INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
Series One: The Boulton & Watt Archive and the Matthew Boulton Papers from the Birmingham Central Library
Part 1: Lunar Society Correspondence
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
Between 1760 and 1830 the economic and social character of England, Scotland
and Wales was completely transformed by the Industrial Revolution. A society of
farmers, merchants and market towns was replaced by a thriving urban and
industrial economy on the path to a premier place in the modern industrial
world.
This project provides essential source material for business and economic
historians. It also details the tremendous scientific and technological advances
of the period. It promises to be the most significant publication for economic
historians since the Goldsmith's Kress Collection as it will enable them to
examine the foundation, organisation and growth of one of the industrial
revolution's pre-eminent businesses, in contrast to Adam Smith's pin
factory.
What was the Industrial Revolution? Was it the watershed in economic history
that it has so often been made out to be? How important was innovation and
scientific advance in the process? How important was entrepreneurship?
Industrial Revolution: A Documentary History seeks to provide the basic
source materials with which scholars and students can examine these questions
and challenge previous assumptions. This project begins with:
Series One: The Boulton and Watt Archive and Matthew Boulton Papers
from the Birmingham Central Library.
At the core of the project are the papers of Matthew Boulton
(1728-1809) and James Watt (1736-1819), two of the most important figures
of this period. James Watt is justly famous as a pioneer of steam power and his
steam engine become known as 'the work-horse of the Industrial Revolution'.
He was also involved in canal construction as a surveyor and his father was a
builder, contractor, instrument-maker, ship owner and merchant. Before he moved
to Birmingham his circle of friends and peers included Joseph Black (who
described latent heat) and Adam Smith. Mathew Boulton was a capitalist
entrepreneur whose fortune was largely based on the silver-stamping and piercing
business of his father. He founded the Soho works in Birmingham in 1762 and
became a leading manufacturer of fancy goods and a major figure in coining and
minting. His lifelong interest in science (he was a friend of
Benjamin Franklin and founded the influential Lunar Society in 1764)
enabled him to see the potential of James Watt's steam power and he backed
Watt's ideas with his finance.
Given that steam power had such a wide range of applications (in agriculture,
coal mining, cotton manufacture, distilleries, the iron industry, copper, tin
and lead mines, shi'.ing, snuff and tobacco manufacture, spinning, starch
companies, steam railways and the woollen industry to name but a few) the
Boulton and Watt archives provide a good opportunity to examine not only a
particular case study of one of the period's most important companies, but
also to gain an overview of the transformation of the overall economy.
The papers are more than just business records. Part 1 offers the
correspondence of Matthew Boulton with members of the Lunar Society and a host
of other influential figures who were on the fringe of The Lunar Society. Part
2 covers Notebooks and Papers of James Watt and family from Muirhead I. Part
3 brings together Engineering Drawings of Watt Engines of the Sun and Planet
Type for the period c.1775-1802. Part 4 features further Matthew
Boulton Correspondence and Papers (Albion Mill through to documentation on Steam
Engines, boxes arranged alphabetically). Part 5 will cover a further
collection of Engineering Drawings for the period c.1775-1800.
Part 1: Lunar Society Correspondence
Part 1 concentrates on the correspondence of Matthew Boulton with members
of the Lunar Society. The calibre of members was extremely high. Its founders
were William Small of Virginia (one of Thomas Jeffersons' most
influential teachers, sent to see Boulton with a letter of introduction from
Benjamin Franklin), Erasmus Darwin (the poet and physician who
anticipated his grandson's evolutionary ideas in his verse) and Matthew
Boulton.
The society took its name from the decision to hold monthly meetings on
Monday evenings closest to the full moon so that members could ride home by the
light of the moon.
William Small, Erasmus Darwin, Joseph Priestley (pioneering chemist and
nonconformist), James Watt (Boulton's partner for 25 years from 1775), Josiah
Wedgwood (founder of the great Wedgwood potteries), William Withering
(who introduced digitalis as a treatment for heart disorders), Thomas Day,
James Keir (a pioneer in the chemical and glass industries), Samuel
Galton, Robert Augustus Johnson, Richard Lovell Edgeworth and John Whitehurst
all figure prominently in the correspondence.
Also strongly featured in the correspondence are some very influential men
who were on the fringe of the Society. These include Benjamin Franklin (a
corresponding member) and John Roebuck (who founded the first sulphuric
acid factory with Samuel Garbett), Sir Joseph Banks, Thomas Beddoes, John
Fothergill (leading Midland Industrialist). This was truly a talking shop
where words and ideas were translated into actions, new inventions and
industries. The scope of the society's activities embraces social, political,
economic, scientific and technological problem-solving, so we can also witness
discussions of the social impact of the Industrial Revolution and general views
of the revolutionary climate of the late eighteenth century.
This microform edition offers great research potential for the study of
innovation and scientific advance. It features the thoughts and deliberations of
some of the leading scientific minds of the late eighteenth century. This
project provides fundamental documentary evidence for new research into the
substance and impact of the Industrial Revolution. The Lunar Society was at the
heart of scientific and technological problem solving from 1765 onwards.
In the words of Roger E Schofield in The Lunar Society of
Birmingham (Oxford 1963) the Lunar Society was '. a brilliant
microcosm of that scattered community of provincial manufacturers and
professional men who found England a rural society with an agricultural economy
and left it urban and industrial.'
Letters include Dr William Small's assessment of Mr Richard Lovell
Edgeworth, August 12, 1768 in a letter to James Watt:
'Mr [R L] Edgeworth is a gentleman of fortune, young and mechanical and
indefatigable. He is not acquainted with Heatly [Joseph Hately] but had taken a
resolution of moving land and water carriages by steam, and has made
considerable progress for the short space of time he has employed himself in
that study. He knows nothing of your peculiar improvements, but seems to be on a
fair way of knowing whatever can be known on such subjects . Get your patent
and come to Birmingham with as much time to spare there as you can.'
and Boulton's reply to Josiah Wedgwood's letter of enquiry about the
requirements of a particular engine, dated November 11, 1792:
M Boulton [Soho, Birmingham] - J Wedgwood [Etruria] 3pp. 4to. Autograph
draft, endorsed 'My answer and letter to J Wedgwood Nov 11th, 1792 about
Engine and repayment of his money.'
'I am not possessed of any calculations respecting an Engine of 15 horses
but I can speak accurately as to the cost of 16 horse and 32 horse power
Engines. A 16 horse £696, a 32 horse £1260. For two Engines you must have two
men to work them and the trifling repairs will cost twice as much. I cannot
recommend the application of Engines to the raising of water to be applied to a
Water Wheel because there will be a loss of nearly 50% of the power, moreover
there is the expense of the Pumps. The Cornish gentlemen have
got a little twilight on the merits of Hornblower's Engine and have discovered
that a bushel of coal produces only half the effect it does on one of our
Engines, therefore the fury of some gentlemen is a little abated.'
Also typical is the note from Erasmus Darwin to Matthew Boulton 1873. March
4th. Derby - M Boulton, Soho, Birmingham.
'We have established an infant philosophical Society at Derby, but do not
presume to compare it to your well-known gigantic philosophers at Birmingham'.
He goes on to say the he has spoken repeatedly of Boulton and Watt's Engine
to Arkwright's friends. He also begs to be remembered 'to all The Insane
at your next [Lunar] meeting'.
Then there are Boulton's approaches to try to get Dr James Keir to come to
work for him at Soho.
Endorsed on the Wrapper: 'Mr Keir's Remarks on Partnership supposed abt
1775.' 1p. 4to.
'1. The proposal of 1/4 of the general profits of Boulton & Fothergill
is impracticable, because of the large paper debt [Bill Account] included in the
General Accounts, which, contracted in former years ought not to make part of
the present trade.
2. The Business consists of three branches, (a) Merchants at Newhall (b)
Manufacturers at Soho (c) The Fire Engine. The above objection is inseparable
from (a), but does not affect (c). If (b) was separated from (a) it might be
cleared of this objection.
3. The manufacture has been carried on for many years past with great loss. The
mercantile business is said to have gained. The buildings, stock of tools &c
are much too great for the business done, and it is not advisable to extend it
because the capital is wanted elsewhere. Therefore the profits cannot be
considerable. For this reason it ought to be considered whether J.K. ought not
to be admitted to some small portion of the profits arising from the Fire
Engine; the profits not to be reckoned until after the expenses originally
incurred by the Engine have been re-imbursed.'
1777 Jan 16, Stourbridge - M B, Soho, Birmingham. 4pp. 4to. With enclosure,
3pp. 4to.
'I have written another letter to you [see enclosure] by this post with
intention of showing it, if you approve, to Mr. F[othergill] in order to get him
to declare his sentiments. it would be proper to give him the outlines of our
late conversation on the footing which we thought I had best be on, or begin on.
To save you the trouble of recollecting, I will repeat them - 'that as your
manufactory requires more attention, then you or any one man can give and even
as part of your present attention may be withdrawn from the Manufactory to the
Fire Engine business, you think it prudent to call in more assistance. That,
besides, as the whole weight of the manufacturing part of the business rests on
you, at present, therefore a possible accident happening to you would derange
the whole system to the detriment of your family and also his property, you
think it necessary to give it some further support or security, . that he
should suffer no diminuation of his profits. . That if I come, I intend to
carry on my chemical work'.'
1777, Stourbridge - M B, Soho Birmingham. 4pp. folio (incomplete)
'In answer to the questions contained in your letter, I have the honour to
acquaint you (1). That as soon as our Glass-making Partnership expires, which
will be on Jan 1st, 1778, I mean to quit that trade. (2) No plan of business
appears to me as eligible as that you mention of joining interests with you, and
of assisting you in the chemical or other part of your business. (3) I wish to
attach myself to you, in as undivided a manner as you shall think expedient. (4)
I will accept any charge you shall think fit to entrust me with, in case I
should survive you. (5) As to conditions and emoluments, my confidence in you is
so entire, that I shall distrust my own judgement, if it happens to differ from
yours.'
1778, Soho - M B, Redruth, Cornwall. 4pp. 4 to.
'I have received Mr Watt's letter ordering a gigantic Engine for Poldice
mine. Playfair had copied the drawing and sent the original to Bersham with
orders to give preference to this Engine over all others. I know not, neither
does Playfair, the use of the Gunboreings sent to Mr Meason. Please to say in
your next and I will write to him. I have received a letter from Mr
Baumgartner in which he says Mr Wiss is to write tomorrow and accepts of the
proposal and means to purchase four of your one hundred pounds (annuities).'
Also, another useful example is the following extract from Dr John Roebuck
writing to Matthew Boulton, July 22, 1760:
'You will no doubt have expected before this time to have received some
account from me of the state of our Colliery. The fact is that I have been so
thoroughly engaged in the business of the Iron Works and the Colliery that I
have not had leisure to write. At present we get about 300 tons of Coal weekly
from one Pit and 100 tons from another. I examined the whole Colliery with Mr
Gibbons and have with his advice fixed on a Plan for extending the Colliery so
as to be able to raise 100,000 tons annually, and for this purpose we are now
sinking four Pits. By these Pits we shall command a field of Coal 7 ft thick and
3000 yds extent one way, and 500 yds from the Dip to the Rise. The Pits are near
the sea and the Coals are carried to the Pier-head by a Waggon Way, 1000 yds
long. The Salt Pans are advantageously situated as we sell a very considerable
quantity of land at a high price. I make no doubt your tenth Share will amount
to so much as what I hinted: but if not acceptable to you, I should be glad to
know because my brother Oates at Leeds has solicited me to part with a share to
him.'
A final two examples came from James Watt's correspondence to Matthew
Boulton. The first is from Watt's letter of October 20th, 1768 from Glasgow to
M Boulton at Soho, Birmingham (3pp. folio):
'I got safe home on Wednesday last week. When you were so kind as to express a
desire to be concerned in my fire engine I was sorry I could not immediately
make you an offer. I had involved myself in a considerable debt before I had
brought the theory of the fire engine to its present state. Dr Roebuck agreed to
take my debts upon him. I made over to him two thirds of the property of the
Invention: the debts and expenses are now about £1200. It gave me great joy
when you seemed to think favourably of our scheme as to wish to engage in it.'
The second comes from James Watt's letter to Dr William Small, again from
Glasgow, dated January 28, 1769. (3pp. folio)
'I wrote you last Sunday with a copy of the intended Specification which I
hope you have read. I have not heard from Boulton yet: I fancy it will be best
to defer the bargaining till the Doctor and I be in England. I have been trying
experiments on the Reciprocating Engine. I have improved the Condenser. I have
contrived a most excellent method of measuring distances by means of a
telescope. [Sketch]. Our pottery is doing tolerably. I have tried no chemical
experiments this winter. What new things is Mr Boulton doing and what are you
contriving? How is Capt Keir employed?'
This project provides an opportunity for a fresh look at the substance and
impact of the Industrial Revolution and suggests the potential of much fruitful
interdisciplinary work between economic historians, mechanical engineers and
historians of science.
Given that each part has a clear theme and unity, libraries can acquire the
project part by part confident that each one has clear research and teaching
potential.
Each part is accompanied by a paperback guide with full contents of reels,
background information such as data on prominent individuals, detailed listings,
chronologies and other relevant bibliographic details.
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