INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY

Series Two: Papers of John Rennie (1761-1821), Thomas Telford (1757-1834) and Related Figures from the National Library of Scotland

Part 1: Papers of James Watt, Joseph Black, Thomas Telford and John Rennie

Part 2: Papers of John Rennie, Thomas Telford and Robert Stevenson

Introduction to the Rennie Papers

NLS MSS. 19771-19965 comprise the Rennie Papers. These have all been filmed in Parts 1 & 2 of this collection (with the exception of MSS. 19955-61 which are miscellaneous family papers relating to other family members).

The following introduction is taken from the Catalogue to the Manuscripts at the National Library of Scotland.

John Rennie (1761-1821) was one of the distinguished group of Scottish engineers whose work contributed so much to the industrial and commercial development of the United kingdom in the early 19th century. With the exception of roads, in which he appears not to have been interested, and steam engines, which he promised Watt not to build – though he frequently constructed the accompanying machinery - there was very little in the field of engineering that lay outside the range of his activities.

This exceptional diversity is reflected in this collection of his papers, which covers his entire working life from his first visit to England in 1748 to his death. The papers are from his own office, and consist principally of incoming letters from clients, site engineers, contractors, suppliers, and tradesmen, draft reports and estimates, letter books, and notebooks. The collection is especially rich for the last fifteen years of his life, and for his major works, though the notebooks give a clear and consistent view of his activities throughout the 1790s. Apart from the projects with which Rennie alone was involved, he frequently collaborated with, or was consulted by colleagues, and his papers are thus an important source of information about Robert Stevenson, Thomas Telford, the Watts, the Boultons, the Jessops, and may other engineering contempories.

The papers complement those in the library of the Institute of Civil engineers which has many of his reports, and the majority of his letter books, and in the archives of the British Transport Commission which contains many of the papers relating to his canal projects.

This collection was used to some extent by Samuel Smiles in his article on Rennie in Lives of the Engineers, 1861, Vol. 2, pp. 94-284, and extensively by C.T.G.Boucher in John Rennie 1761-1821,Manchester, 1963, and by Wallace Reyburn in Bridge Across the Atlantic, 1972.

The papers are arranged by undertaking rather than chronologically, thus preserving to some extent Rennie’s office arrangement. They are large folio and under unless otherwise stated.

The collection was purchased in 1970.

Brief overview of the Rennie Papers

19771-777 BRIDGES
19778-785 CANALS
19786-787 FEN DRAINAGE
19788-805 HARBOURS
19806 LIGHTS
19807-816 MILLS
19817-823 OVERSEAS OPERATIONS
19824 BOULTON AND WATT CORRESPONDENCE
19825-826 STEAM ENGINES AND SMALLER WORKS
19827-830 GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE
19831-929 NOTEBOOKS
19930-935 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS
19936-937 LETTER BOOKS
19958-965 RENNIE FAMILY PAPERS

There is also a long sequence of detailed letters written by Jon Rennie in the period from 1784 to 1820 in the Boulton & Watt Archive at Birmingham Central Library. This has been microfilmed by us on 6 reels and can be found in Industrial Revolution Series One, Part 13. Please see our website for further details: http://www.ampltd.co.uk

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