| Description | This file contains correspondence of both Matthew Boulton and Matthew Robinson Boulton. The contents were formerly in a portfolio entitled:
cC Jas. Watt Sr. Jas. Watt Jr. G. Watt From 1792 to 1807 inclusive
This is the title recorded in the Inventory compiled by the Assay Office in 1921, but unfortunately the portfolio was subsequently discarded. Under M. R. Boulton's scheme of arrangement the file was placed in Box K. i, though by 1921 it had been moved to Box L. ii. Note that, besides the persons named in the title, there are also several letters from Mrs. Ann Watt, and a copy of a letter to her.
The arrangement of the documents within the portfolio is uncertain, though it appears from the style of the dockets that the Letters and Copies of Matthew Boulton were originally separate from those of his son. Possibly that the Letters and Copies of the two men were intermingled when they were placed together in a single file, but for the sake of clarity they have now been arranged in four chronological sequences, as follows.
Letters to Matthew Boulton. (1-120)
Copies of Matthew Boulton. (121-127)
Letters to Matthew Robinson Boulton. (128-192)
Copies of Matthew Robinson Boulton. (193-203)
99 and 100 may have been transferred to this file from the French Mint file. 45 also seems a little out of place here. 196 has been transferred from Matthew Boulton's M. R. Boulton file, though it may possibly belong there. |