| AdminHistory | This list describes the history of Soho engine business’s London engine agency, and the overall arrangement of its surviving records in the Boulton & Watt collection. Detailed information about the different types of records will be found in the separate lists of each section or ‘sub-sub-fond.’ These records should technically be considered as part of the records of Boulton & Watt and Successor Firms (MS 3147/1-11), but given their size, and the increasing importance of the London office as the 19th century went on, they have been treated separately.
Early Schemes for a London Office
Early schemes for a presence in London included consideration of both office accomodation and premises for storing parts of engines. Matthew Boulton had recognised the need for a London office as early as 1788. On 1 February he wrote to James Watt ‘We shall always have an increasing business in London if it was attended to, and we, I am persuaded, should find great convenience in having at least an office or writing room established in Town. If I had had such a tranquil room I could have wrote more letters and done much more business than I have done.’
In the late 1790s demand for small engines began to grow, particularly in London. Richard Dayus (For more information on the people and businesses mentioned in this Introduction, see The Guide to Persons & Firms), Boulton & Watt’s London agent and principal engine erector for the South, was at Soho in December 1798 and had some discussion ‘upon the subject of establishing a depot for small engines and castings’ with Matthew Robinson Boulton. Boulton reported this discussion to James Watt Jr. on 30 December. On 12 February 1799 he wrote
‘It appears to have escaped your memory that I had the pleasure some time ago of communicating both to yourself and father my sentiments upon the necessity of establishing a shop or warehouse in Town for the purpose of keeping a stock of our small engines and the current engine castings, and when Dayus returned he was directed to consult with you upon the choice of a proper situation and more especially to examine a premise which G. Mynd had thought of engaging for his coal wharf. I understand from my father that there is more room than George Mynd would require and sufficient for the erection of the convenience we are likely to want. If you should find the situation in other respects eligible I think such a conjoint occupation of it might rather be a mutual accomodation than otherwise. In looking out for a proper spot I presume you mean to consider contingentcy to the waterside an absolute requisite.’
The site mentioned was the Albion Mill Wharf, as John Rennie talked to Samuel Wyatt about purchasing Mynd & Fearon’s premises in London in April 1803, but only if Boulton Watt & Co. were ‘totally off with the purchase.’ Also under consideration at this time were premises belonging to a Mr. Douglas. While Watt Jr. was in London, M. R. Boulton wrote to him from Cornwall on 27 April 1799 ‘Act entirely as you think most in regard to Douglas’ premises. As a temporary accomodation it might certainly be worth our notice but as a permanent establishment it appeared to me too confined.’ In 1800 Ambrose Weston, the Soho firms’ London lawyer, had a plan for a new office – as M. R. Boulton wrote to Watt Jr. on 30 July ‘Ambrose among his numerous schemes has a project for a joint establishment in the Temple where B & W are to be accomodated with a Town residence.’
However nothing came of these plans, and work in London continued to be carried out by London-based engine erectors, with a more senior man acting as agent. This role was first filled by Richard Dayus, and during the 1800s and 1810s the post was held by James Lawson, who received commission on engines and lighting apparatus sold in London and the South East. The agents of the Soho firms’ London banker Charlotte Matthews, and later the London banking house of M. R. Boulton J. & G. Watt & Co. also did various duties for the engine firm, such as arranging shipping and settling of accounts.
The London Engine Office
James Lawson died on 9 April 1818. He was replaced as agent for London and Middlesex and ‘the surrounding counties’ by James Brown, who had worked in the Drawing Office and on the engines of the steam boat Caledonia. While Brown did act as a travelling agent and engine erector, his appointment marked the foundation of the London office of Boulton Watt & Co., indeed the formal series of outgoing and incoming correspondence both begin soon after Brown’s appointment. His first agreement was for five years, and was dated 9 April, the day that Lawson died.
The London office quickly expanded its activities beyond the normal duties of engine erection. The office liaised directly with customers, particularly steam boat companies, which was James Brown’s particular area of expertise. He developed a close working relationship with the Post Office, particularly with the Assistant Secretary George Henry Freeling, who was responsible for the steam packets, the Admiralty and the various companies which operated boats from the Thames to the South Coast resorts and ports such as Margate and Gravesend. Brown organised the firm’s employees who were based in London, and also those who were sent down from Soho, and he organised carriage and shipping of parts, and various other duties. However his pay remained largely on a commission basis until the early 1830s – between 1827 and 1831 he had a nominal salary of £150 per annum, but his commissions variesd from £120 to £600 per annum. In the early 1830s Brown made several requests to be put on a fixed salary so as to better budget for his family.
The London office staff also grew during the first decades of the 19th century. An engineer called William Wright who had been employed in London before the office was founded continued to work under Brown’s direction. Brown’s first assistant was one Richard Grice, who was appointed in 1824, but who departed in ignominious circumstances in September the following year. He was then offered a Mr. Humphries to assist him during the 1827 steam boat season, but it is unclear if Humphries ever took up this post. Grice’s permanent replacement was William Langdon, who was apprenticed to Boulton Watt & Co. probably in 1825. Langdon carried out a wide range of duties including making drawings. Langdon also took over the cash agency duties of R. F. Davis in 1840. Robert Wallace Hamilton, nephew of one of the partners Gilbert Hamilton, joined the office as a clerk and draughtsman in the early 1840s.
The staff in the London office continued to grow, and the office assumed an ever-increasing importance in the affairs of the firm. When Matthew Robinson Boulton withdrew from the firm in 1840, James Watt Jr. took James Brown on as a partner, along with Gilbert Hamilton, then head of the Drawing Office at Soho, and the London engineer and businessman Henry Wollaston Blake. That meant that two partners were now based in London, and Blake did a great deal of business from the London office. Following Watt Jr.’s death in 1848, emphasis shifted even more to the London office, especially following the closure of the premises at Soho Manufactory in 1851. In the 1860s and 1870s, the London office became the administrative centre of the firm. A new partner, Charles Barclay, was also based in London, and the departure of Brown and his son James from the partnership, and the death of Gilbert Hamilton in 1879 left Henry Blake as sole partner, based almost exclusively in London.
Premises
James Brown was given office space at 13 London Street soon after his appointment in 1818. However he also did work from his private addresses – 1 Haydon Square, Minories between 1818 and 1824, and 25 Jewry Street from 1824 to 1832. A large amount of business correspondence was directed to the latter in particular, and the fact that Brown moved ‘office furniture’ out of it suggests that it was well-equipped for engine business. By 1830 the Jewry Street house was proving a considerable drain on Brown’s finances, and in 1832 he united his home and office by moving into 13 London Street, following the death of the banking agent John Mosley.
The engine office remained at 13 London Street until 1841, when the development of the Blackwall Railway necessitated a move to 18 London Street. On 12 August 1839 Watt Jr. had written to Brown ‘If you are satisfied with the accomodation and light of the house No. 18 in your street, I should, if Mr. Boulton approves, feel disposed to close with Mr. Higgins, or rather as I understand it, Mr. Whiteley’s Office. It seems to me of some consequence that your new dwelling and drawing office [are] as near to the old as can be procured, and with regard to the fixtures some sacrifice must be made, as the rent appears reasonable.’
Further extension of the London & Blackwall Railway occasioned another move, this time to 90 Leadenhall Street. It is unclear exactly when this took place. A notice about the work was issued in December 1863, James Watt & Co. were still paying rent on 18 London Street in July 1870, and the clerk Edward McCreight was being addressed at 18 London Street in November the following year. The move to 90 Leadenhall Street had definitely taken place by October 1875. James Watt & Co. remained at Leadenhall Street until their bankrupty in 1895, when the offices were vacated and many of the records sent up to Soho Foundry.
Also in the 1860s the firm rented premises at Thames Place, which was used for stores and as a workshop. Receipts exist from 1868, which suggests that Thames Place was leased following the sinking of the firm’s hulk Pallas.
The Pallas Hulk
In 1826 James Watt Jr. and Matthew Robinson Boulton bought a ‘hulk’ ship called the Pallas, which was moored at Blackwall, and which was used for stores and supplies for the fitting of steamship engines. Steam ships were brought alongside it for repairs.
Purchase of the Pallas was necessitated in 1826 by the fact that Boulton Watt & Co. could no longer use the Navy’s hulk: ‘The resolution of the Navy Board respecting the Sheer hulk will be attended with a good deal of inconvenience to us, and it certainly will be proper to lose no time in looking out for a hulk for a hulk of our own, which I think should not be so small as the one you say Maudslay is getting, as it should be made to serve as a store for goods from Soho.’ [Watt Jr. to James Brown, 21 August 1826] Henry Maudslay’s hulk was used as a floating workshop, and was moored in the East India Docks.
John Mosley had looked at a vessel and Boulton Watt & Co. wrote to him on 21 September saying that if James Brown approved, it could be bought for reasonable terms, but if a larger one or one with more space between the decks was deemed more suitable, they should carry on looking. On 14 November Watt Jr. wrote from London to Boulton Watt & Co. saying ‘Our new hulk has had her bottom caulked and is lying in the Isle of Dogs Canal. It looks a respectable concern.’
The exact history of the Pallas is unclear. From information in the Register of Ships at The National Archives, she was in all probability an American vessel, built in 1807 at New York, which was captured by the Navy brig Rebuff and condemned as a prize by the Vice Court of Admiralty at Gibraltar on 8 February 1813. There is a Master’s Log (the Master or Sailing Master was responsible for directing the sailing of the ship under the orders of the Commanding Officer, and he kept an official log that was filled in every four hours) for H. M. brig Rebuff [National Archives ADM 52/4584] which records that the Pallas was boarded on 23 December 1812. She was found to be an armed vessel, her licence specifying her as being unarmed, when a prize crew was put on board. No position was given, however Rebuff had left Cadiz Bay on the 22nd and had recorded a position later that day as Cape St Mary N74W, distance 84 miles. Britain was at war with America at that time. The purpose of the ‘licence’ is unclear, but presumably merchant ships of opposing countries were allowed to proceed unless they were armed, when they were then deemed to be a prize of war following adjudication by a Vice Court of Admiralty, held at Gibraltar in the case of Pallas.
She was purchased by a Henry Philip and partners, and was in service as a merchant ship until 1826. It is possible that she had suffered storm damage at Mauritius in 1826, as she was re-registered there on 16 February and brought back to London by her sole owner and Master, Henry Philip, to be sold. In an account book for receipts for dues from ships laying up in the City Canal [Corporation of London Records Office, Guildhall], there are three entries for the Pallas, showing her as a ‘Sheer Hulk’ of 352 tons. On rates of 15/- per week for 27½ weeks up to 18 May 1827, the charge was £21.2.6, and the commander was given as Brown (James Brown of Boulton Watt & Co.?). For the following 82 weeks up to 31 Dec. 1828 she was charged at the same rate, a total of £61, but the commander was given as Watson (possibly an error for Watt Jr.?). For the following 32 weeks, up to 13 Aug. 1829, the charge at the same rate was £24. For this period she was shown as 350 tons and the commander was given as Boulton, presumably M. R. Boulton. In Aug. 1829, the City Canal, where the Pallas lay, was sold to the West India Dock Co. Laid-up ships and businesses on the North bank were cleared out, and presumably the Pallas was also re-located.
The Pallas must have been a large vessel – on 29 Sep. 1836 Peter Ewart wrote to Brown ‘Our Commodore in passing up the river, has observed that the Flamer is moored outside the Pallas and has requested me to apply to you to have her placed inside for safer protection.’ Some stores for use on the Pallas were also kept at London Street, in particular cement. This was probably because the Pallas was too damp for cement storage.
In Feb. 1842 Boulton Watt & Co. allowed their rivals Maudslay Son & Field to use the Pallas for loading goods onto a French ship [Maudslay Son & Field to James Brown, 26 Feb. 1842].
Pallas sank at her moorings circa 1868, probably due to water seepage through the seams between the planking of the hull. It was these seams that were caulked with oakum, and then covered with pitch, in 1826. It was quite common for ships to sink at their moorings due to the seams opening. There probably would only have been a few, maybe just a watchman, on board at the time, which was insufficient to be able to man the pumps to stem the inflow of water. In 1868 one George Reeve was paid £50 for raising the Pallas.
[Information on the Pallas’s history and sinking kindly supplied by Mr. J. R. Owen.] |