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

Notes on Individuals

ACCUM, Freidrich (aka Frederick) Christian (1769-1838). Chemist; scientific lecturer at Surrey Institute, 1803; advocated introduction of gas street-lighting; director of London Gaslight & Coke Co, 1810; went to Berlin, 1822; wrote several scientific works.

ARAGO, W. French writer, who compiled an Eloge historique de James Watt, delivered as a lecture in 1834 and published in 1838 after consultation with James Watt junior.

ARGAND, Aimé. A Swiss physician and scientist, inventor of a significant improvement in the oil lamp, which he introduced first in France, but brought to England in 1783 and patented, 1784; Boulton, Watt, Darwin and Robison all assisted him with designs and improvements, but the patent was successfully challenged, 1786 and Argand returned to France remaining in friendly contact with Boulton and Watt on a range of scientific matters.

ARKWRIGHT, Sir Richard (1732-92). Engineer; apprenticed to a barber and set himself up in that trade in Bolton before 1755; turned his attention to mechanical inventions c1767; invented and erected a spinning mill near Hockley, 1769; went into partnership with the stocking manufacturers at Cromford (Derbys), 1771; patented improvements in yarn manufacture, 1775; his repeated complaints about the infringements of his patents were defeated by a combination of rival manufacturers in the courts, 1785; built mills in Derbyshire and Lancashire; introduced Boulton & Watt engine into mill at Nottingham, 1790; kt 1786; high sheriff of Derbyshire, 1787.

BEDDOES, Dr Thomas (1760-1808). Physician, MD, Pembroke College, Oxford; studied medicine at London and Edinburgh; reader in chemistry at Oxford, 1788-92; succeeded in establishing at Clifton, Bristol a 'Pneumatic Institute' for the treatment of disease by inhalation of gases, 1798; married Anna, daughter of R.L. Edgeworth and sister of Maria Edgeworth; wrote and edited several medical and other works.

BEECHEY, Sir William (1753-1839). Painter, first exhibited 1775; ARA; portrait painter to Queen Charlotte; kt and RA, 1793; painted portraits of James Watt and Matthew Boulton.

BERTHOLLET, Claude-Louis (1748-1822). French chemist; graduate of Turin in medicine; settled in Paris, 1772; private physician to due de Orleans; member of Academy of Sciences, 1780; adherent of Lavoisierian school of chemistry; investigated composition of ammonia, sulpuretted hydrogen and prussic acid; proposed use of chlorine as a bleaching agent, 1785; served on various scientific commissions for the Revolutionary government; published a treatise on dyeing, 1794; taught in the polytechnics and ecoles normales of Pairs, 1794; accompanied Napoleon to Egypt, there being one of the scientists founding the Institute of Egypt; senator and grand officer of Legion d'Honneur; under the empire he became a count, and on the restoration of the Bourbons took his seat as a peer.

BLACK, Dr Joseph (1728-99). Chemist; studied medicine at Glasgow and Edinburgh, where he graduated MD with an important thesis, 1754; professor of medicine, Glasgow, 1756-66; practised as a physician; made investigations into the question of 'latent heat' which formed the basis of modern thermal science and gave the first impulse to Watt's improvements to the steam engine, 1756-62; experimented with the object of testing thermometrical indications, and originated theory of 'specific heat', 1760; professor of medicine and chemistry, Edinburgh, 1766-97. He was first physician to George for Scotland and a member of the Royal Society, Edinburgh, and the Royal College of Physicians.

BOULTON, Matthew (1726-1809). Entrepreneur and engineer; established Soho Manufactory, Birmingham, for large-scale production of small metalwork items, 1762; entered partnership with Watt for commercial development and production of steam engine, 1773; diversified business interests into fine art silverware and ormolu, coins and medals, production of minting machinery; made coins for Great Britain and other countries; supplied new Mint with machinery, 1805; FRS; member of the Lunar Society.

BRAMAH, Joseph (1748-1814). Inventor, worked as a cabinet maker in London; invented Bramah locks; patented the Bramah hydraulic press, 1795.

BRIDGENS, Richard H. Pupil of the sculptor and modeller George Bullock; attempted to establish himself in architectural practice in Birmingham; James Watt jnr employed him extensively to design furniture for Aston Hall, but before 1825 lack of work obliged him to leave the city.

BUCHANAN, Robertson (1770-1816). Civil engineer and millwright of Glasgow; published treatises on machinery.

BULLOCK, George (d. 1818). Sculptor and modeller of Liverpool, exhibiting statues and furniture 1804-16; worked for James Watt junior at Heathfield Hall.

CAMERON, ROBERT. Employee of Boulton and Watt at Soho for some years. Patented a steam engine in 1784 on his own account, and two years later a method of raising coal and ores from mines; in partnership with Humphrey Jeffreys for a few years; bankrupted in 1792 and confined to a debtors prison.

CAMPBELL, Thomas (1777-1844). Poet; son of a ruined Glasgow merchant; at Glasgow University, 1791-96 with Gregory Watt; settled in Edinburgh as law clerk and published the Pleasures of Hope, 1799; travelled in Germany and Denmark, 1800-01; pensioned by the Crown, 1805; resided in or near London as a man of letters, 1804-44; edited the New Monthly Magazine, 1820-30; lord rector of Glasgow University, 1826-29; visited Algiers, 1835; died at Boulogne, 1844.

CATHCART, Charles (9th Baron Cathcart) (121-76). Soldier; entered army when very young; succeeded t barony, 1740; lieutenant-colonel 1745; protégé of Duke of Cumberland; hostage in Paris, 1748; lieutenant-general, 1760; envoy to Russia, 1768-71; pioneer of canal building in Scotland, 1771-76; commander of forces in Scotland.

CAVALLO, Tiberius (1749-1809). Scientist; born in Naples; settled in England before 1775; FRS 1779; investigated electrical and chemical phenomena; invented electrical apparatus; wrote on electricity and magnetism; interested in ballooning.

CHANTREY, Sir Francis Legatt (1781-1841). Sculptor; son of a carpenter near Sheffield; apprenticed to a Sheffield wood-carver, 1797-1802; learnt drawing, carving and oil painting; lived chiefly in London after 1802 painting portraits, studying art and practising carving; exhibited at RA from 1804; FRS 1818; kt in 1835; executed memorial bust of James Watt; bequeathed his property to RA.

CHAPMAN, William (1749-1832). Engineer; constructed canals in Ireland and docks in England and Scotland; wrote on canal navigation and the Corn Laws.

CLAGGET, Charles (?1740-?1820). Musician and instrument-maker. Probably lived in Glasgow early in the 1760s. In the orchestra at the Dublin theatre, c1766; came to London, 1766; patented musical inventions, 1776 and 1788; visited by Haydn, 1792; published pamphlets.

CLEGHORN, George (1716-89). Physician, educated at Edinburgh; army surgeon in Minorca, 1736-49; MD; published observations on diseases epidemic in Minorca, 1751; lecturer and professor of anatomy in Dublin, 1751-89.

COPELAND, Professor Patrick. Professor of Natural Philosophy at Marischal College, Aberdeen; shared interest of Watt in bleaching technology.

CORT, Henry (1740-1800). Ironmaster; navy agent in London, 1765-75; developed process for purifying iron by 'puddling' at Fareham (Hants), patented 1783-84; ruined by prosecution of his partner for embezzlement of navy funds, 1789; pensioned, 1794.

CRAIG, Jonathan (d. 1765). Watt's partner in a mathematical instrument making business from 1759 until his death. He seems to have taken no part in the manufacturing side of the business, but to have kept the books and advanced the greater part of the capital.

CRAIG, William (Lord Craig) (1745-1813). Scottish judge; educated at Edinburgh; advocate, 1768; sheriff-depute of Ayrshire, 1787; a lord of session, 1792-1813; contributed to the Mirror and Lounger.

CREASER, Thomas (fl. 1798). Friend of Dr Thomas Beddoes; practised medicine in Bath.

CREIGHTON, William and Henry. Brothers employed by Boulton & Watt as engine erectors and agents. William was for some years based at Soho and became a friend of Gregory.

CRELL, Lorenz. Distinguished German scientist, whom James Watt junior engaged in correspondence on behalf of the Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society.

CROMPTON, Samuel (1753-1827). Inventor of the spinning mule; induced by the imperfections of Hargreaves' spinning jenny to invent a substitute, 1779; gave it to the public, but received no pecuniary advantage; granted £5,000 by the House of Commons, 1812.

CUMMING, Alexander (1733-1814). Mathematician and mechanic; FRS; wrote largely on the mechanical laws and the action of wheels.

DALE, David (1739-1806). Industrialist and philanthropist. Fixed on New Lanark as a site for the erection of cotton-mills in conjunction with Arkwright; partner in cotton-mills at Catrine; established the first Turkey-red dying works in Scotland, 1785; imported at his own risk foodstuffs for the poor in times of dearth.

DALRYMPLE, Sir John (1726-1810). Scottish judge, educated at Edinburgh and Trinity Hall, Cambridge; advocated at the Scottish bar, 1748; Exchequer baron, 1776-1807; discovered the art of making soap from herrings; published historical works.

DARWIN, Dr Erasmus (1731-1802). Physician; Exeter scholar, St John's College, Cambridge; MB 1755; corresponded with Rousseau; established a dispensary at Lichfield and was an early member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham; formed botanical garden near Lichfield, 1778. Later moved to Radbourne Hall, Derbys, and founded the Derby Philosophical Society, 1784; declined invitation of George III to become his physician; published The Loves of the Plants, 1789; The Economy of Vegetation, 1791; both forming parts of his poetic work, The Botanic Garden, and wrote the Temple of Nature, or the origin of society, 1803; he was also the author of a few prose works, maintaining a form of evolution that was subsequently expounded by Lamarck. Grandfather of Charles Darwin, and father of Dr Robert Waring Darwin of Shrewsbury.

DAVY, Sir Humphrey (1778-1829). Scientist; educated at Penzance and Truro; admitted to Jesus College, Cambridge, 1804; superintendent of the laboratory at Beddoes' 'Pneumatic Institution' in Bristol, 1798-99; published on respiration of nitrous oxide, 1799; nearly died attempting to breathe carburetted hydrogen gas, 1800; lectured on galvanism and pneumatic chemistry at Royal Institution, 1801; chemistry professor, RI, 1802; FRS 1803; Copley medallist of Royal Society 1805; demonstrated the elementary existence of potassium, sodium and chlorine by the agency of the galvanic battery, 1807; discovered composition of oxymuriatic acid, 1807; Napoleon Prize of Institut de France; Hon LLD, Dublin, 1811; Kt 1812; experimented in Italy on composition of ancient pigments and combustion of diamond, 1812-13; invented safety lamp 1815; Bt 1818; PRS, 1820; invented unsuccessful system of protectors for preserving copper bottoms of ships, 1823; died at Geneva, 1829.

DE BOFFE, Mr. A dealer in French and German books on science, the Annales Chimique etc. based in Gerard St, Soho, London.

DE LUC, Jean André (1727-1817). Geologist and meteorologist; native of Geneva; settled in England, 1773; reader to Queen Charlotte; FRS; honorary professor of geology at Gottingen, 1798; published various works in England and French. Friend of Aimé an Gregory.

DE LESSERT, M. Banker in France to Boulton & Watt; ruined by the Revolution.

DUGDALE, Sir William (1605-86). Garter king-of-arms; employed by Sir Simon Archer to collect material for a history of Warwickshire, published in 1656; edited many historical texts; kt 1677.

DUNLOP, John (1755-1820). Song-writer; lord provost of Glasgow 1796; collector of customs at Bo'ness and subsequently at Port Glasgow.

EDGEWORTH, Richard Lovell (1744-1817). Author; led to invent a plan for telegraphing by a desire to know the result of a race at Newmarket; silver medallist of the Society of Arts for a new land-measuring machine, 1768; interested in road and carriage improvement; member of Lunar Society of Birmingham; friend of Darwin, Day and Keir; visited Rousseau and settled at Lyons, 1771; FRS, 1781; settled on estates in Ireland, 1762; aide-de-camp to Lord Charlemont, 1783; raised a corps against the rebels at Edgeworthstown, 1798 and sat in the last Irish parliament; served on a board of inquiry into Irish education, 1806-11; four times married; published on educational and mechanical subjects; his daughter, Anna, married Dr Beddoes.

EWART, Peter (1767-1842). Engineer and millwright. Pupil of John Rennie and later an employee of Boulton & Watt. Established himself in Manchester in 1790s as an engineer and later cotton manufacturer; interested in theoretical mechanics; friend of John Dalton and Thomas Henry; member of Manchester Lit. & Phil. Society, 1798; vice-president, 1812-35.

FRY, Joseph (1728-87). Practised medicine in Bristol and afterwards made cocoa and chocolate; with William Pine began type-founding, 1864, and moved to London; brought out Bible in 5 volumes, 1774-76, and specimens of printing types which he declared to be indistinguishable from the founts of William Caslon, 1785.

FULTON, Robert. American scientist and pioneer of steam navigation.

GALTON, Samuel, junior (1753-1832). Educated Worcester and Warrington Academy, arriving while Priestley was teaching there; Quaker merchant and gunsmith of Birmingham (partner with his father from 1777); regular attender at scientific lectures in Birmingham; collected scientific instruments; began chemical experiments in 1770s and built a laboratory at his house, 1782-83; member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, 1781-1803; wrote a paper for Royal Society on prismatic colours, 1782; also interested in ornithology and compiled a book about birds for the use of his children; FRS 1785; chairman, Lancashire School in Birmingham; active in canal-promotion in 1770s-80s; patron of the Society for Promoting the Cultivation of Fine Arts in Birmingham; member of the Lichfield Agricultural Society.

GARBETT, Samuel. Industrialist; partner with Roebuck in the vitriol works at Birmingham and Prestonpans and in the Carron Company; a leading figure in the Birmingham chamber of manufacturers, and concerned with Boulton and Wedgwood in attempts to found a national chamber.

GARNETT, Thomas (1766-1802). Physician and scientist. MD, Edinburgh 1788; practised at Bradford, Knaresborough and Harrogate; analysed the Harrogate spa waters; professor of natural philosophy at Anderson's Institution, Glasgow; professor of natural philosophy and chemistry at the Royal Institution, London, 1799-1801; anticipated modern theory of quasi-intelligence in plants, published A Highland Tour¸1800, and Zoonomia, 1804.

GIDDY (later GILBERT), Davies (1787-1839). President of the Royal Society; educated Penzance and Oxford; MA 1789; DCL 1832; high sheriff of Cornwall, 1792-93; MP Helston, 1804; Bodmin, 1806-32; promoted cause of science and art in Parliament; acquired large property in Sussex 1808; FSA 1820; early encouraged Sir Humphrey Davy; treasurer of Royal Society, 1820; president 1827-30; selected Brunel's design for Clifton Bridge, 1830; published Parochial History of Cornwall, 1838.

GUYOT, A (d. 1794). Of Passy, France. A friend of De Lessert, Boulton & Watt's French banker; employed as a tutor in Edinburgh and on the Continent, and resumed this employment after the Revolution; died at Edinburgh.

HAMILTON, Gilbert. Of Glasgow; brother-in-law of James Watt; involved with Watt and McGrigor in chlorine bleaching experiments, c1780.

HAMPER, William (1776-1831). Antiquary; FSA 1821; contributor to Gentleman's Magazine; assisted John Britton and other topographical writers, published a Life, Diary and Correspondence of Sir William Dugdale, 1827.

HENDERSON, Logan. Lieutenant in the army; employed by Boulton and Watt from 1776-82 as engine erector etc. in north-east and Cornwall; left the company after incurring the dislike and suspicion of Watt.

HENRY, Thomas (1734-1816). Chemist; practised as a surgeon-apothecary in Manchester; secretary, Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, 1781 and president 1807; patented process for preparing and Leiden; MD, Leiden, 1749; studied agriculture and travelled to Holland, Belgium and Picardy; partner with James Davie in production of sal ammoniac from coal soot; settled in Edinburgh, 1768; published Theory of the Earth, 1795 and other works; originator of modern theory of formation of the earth's crust.

IRVINE, William (1743-87). Chemist; MD, Glasgow; assisted Joseph Black in experiments on steam; lecturer in chemistry a Glasgow, 1770-87; his Essays, chiefly on Chemical Subjects, published 1805.

JEFFREY, Francis (Lord Jeffrey) (1773-1850). Scottish judge and critic; educated Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities; admitted to Scots bar, 1794; an ardent Whig; involved in foundation of the Edinburgh Review, of which he was editor, 1803-29; visited New York, 1813; active in British politics, 1821-26; dean of Faculty of Advocates, 1829; lord advocate, 1830-34; MP for Malton, 1831-32 and Edinburgh, 1832-; judge of Court of Session, 1834-50; friend of Scott, Wordsworth, Dickens and Macaulay.

KEIR, James (1735-1820). Chemist; studied at Edinburgh; friend of Erasmus Darwin and member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham; issued Treatise on the different kinds of Elastic Fluids or Gases, 1777; while managing Boulton & Watt's engineering works, patented a metal said to resemble 'Muntz-metzl', 1779; with Alexander Blair opened alkali works at Tipton, the method of extraction being Keir's discovery, 1780; established Tividale Colliery; discovered the distinction between carbonic-acid gas and atmospheric air; FRS 1785; contributed paper concerning experiments and observations on the dissolution of metals in acids, 1790; wrote memoirs of Boulton and Thomas Day. Was also involved in glass manufacture in 1770s.

KNOX, John (1720-90). Scottish philanthropist. Bookseller in London; improved the fisheries and manufactures of Scotland, 1764-90; published works on Scottish fisheries.

LIND, James (1736-1812). Physician. MD, Edinburgh, 1768; fellow of the Edinburgh College of Physicians, 1770; made a voyage to Iceland, 1772; FRS 1777; settled at Windsor and became physician in the royal household; interested in astronomy and science; had a private press at which he printed mysterious little books and Sir Robert Douglas' Genealogies of the families of Lind and the Montgomeries of Smithson. Not to be confused with Dr James Lind (1716-94), surgeon in the navy, who discovered lemon-juice to be a specific for scurvy at sea.

LINDRIANI, Chevalier Marsiglio. Of Vienna, physicist.

LISTER, Pochin. Attorney to Sir Richard Arkwright in the litigation to protect his patents.

McGRIGOR, James. James Watt's father-in-law by his second marriage; a bleacher in business near Glasgow. Watt corresponded with him on the new chlorine bleaching process and other matters.

MAGELLAN, Jean Hyacinthe de (1723-90). Scientific investigator; descendant of the Portugese navigator who discovered the Magellan Straits in 1520; probably born at Talavera; Augustinian monk; abandoned monastic life for scientific research, 1763; reached England, 1764; FRS 1774; published work on English reflecting instruments, 1775; engaged in perfecting the construction of scientific instruments and publishing descriptions of them until his death.

MARR, Captain & Mrs. Captain Marr was a naval officer, and son of Watt's old schoolmaster; his wife was a cousin-german of James Watt. Travelled to London with Watt in 1755. Captain Marr's papers, 1759-87 are in Birmingham Archives (B&W M II/11/1-38).

MARTIN, Benjamin (1704-82). Mathematician, instrument maker and general compiler; schoolmaster and travelling lecturer; published Philosophical Grammar, 1738 and Bibliotheca Technologica, 1737; invented and made optical and scientific instruments; settled in London, 1740; published An English Dictionary, 1849, and Martin's Magazine, 1755-64, and some not very original works; became bankrupt and hastened his death by attempted suicide.

MATTHEWS, William (d. 1792). Matthew Boulton's London banker and agent.

MUIRHEAD, Robert. Cousin of James Watt 1736-1819.

MURDOCK, William (1754-1839). Engineer and inventor of coal-gas lighting; employee of Boulton & Watt, mainly in Cornwall, from 1777-1800; responsible for some of the crucial improvements to the steam engine introduced by Boulton & Watt, e.g. the sun and planet motion; commenced making experiments on gas lighting, 1792; lit the Soho Foundry experimentally from 1800 and regularly from 1803; Rumford gold medallist of Royal Society, 1808; patent for making of stone pipes, 1810.

PEARSON, Richard (1765-1836). Physician, MD Edinburgh, 1786; physician to the General Hospital, Birmingham, 1792-1801; wrote a number of medical treatises.

PENTLAND, Joseph Barclay (1797-1873). Traveller; educated at Armagh and Paris University; surveyed a large part of the Bolivian Andes, 1826-27 and explored other South American districts.

PERCIVAL, Dr Thomas (1740-1804). Physician and author; educated at the Warrington Academy; leading figure in the Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society; practised medicine in Manchester, and published Medical Ethics, 1803; FRS.

PLAYFAIR, Professor John (1748-1819). Mathematician and geologist. Graduate of St Andrews, 1765; minister of Liff and Benvie, 1773-83; joint professor of mathematics at Edinburgh, 1785-1805; professor of natural philosophy, 1805; FRS, 1807; published Elements of Geometry, 1795 and Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth, 1802.

PLAYFAIR, William (1759-1823). Publicist; brother of Professor John Playfair; apprenticed to Andrew Meikle; took out several patents, and opened a shop in London for their sale; removed to Paris, not being successful, but (c1793) after taking part in French Revolution returned to London where he wrote against it; earned a precarious livelihood by pamphlets and translations in London; wrote over forty works.

POTT, Joseph Holden (1758-1847). Archdeacon of London; son of Percival Pott, surgeon; educated Eton, St John's Coll, Cambridge; MA 1783; archdeacon of St Albans, 1789-1813, of London, 1813-42; chancellor of Exeter, 1826; wrote works in prose and verse.

PRIESTLEY, Joseph (1733-1804). Theologian and scientist; son of a Yorkshire cloth-dresser; adopted by his aunt, a strong Calvinist; educated in Yorkshire and at Daventry Academy (1751); Presbyterian minister of Needham Market, 1755-58; minister at Nantwich, 1758 and tutor in languages and literature at Warrington Academy, 1761; hon LLD, Edinburgh, 1764; FRS 1766; minister of Mill Hill Chapel, Leeds, 1767; published A history of chemistry, 1767 and An essay on government, 1768; librarian and companion to Earl of Shelburne, 1772-80; published An examination of Scottish philosophy, 1774; associate of French Academy of Sciences, c1772; member, Imperial Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, 1780; junior minister of New Meeting, Birmingham, 1780; involved in religious controversy and publication, 1782-90; supported French Revolution, and was attacked by a mob at Birmingham, 14 July 1791, which wrecked his house and laboratory and burnt the New Meeting; moved to London, 1791, and to Pennsylvania, 1794. In 1774 he obtained for the first time what he called 'dephlogisticated air', named oxygen by Lavoisier; a discovery which was the germ of the modern science of chemistry.

RENNIE, John (1761-1821). Civil engineer; younger brother of George Rennie, studied at Edinburgh University; entered employment of Boulton & Watt, 1784; began business on his own account, c1791; FRS 1798; had a great reputation as a constructor of canals, docks, harbours and bridges. Waterloo Bridge (1810-17), London Bridge and Southwark Bridge (1815-19) were designed by him, as well as the Plymouth Breakwater.

RICKMAN, Thomas (1776-1841). Architect, practised in Liverpool and Birmingham; first distinguished the stylistic development of medieval English architecture and invented the terms in use today; designed Watt memorial chapel at Handsworth church, 1826.

ROEBUCK, Dr John (1718-94). Inventor, studied chemistry and medicine at Edinburgh; MD Leiden, 1742; established a chemical laboratory at Birmingham; invented improved methods of refining precious metals and several improvements in processes for production of chemicals, including the manufacture of sulphuric acid; established manufactory of sulphuric acid at Prestonpans, 1749; formed Carron Company for manufacture of iron on river Carron, Stirlingshire, c1760 (later famous for the production of ordnance) and in 1762 patented a process for the manufacture of iron using pit coal; backed development of Watt's steam engine, 1765-73, but lost large sums of money owing to lack of success with coal mines and salt-works, leased at Bo'ness, where he was afterwards employed by his creditors as manager; sold interests in the Watt engine to Matthew Boulton 1773; member of Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh.

SCALE, John. Partner with Matthew Boulton in the Soho Manufactory from the dissolution of the partnership with John Fothergill in 1781.

SEWARD, Thomas (1708-90). Divine; educated at Westminster and St John's College, Cambridge; MA 1734; prebendary of Lichfield and Salisbury; resided at Lichfield, where he frequently entertained Dr Samuel Johnson; father of the authoress Anna Seward ('the Swan of Lichfield'); himself published religious and poetical writings.

SMEATHMAN, Henry (d. 1786). Promoter of a trading colony on the west coast of Africa, which would also be a place in which to resettle the growing number of black poor in London; the initial settlement made after his death was a failure, but a subsequent refoundation created Sierra Leone (see P. Fryer,Staying power: a history of black people in Britain, chapter 8).

SNAPE, John (fl. 1760-1810). Land-surveyor of Sutton Coldfield. Employed extensively in the West Midlands.

SOUTHERN, John (d. 1815). Originally engaged by Boulton & Watt as a draughtsman; manager of the Soho Foundry for Boulton & Watt with a share in the profits, 1800; partner, 1810.

STOKES, Jonathan (1755-1831). Born at Chesterfield; a protégé of William Withering; MD Edinburgh 1782; attended meetings of Royal Society in London as guest of John Hunter, 1780-81; interested in pneumatic chemistry, botany, and the classification of fossils and plants; toured Europe 1783 and established friendships with leading botanists; practised medicine at Shrewsbury and Kidderminster; fellow of Linnean Society; FSA Scot; member of Lunar Society; collaborated with Withering on his Botanical Arrangement, but fell out with him over money and the loan of some books.

STRUTT, William (1756-1830). Inventor; eldest son of Jedidiah Strutt; invented the Belper stove, 1806; involved in the heating of the Hunterian museum, Glasgow, 1808.

STELFORD, Thomas (1767-1834). Engineer, son of a Dumfries-shire shepherd; worked as a mason; became interested in literature and published poetry, 1779-84; went to London, 1782; became Surveyor of Public Works for Shropshire; engineer of Ellesmere Canal, 1793, in which capacity he built remarkable aqueducts, 1795-1805; inspected and improved the harbours of Scotland; constructed the Caledonian Canal (a financial failure) and opened up the northern counties of Scotland with 920 miles of new roads and 120 new bridges; constructed canals and roads in England and Gotha Canal, Denmark/Germany, 1808-10; first president of Institute of Civil Engineers; 1818; erected Menai Bridge, 1819; built bridges at Tewkesbury, Gloucester, Glasgow and on the Clyde; buried in Westminster Abbey. Animated by a great public spirit, a man of generous and social disposition, friend of Campbell and Southey; wrote autobiography (published 1838).

VAN LIENDER, J.D. Huichelbos. Of Rotterdam, ?secretary of the Batavian Society of Rotterdam.

WALKER, Zaccheus. A senior Boulton & Watt employee, described as 'our principal and Confidential Clerk' in 1779.

WARDEN, Hugh. A Dublin merchant.

WEDGWOOD, Josiah I (1730-95). Potter; worked as a thrower and later as a modeller from the age of nine; fond of trying experiments; partner in a small pot-works near Stoke, 1751; opened own works at Burslem, 1759; greatly improved ordinary wares, and developed high-quality specialist wares (Egyptian ware, Queen's ware etc); successfully advocated road and canal schemes in potteries district; appointed queen's potter, 1762; opened new pottery and model village at Etruria, 1769; FRS 1783; FSA 1786; published pamphlets; member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham; one of the leading promoters of a national Chamber of Manufacturers at the time of controversy over trade with Ireland, 1785.

WEDGWOOD, Josiah II (d. 1843). Potter; son of the more famous and able Josiah Wedgwood I, and brother of Thomas (Tom) Wedgwood, pioneer of photography; studied at Edinburgh; partner in the family firm of Wedgwood & Byerley, but until 1807 left management of business to cousin, Thomas Byerley; member of Bath & West of England Society for Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce; corresponded with Sir Joseph Banks on ceramic colourings; a Proprietor of the Royal Institution; first MP for Stoke-on-Trent, 1832.

WEDGWOOD, Thomas (1771-1805). The first photographer; younger son of Josiah Wedgwood I. Compelled through ill-health to abandon profession of potter; published researches on heat and light, 1791-92; patron of St Coleridge, 1796; invented process of obtaining copies of objects by action of light on paper sensitized by nitrate of soda, 1802.

WESTON, Ambrose. Solicitor to Boulton & Watt and acted for them in the patent disputes of the 1790s.

WHITBREAD, Samuel (d. 1796). One of the largest common brewers of London, and among the first and most prominent customers for Watt's rotative engines.

WILKINSON, William (1744/5-1808). Ironmaster, in partnership with John Wilkinson at Bersham, with whom he fell out, 1794; close friend of M.R. Boulton and James Watt jnr.

WILSON, Alexander (1714-86). Professor of Astronomy at Glasgow University; MA, St Andrews, 1733; worked as assistant to surgeon and apothecary in London, 1737-39; set up type-foundry at St Andrews, 1742; removed it to Camlachie nr Glasgow, 1744; first professor of practical astronomy at Glasgow, 1760-84; hon MD, St Andrews, 1763; original FRS, Edinburgh.

WILSON, Patrick. Succeeded his father, Dr Alexander Wilson, as professor of astronomy at Glasgow University, 1784.

WITHERING, William (1741-99). Physician, botanist and mineralogist. MD, Edinburgh, 1766; chief physician to Birmingham General Hospital, 1775; FRS 1785; published A botanical arrangement of all vegetables naturally growing in Great Britain, 1776 and other works, including an account of the foxglove, 1785, which he did much to introduce into the pharmacopoeia. His son, William Withering jnr studied medicine at Edinburgh from 1796-99 but did not complete his studies following his father's death, and devoted the intellectual energies of a gentlemanly life to editing successive editions of his father's works. He was a great friend of Gregory Watt.

WYATT, Samuel (1737-1807). Architect; elder brother of the more famous James Wyatt; born at Weeford (Staffs); worked extensively in the Midlands, developing a distinctive neo-classical style; built Heathfield Hall for James Watt and altered Soho House for Matthew Boulton, also built Albion Mill in London (Boulton's showpiece steam-powered corn mill).

WYKE, John (1729-87). Clock and tool maker, of Prescot (Lancs) and Liverpool. Invented a wheel-cutting engine and became well-known as a manufacturer not only of watches and clocks but also tools for this and other trades. He supplied Watt with tools from 1760 and later also Boulton & Watt (engine counters) and Josiah Wedgwood (tools and lathes).

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