| Description | Letters and papers relating to the Falmouth Water Company, Jamaica, from 1799 to 1805. The Falmouth Water Company was formed in 1799 to improve water supply to Falmouth, Jamaica’s second port, by drawing water from the nearby Martha Brae River. The Committee of Directors consisted of the Chairman James Lawson (not to be confused with the Boulton & Watt engine erector of the same name), James Galloway, Thomas Munro, William James Stevenson and J. L. Winn. Lawson made an initial enquiry about a Boulton & Watt “patent engine” in October 1799, but James Watt Junior replied on 15 March 1800 suggesting that Boulton & Watt’s patent hydraulic ram, invented by Aimé Argand, would suit their purpose (see 3/95, Boulton Watt & Co. Letter Book 1800, folio 11 for a copy of this letter). The company duly ordered a ram and piping, and sent bills to the value of £2500. Their engineer Charles O’Connor visited Soho in Nov. 1800 to sort out the details. In 1800 an Act of the Jamaican Parliament was passed regulating and setting out the authority of the company. In May 1801 Lawson became President of the company, and William James Stevenson took over the chair. The Treasurer was Charles Campbell, the Secretary James Blair. The company was now concerned that they had had no letter or acknowledgement from Boulton Watt & Co.; it appears that the letter written from Soho on 15 Dec. 1800 did not reach Falmouth, or was never sent. The Company therefore appointed London merchants James Stewart and Robert Sheddon & Sons as attorneys, to find out what Boulton Watt & Co. had done and recover the money if necessary.
The problem appears to have been merely one of communication, and once correspondence was established between Boulton Watt & Co. and James Stewart, the company was reassured. In Dec. 1801 an erector called William Clarke was sent out with the apparatus. However Clarke proved incompetent and set the ram up where it lacked a fall of water to power it. Dismissing Clarke, the Company constructed a dam to provide a head of water, and by Sep. 1803 the ram was working, albeit with various parts prone to breakdown. It seems to have been the policy of the committee to send two or sometimes three copies of their letters, to ensure that communications did reach England. Therefore several letters in the bundle are duplicates.
For drawings of the ram see Portfolio 5/1109. |