle)

JWP 6/11 1803-1804 Mineralogical, metallurgical and geological papers by Gregory Watt, including a draft paper on basalt and a sketch of mineralogy in Cornwall, prepared for William Withering jnr. (24 documents)

JWP 6/49 1804 Rolled bundle of miscellaneous geological papers. (13 documents)

JWP C4/C10 1804 Gregory Watt, Observations on basalt... (1 document)

JWP 6/56 1804 Bundle of epitaphs on Gregory Watt, with related letters. (1 bundle)

JWP C2/28 1804 Biographical memoir of Gregory Watt, 1777-1804. (1 document)

JWP 3/68 1870 Inventory of books, manuscripts, and prints used by Patrick Muirhead for writing works on James Watt and Gregory Watt. (1 document)

JWP 3/73 nd Red pocket book, Gregory Watt’s ( casing only). (1 document)

JWP 6/59 nd [ante-1804] Manuscript tables re minerals. (1 folder)

JWP 6/66 nd [ante-1804] List of mineral specimens for Dr Thomson. (1 document)

JWP C4/D32 nd Engraving of a basaltic quarry, Rowley [Regis] (Staffs). (1 document)

JWP C4/D35 nd Large volume with heraldic inscriptions. (1 volume)

Additions to the Collection Papers of James Watt and James Watt junior

JWP C7/1 1780-1784 James Watt’s Ink Book. Ivory pocket book marked in Watt’s hand ‘Ink Book 1780’. About 25 pages filled, all concerning chemical constituents for a suitable ink for Watt’s copying process, mainly Watt’s detailed descriptions for a series of experiments with different inks, numbered 9 to 31 and dated between 4-26 November 1780, but with further work to 1784. The book contains a further 8 small loose pieces of copy paper with writing, these are either samples of copying with different inks dated, or other formulae for ink. (1 volume)

JWP C7/2 1817 Pocket book of James Watt junior, including notes on the Caledonia. (1 volume)

JWP C7/3 1796-1808 Bill of costs, A & J Weston to Boulton & Watt. A detailed 157 page Bill, covering much of patent litigation totalling nearly £7,000. (1 document)

JWP C7/4 1809-1818 Large roll containing 23 engineering drawings, mostly engineering working drawings for manufacture of lathes, pantograph etc, extensively annotated by James Watt with instructions. The drawings are in generally good condition allowing for some workshop use. (1 roll)

JWP C7/5 1805-1816 Bundle in a cover entitled ‘Letters & rough sketches &c No 1 to 35’. Includes instructions by Watt for manufacture of a lathe like Mr Murdoch’s, but with stated variations; Drawing of lathe spindle of Mr Murdoch’s lathe, with comment (not by Watt) on errors; Letter from Watt to Murdoch concerning improved design for spring for endless screw, including sketch; Details by Watt of work on a bust of Cicero and calculations and instructions by Watt headed ‘Weighing Machines February 6 1805’. (1 bundle)

REEL 52

JWP C7/6 1812-1816 Bundle with cover endorsed ‘Miscellaneous Sketches of Tools & Machinery No 1 to 30’. Includes pencil sketch of frames, with a note by Watt “This seems more steady than ye other”; ink drawings of machine parts with notes indication that they were drawn from drawings by Watt; and working drawing of ‘Leading Screws for Heathfield Machine, April 1813’ annotated by Watt, with a note “NB not having the other drawings before me the perpendicular heights are laid down by estimations”. (1 bundle)

JWP C7/7 c1761-c1817 Large bundle entitled ‘Old papers, drawings &c’. Miscellaneous papers that are not numbered or marked individually, and it seems clear that this is odds and ends which the sorter could not find a place for elsewhere: nevertheless some of the material is interesting. (1 bundle)

JWP C7/8 c1794 Standard form printed leases granted by James Watt to various tenants. (19 documents)

JWP C7/9 1836-1844 Memoranda by James Watt junior of ‘books lent to him by Mr Mylne’ in 1839 and returned in 1844, together with a copy of Walker’s report of the Clyde Navigation, annotated ‘11 February 1836’. (2 documents)

JWP C7/10 1865 Newscutting from Illustrated London News, describing Heathfield and Handsworth. (1 document)

Papers of John Watt senior, Uncle of James Watt

JWP C7/11 1728 Survey papers and plans marked ‘Lands of Inchinnan, 1728 John Watt’. (1 roll)

JWP C7/12 1733 Survey papers and plans marked ‘Barrowfield papers (scale given), Kennyhill papers (same scale) January 1733 Jno Watt’. (1 roll)

JWP C7/13 nd Survey papers and plans marked ‘Kenny Hill grounds, Jno Watt’. (1 roll)

JWP C7/14 nd Survey papers and plans marked ‘White Inch, Jno Watt. (1 roll)

JWP C7/15 nd Survey papers and plans marked ‘Auchtifardle’s proof, &c &c, Jno Watt’. (1 roll)

JWP C7/16 nd Survey papers and plans untitled marked ‘? South West from Paslay, Jno Watt’ (1 roll)

JWP C7/17 nd Survey notebook, cover missing, part full of notes of distances etc. (1 volume)

JWP C7/18 c1728-c1730 Large bundle of papers containing sub-bundles of different named surveys and various other papers. (c24 documents)

REEL 53

Further Papers of James Watt senior

JWP C7/19-20 1735-1745 North Carolina Papers: masters and merchant accounts, invoices, bills of lading, masters’ commissions, bills of exchange, correspondence from Watt’s shipmasters or his factors in Carolina or agents in Boston etc, apparently continuous. (2 of 3 bundles)

REEL 54

JWP C7/21 1746-1753 North Carolina Papers: masters and merchant accounts, invoices, bills of lading, masters’ commissions, bills of exchange, correspondence from Watt’s shipmasters or his factors in Carolina or agents in Boston etc, apparently continuous. (3rd of 3 bundles)

JWP C7/22 1747-1764 Anderson Papers: A bundle, similar to the North Carolina Papers above, marked ‘George Anderson & Snow Manie's 1747-1764’, concerning the building by Watt and Anderson of the snow ‘Menie’ in 1747-8, its voyages and sale, and working out of partnership accounts. (72 documents)

REEL 55
JWP C7/22 cont 1747-1764 Anderson Papers: A bundle, similar to the North Carolina Papers above, marked ‘George Anderson & Snow Manie's 1747-1764’, concerning the building by Watt and Anderson of the snow ‘Menie’ in 1747-8, its voyages and sale, and working out of partnership accounts. (71 documents)

Finlay & Calion Papers: The following are all bundles of accounts, invoices, bills of lading, charterparties, commissions, bills, correspondence from foreign agents in Boston, Barbados, Gibraltar, Cadiz, Madeira, Cork, Isle of Man &c and correspondence to Watt from his partners Robert Finlay, Walter Maxwell and David Calion concerning partnership trading between 1748-1754 and the subsequent working of their affairs.

JWP C7/23 1747 Finlay & Calion Papers. (1 bundle)

JWP C7/24 1748 Finlay & Calion Papers. (1 bundle)

REEL 56

JWP C7/25 1749 Finlay & Calion Papers, no 1. (1 bundle)

JWP C7/26 1749 Finlay & Calion Papers, no 2. (1 bundle)

REEL 57
JWP C7/27 1750 Finlay & Calion Papers, no 1. (1 bundle)

JWP C7/28 1750 Finlay & Calion Papers, no 2. (1 bundle)

REEL 58
JWP C7/29 1751 Finlay & Calion Papers, no 1. (1 bundle)

JWP C7/30 1751 Finlay & Calion Papers, no 2. (1 bundle)

REEL 59
JWP C7/31 1752 Finlay & Calion Papers. (1 bundle)

JWP C7/32 1753 Finlay & Calion Papers. (87 documents)

REEL 60

JWP C7/32 cont 1753 Finlay & Calion Papers. (29 documents)

JWP C7/33 1754 Finlay & Calion Papers. (1 bundle)

JWP C7/34 1755-74 Finlay & Calion Papers. (1 bundle)

REEL 61
JWP C7/35 1762-1764 Finlay & Calion Papers; ‘Robt Donaldsons Affair’. (1 bundle)

Pocket Account books of James Watt senior: Greenock and Glasgow Business books usually accounts or receipts but sometimes including orders, notes of distances etc.

JWP C7/36 1725-1727 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/37 1729-1732 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/38 1733-1736 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/39 1735-1737 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/40 1737-1741 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/41 1741-1743 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)

REEL 62
JWP C7/42 1743-1746 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/43 1746-1747 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/44 1747-1748 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/45 1748-1749 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)

JWP C7/46 1748-1752 Pocket Account book. Entries for 1775 title ‘A piece of a day book’. (1 volume)

JWP C7/47 1749 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)

JWP C7/48 1749-1751 Pocket Account book, with a note on the back “Non of Youngs Jame’s days in this book”. (1 volume)

JWP C7/49 1751-1752 Pocket Account book, with a similar note. (1 volume)
JWP C7/50 1752-1753 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/51 1753-1754 Pocket Account book, with a similar note. (1 volume)
JWP C7/52 1754-1755 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/53 1756-1758 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)

REEL 63
JWP C7/54 1758 Pocket Account book, cover lost. (1 volume)
JWP C7/55 1759-1760 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/56 1760-1762 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/57 1762-1764 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/58 1764-1765 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/59 1765-1766 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/60 1766 Pocket Account book, Salt Accounts. (1 volume)
JWP C7/61 1766-1769 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/62 1773-1774 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/63 1774-1775 Pocket Account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/64 1704-1710 Pocket debt receipt book, part full. (1 volume)

JWP C7/65 nd Thin book, pages mostly torn out, ‘This book has belonged to Tho Watt of Crawfordshire’, a page of debts from son James and 2 pages of calculations. (1 volume)

JWP C7/66 nd Mathematical Texts, inside title ‘Practical Megethometry, Longimetry’. (1 volume)

JWP C7/67 nd Pocketbook mostly in Latin, inside title ‘Annotationes’. (1 volume)

REEL 64
JWP C7/68 1747-1749 Ledger. (136 folios)
JWP C7/69 1754-1757 Ledger. (110 folios)
JWP C7/70 1767-1770 Ledger. (144 folios)
JWP C7/71 1771-1774 Ledger. (133 folios)
JWP C7/72 1772-1776 Ledger. (67 folios)

REEL 65
JWP C7/73 1737-1739 Daybook. (1 volume)
JWP C7/74 1744-1746 Daybook. (1 volume)
JWP C7/75 1765 Daybook. (1 volume)
JWP C7/76 1765-1766 Daybook. (1 volume)
JWP C7/77 1765-1774 Ledger. (1 volume)

JWP C7/78 nd Two account books (one inside the other) of business with the Town of Greenock. (2 volumes)

JWP C7/79 1742-1745 Narrow ledger: North Carolina account book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/80 [1767] Lists of ships and boats debts and small debts ??? (1 volume)
JWP C7/81 1749-1756 Small debts book. (1 volume)
JWP C7/82 1754 ‘Primrose Dalrymple his Astronomy Book’, a text book about ¼ full of model exercises in astronomy etc. (1 volume)

<back