| Description | Letters from Peter Ewart from 1793 to 1833. Peter Ewart had a long association with Boulton & Watt and Boulton Watt & Co. In the 1790s he acted as an agent and engineer for them in Manchester, in much the same way that John Rennie did in London. Ewart later pursued several business ventures in Manchester and Liverpool, mainly in textiles, for which he purchased several engines. He also continued to act as an unofficial agent, liaising with customers on Boulton Watt & Co.’s behalf and passing information to Soho about the state of various firms in the North West. He also had a keen interest in steam boats.
How Ewart’s correspondence was originally kept is unclear. Most of the letters were found in one large bundle, with a few others scattered throughout the collection. The letters are docketed in a variety of hands: The letters from 1790 to 1793 are docketed mainly by John Southern, with a few docketed by James Watt; from 1795 to 1821 the dockets are mainly by James Watt Jr.; the dockets from the 1820s and 1830s are mostly by William Creighton, with a few in other hands. Most of the letters were probably removed from general series of correspondence kept in the Drawing Office, but as most of those series are now missing, the letters have been arranged in one large bundle.
The letters are dated as follows:
Nos. 1-4. 1790
Nos. 5-30. 1791
Nos. 31-51. 1792
Nos. 52-53. 1793
No. 54. 1794
Nos. 55-60. 1795
Nos. 61-63. 1796
Nos. 64-66. 1797
No. 67. 1798
No. 68. 1800.
Nos. 69-70. 1801.
Nos. 71-77. 1802.
Nos. 78-79. 1803.
Nos. 80-83. 1809.
Nos. 84-90. 1810.
Nos. 91-98. 1811.
Nos. 99-100. 1812.
No. 101. 1815.
Nos. 102-109. 1817.
No. 110. 1819.
No. 111. 1821.
Nos. 112-113. 1822.
Nos. 114-119. 1824.
Nos. 120-128. 1825.
Nos. 129-132. 1826.
No. 133. 1828.
Nos. 134-138. 1829.
Nos. 139-146. 1830.
Nos. 147-148. 1831.
Nos. 149-151. 1832.
No. 152. 1833.
No. 153. Not dated. |