| Description | Letters and Papers.
Under this heading will be found variou private letters and papers of James Watt and Matthew Boulton. There are indentures for two of Watt’s employees from his scientific instrument business in Glasgow in 1761, a small number of his private letters from John Robison and John Enslie which pre-date his partnership with
Boulton, and two significant bundles of scientific correspondence, one with Jean de Luc, and the other relating to dephlogisticated air. There are also copies of the printed pamphlet of 1796 describing his pneumatic apparatus for the treatment of tuberculosis, and also a small bundle of sketches and drawings of the apparatus.
There are fewer papers relating to Matthew Boulton. There is a small bundle of correspondence relating to his Soho businesses, such as plated ware and Argand lamps, from 1783 to 1784. These appear to have strayed into the engine firm’s records from Boulton’s general correspondence. The only other item is a paper containing remarks on silver.
There are two other significant items. ‘The Soho Volunteers Letter, ‘ a letter from one Lieutenant-General Grinfield thanking the Soho Volunteer Corps for their services in 1798 was displayed in The Watt Room at Soho Foundry. The other item is one of the last letters that James Watt’s son Gregory wrote before he died of tuberculosis in 1804. It is to his friend William Withering Jr., and Withering Jr. has added a note to the sheet about Gregory’s death.
Papers and Sketches by William Creighton.
William Creighton was one of Boulton & Watt’s senior employees. He joined the firm around 1792 as an apprentice, became an engine erector, and then joined the Drawing Office. He became head of the Drawing Office in 1815 on the death of John Southern. Creighton had wide-ranging interests including geology, cartography and architecture. He was a close of friend of Watt’s son Gregory, and he assisted Gregory with his geological studies. These few items include an essay by Creighton on the mineralogy of Cornwall, his observations on maps of Scotland and Ireland, and one of his scrapbooks which includes some architectural sketches.
Birmingham General Hospital.
Matthew Boulton, James Watt and their sons Matthew Robinson Boulton, James Watt Jr. and Gregory Watt, and Boulton Watt & Co. as a firm were subscribers to the General Hospital, and sick or injured Soho employees were often treated there. This small amount of printed material includes four annual reports from 1801 to 1805 which include a list of subscribers and an engraving of the hospital, four blank patient certificates, and an engraving of John Ash, the founder of and first physician to the hospital.
Birmingham Dispensary.
Matthew Boulton, his son Matthew Robinson Boulton, his daugher Ann Boulton and Watt’s sons James Jr. and Gregory were subscribers to the Birmingham Dispensary. Boulton also sat on the committee of governors. There are three printed annual reports and lists of subcribers dating from 1803 to 1806.
Miscellaneous Items.
Under this heading will be found various items including printed letters about the Church & King riots of 1791; an abstract of title to the Dadney estate in Herefordshire, which belonged to Matthew Boulton’s nephew George Mynd; a printed order of service from Matthew Boulton’s funeral which was displayed in The Watt Room at Soho Foundry; the keys to James Pearson’s counting house at Soho Manufactory, and James Watt’s tomb at Handsworth Church; and a printed pamphlet describing local health boards and their officers, which probably dates from the 1850s. |
| AdminHistory | The records listed here are documents that do not relate to the engineering business of Boulton & Watt and their successor firms, but that were collected by the firm and added to their own records. These include various private and scientific correspondence of James Watt, some dating from before he went into business with Matthew Boulton. There are also papers on Watt’s pneumatic apparatus, some letters relating to Matthew Boulton’s other businesses at Soho, a few of the head of the Drawing Office William Creighton’s papers, printed material relating to the Birmingham General Hospital and the Birmingham Dispensary, and miscellaneous items such as the printed newspaper supplements relating to the Church & King riots of 1791.
For more information on the people and businesses mentioned in this Introduction, see The Guide to Persons & Firms in the Archives Searchroom. |