| Description | The citation of terms and details of previous patents, both for steam engines and other mechanical inventions and industrial processes, was an important part of Boulton & Watt’s defence of Watt’s patent and their prosecution of those they perceived as having pirated Watt’s engine. They therefore had various lists of patents drawn up, and they also obtained copies of patents that were particulary relevant. This bundle contains specifications, bills and other papers on patents for steam engines and several other inventions. These include the patents of Robert Cameron, a former employee of Boulton & Watt who went into business on his own in the 1780s and who Boulton & Watt considered was infringing Watt’s patent, and the lock patented by Joseph Bramah, who was a witness for the defence in the action against Jabez Hornblower and Stephen Maberly.
The bundle also includes copies of the patent specifications and drawings of James Rumsey, an American engineer who demonstrated a steam boat on the Thames in 1790. Rumsey died in 1794, and Boulton & Watt appear to have acquired copies of his patents then. |