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

Publisher's Note

This second series offers material from two of the most important names of the Industrial Revolution, John Rennie (1761-1821) and Thomas Telford (1757-1834). Both were key figures in the development of the roads, bridges and canals that helped transform the British landscape throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The strength and depth of their talent and their enthusiasm for engineering is reflected in the wealth of papers that survive them.

Parts 1 & 2 are largely dedicated to the John Rennie papers. The youngest son of a respected farming family, John Rennie was born at Phantassie, East Lothian. Apprenticed to the agricultural engineer Andrew Meikle (inventor of the threshing machine) at the age of twelve, Rennie quickly mastered the methods and tools involved in designing machinery. He also benefited from attending Joseph Black's lectures on chemistry at Edinburgh University. From 1784 he pursued a career in engineering in England and was recommended to James Watt, who charged him with installing new steam-powered machinery at the Albion Flour Mill in Blackfriars, London. This led to further mill work and eventually larger scale engineering projects, such as the building of the London and East India Docks, the completion of the Kennet and Avon Canal, and the construction of the Southwark, Waterloo and London Bridges.

Rennie's prolific career as an engineer is evident in the numerous notebooks, plans and drawings offered in this collection. There are 192 volumes in total. These cover:

• Bridges: includes correspondence and reports on London, Waterloo, Vauxhall & Southwark
• Canals: including Aberdeen, Grand Junction and Grand Western
• Fens: papers on all drainage work in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire
• Harbours: includes plans for Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, and London docks
• Lights: consists largely of letters written by Robert Stevenson regarding the Bell Rock Lighthouse, of which he was site engineer
• Mills: including street plans, notes and calculations for the construction of the Albion Mill
• Overseas operations: details of sugar mills, harbours, waterworks, and other projects in locations such as the West Indies, Bombay, Cape Town and St Petersburg

This material offers a variety of information on different aspects of Rennie's projects - from technical data regarding quantities and types of materials to be used, to more general information about the practicalities of dealing with contractors and schedules.

In addition to the details on specific projects, these papers also contain key correspondence between Rennie and other leading industrialists of the time including James Watt, the Brunels, and other members of the Rennie family, notably his eldest son George, who followed his father into the engineering profession. The letters highlight how much these key figures shared information on a variety of topics, from materials and building methods to even providing references for individuals Rennie was considering taking into his employment. The following extract is one such letter to Rennie from James Watt:

“After 20 years that I have not seen Dudley Clerk, I cannot take upon myself to judge of his character or abilities, he was then young, perhaps 24 or 25, showed some ingenuity in mechanical matters and had abilities as a bookkeeper, it was in the latter capacity only he was employed by me. Though not entrusted with money himself he contrived to borrow it from the canal clerk, who was a silly rascal, and betwixt them I lost the money, as far as I remember. How far Clerk was blameable in this affair I really cannot take upon me to say, being only able to speak from a very confused remembrance. If you said from his knowledge or abilities it is expedient to employ him, you may easily prevent his having anything to do with money; but I would advise a brief enquiry in that point where he has been last. I always found him good humoured accurate and intelligent in what I had to do with him, and as I certainly wish him well, I beg this letter may be reserved for your own use only.” MS.19824, 2nd December 1794

The close working relationship between Rennie and Messrs Boulton and Watt is reflected in the large amount of correspondence between them in this collection. Covered here is correspondence between them for the years 1788, 1792, 1800, 1802, 1806 and 1808-21. As Rennie used Boulton and Watt engines in all his mill work, there are many exchanges between them both of a business and personal nature. These letters also include material from James Watt junior's trip up the Rhine in the steam ship Caledonia in 1817.

The second major figure represented is Thomas Telford, who transformed access to the Highlands of Scotland and much of Wales through a series of roads, canals and bridges. He is perhaps most famous for his work on the Caledonian Canal, 1802-1823, and for the revolutionary Menai Suspension Bridge, 1819-1826, but he also pioneered the structural use of cast iron, built over 1,000 miles of roads, and was responsible for the construction of many new harbours. His contribution to the integration of the United Kingdom, the connectivity of rural and urban regions, and the free flow of raw materials and manufactured was substantial.

Part 1 includes many letters from Telford and his diary for 1833, the year before he died. Part 2 features a further 10 manuscript volumes consisting of business correspondence, draft reports, accounts and details of his professional activities for the last ten years of his life. Telford's Scottish projects are a particular focus of this collection, including information on the Broomielaw Bridge in Glasgow, the Aire and Calder Canal and the Aberdeen Harbour. Also present are drafts and letters relating to the Life of Thomas Telford Civil Engineer, written by him and edited and published in 1838 by John Rickman, the statistician, whose family preserved this collection of papers.

Part 1 also features some important material pertaining to Joseph Black (1728-1799), Professor of Chemistry at Edinburgh University, who discovered Carbon Dioxide and whose work on latent heat inspired his pupil James Watt. The text of his lectures on the Elements of the Theory and Practice of Chymistry, delivered in 1767, and fifteen lectures on heat provide insights into his theories and teaching methods. Further material relating to James Watt (1736-1819) can be found in the album compiled by Allan Park Paton, librarian of Greenock, in Part 1. There are also letters from Sir Walter Scott, William Morris, George Meredith, Matthew Arnold and others. Part 2 includes two volumes concerning the activities of Robert Stevenson (1772-1850), famous for his work on lighthouses, and John McAdam (1756-1836), inventor of the macadam road surface.

This strong body of material enables scholars to examine a significant period in British industrial history from the records created by some of its main protagonists.

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