| Description | The accusation that Boulton & Watt had established a monopoly was first made against them by the Cornish mining industry, around 1780. The charge was made again during the action against Jabez Hornblower and Stephen Maberly. Boulton & Watt used King James I’s declaration on monopolies of 1610 and a subsequent Act of 1623 as a defence against this charge in the action in the Court of Common Pleas on 16 Dec. 1796. They were supplied with details about the declaration by John Gutch, a notary public of Oxford. |