| Description | Letters and papers relating to various steam engines sold to Spanish customers, from 1788 to 1795. The engines were as follows: a flour mill engine for Don Pasqual Mensa y March, Cadiz, for which the mill work was provided by John Rennie; an engine with a 60 inch cylinder for Don Fernando de Torres, for a saw mill in Cadiz; and two engines for Don Diego Gardoqui.
Mensa’s 50 horse sun and planet engine was usually referred to by its code, “BWM”, which stood for “Boulton & Watt – Mensa”. The negotiations over this engine were extremely protracted, and it does not appear that the engine was actually shipped to Spain until 1791.
De Torres’ sun and planet engine was usually referred to by its code, “BWS”, which may have stood for “Boulton & Watt Spain.” The merchant house of Fermin de Tastet & Co., of the City of London, acted as de Torres’ agents during negotiations for the engine, which was of unusually large construction. The engine still had not been completed in February 1794, when Antonio de Tastet told Boulton & Watt that de Torres had gone prospecting for coal mines in Asturias and might not come to Cadiz again very soon – “… in this case I should not be surprised if the project of this immense Engine should vanish.”
Don Diego Gardoqui had connections with Torres, and again de Tastet & Co. acted as agents for his engines. These were two blowing engines, again for Cadiz, referred to as “BWG 1 and 2” – “Boulton & Watt Gardoqui.” BWG No. 1 was a new engine, but BWG No. 2 was actually the second engine installed at the Albion Mill, which had become redundant after the mill was destroyed by fire.
For letters about the erection of de Torres’ engine at Cadiz and the problems with James Murdock, see letters from Malcolm Logan in 3/395, General Incoming Correspondence 1785—1795, L and 3/415, General Incoming Correspondence 1795—1798, L. See also 3/287, letters from James Murdock, and a letter from de Torres in 3/401, General Incoming Correspondence 1785—1795, T. For the draft of a letter from Boulton & Watt to Mensa’s partners, see 3/22, Matthew Boulton – Miscellaneous Memoranda and Papers.
For drawings of the engines see Portfolios 5/240 (Don Pasqual Mensa y March), 5/58 (Don Fernando de Torres), 5/692 and 693 (Don Diego Gardoqui). |