| Description | This bundle contains a variety of material relating to engine agreements, which appear to have come from various different sources. There are hand-written draft agreements for various engines, including some for London water works. There are several draft agreements filled in on printed forms that Boulton & Watt used; the details were entered on the form by Boulton & Watt and sent to the customer, who checked and corrected them, and once the final wording had been approved, the neat parchment copy was written up and signed and sealed by both parties. Use of such forms for drafting engine agreements began around 1779. The bundle also contains various other drafts of agreements including one specifically for Cornish mine engines, and some duplicate agreements.
Two items date from after 1799. The first is a draft contract for engines for the Regent’s Canal Co. in London from 1819, and the second is a duplicate of an agreement with Birmingham Water Works for a 72 inch engine. These are the only two engine agreements dated after 1799 that survive. |