| Description | Cornish Mines and Engines.
The contents of this bundle fall into two distinct parts. The first part contains tables, memoranda and letters giving the history of Boulton & Watt engines in Cornwall, savings made, premiums given up by Boulton & Watt, premiums owing to Boulton & Watt, etc. The majority of these items were sent to Soho by Boulton & Watt’s Cornish agent, Thomas Wilson. This first half of the bundle contains some significant items such as Wilson’s history of all of Boulton & Watt’s Cornish engines up to September 1794, and the statements of Wilson and the mine adventurer Richard Michell about the benefits of the Watt engine to Cornwall.
The second part of the bundle contains calculations and notes, mainly for engines for Wheal Chance, but also referring to the “Eastern” atmospheric engines at Poldice mine which were used by Boulton & Watt as a standard for calculating the coal consumption of engines, and whims built by the Cornish engineer John Budge at Dolcoath mine. |