| Description | Letters from John Southern from 1782, and 1784 to 1793. John Southern was employed by Boulton & Watt as an assistant to James Watt and an engineer in 1782. He worked in the Drawing Office at Watt’s house at Harper’s Hill and at Soho Manufactory, and he also travelled round the country working on various engines.
The bundle also contains a few letters from Southern’s father Thomas, from 1778, 1782, 1785 and 1786. Thomas was occasionally employed by Boulton & Watt as an engineer. For further letters of Thomas Southern from 1779 and 1781 see 3/XXX, letters re. Gregory Mine.
The majority of letters in this bundle are addressed to James Watt. They are either written by Southern at Soho to Watt when he was away, or they were written by Southern when he was away and sent back to Soho.
The letters are dated as follows:
No. 1. 1778
Nos. 2-4. 1782
Nos. 5-6. 1784
Nos. 7-12. 1785
Nos. 13-15. 1786
Nos. 16-19. 1787
No. 20. 1788
Nos. 21-23. 1789
Nos. 24-26. 1790
Nos. 27-32. 1791
Nos. 33-43. 1792
Nos. 44-57. 1793 |