| Description | Letters to James Pearson from 1780 to 1814. Pearson was the chief cashier and bookkeeper for the steam engine business. His office was at Soho Manufactory. Some of Boulton and Watt’s letters to Pearson of the 1780s concern the financial arrangements of the steam engine firm. However the letters and notes mainly concern the drawing of bills or the paying out of cash to employees, etc. The majority are very short. There are also some accounts and memoranda.
All the letters are docketed by Pearson with the name of the correspondent and the date. It is unclear where these letters were originally removed from, but they were probably picked out for their famous authors. Around 1895, during his work on the Watt Room, Henry Hazleton organised some of them by author, bringing together the notes by James Watt and Ann Watt. However the letters and notes were later scattered through the collection. They are now gathered together as one bundle, but they are arranged by author, as follows:
No. 1. Matthew Boulton
Nos. 2-4. Matthew Robinson Boulton
No. 5. John Murdock
Nos. 6-8. William Murdock
Nos. 9-10. John Rennie
No. 11. John Southern
Nos. 12-18. Ann Watt
Nos. 19-20. Gregory Watt
Nos. 21-64. James Watt
Nos. 65-73. James Watt Jr. |