| Description | “Letters from Schemes” from 1821 to 1829. “Letters from Schemes,” or sometimes “Letters from Schemers,” was Boulton Watt & Co.’s way of referring to correspondence from engineers and inventors offering the sale or use of their inventions and patents. Between 1821 and 1829 these inventions ranged from improvements to the steam engine, paddle wheels and heating, through rail roads and suggested routes for steam boats, to a steam gun and life jackets.
According to the draft list of the Watt Room they were arranged in three packets: 1801 to 1810; 1811 to 1820; and a “third packet”. The majority of the 1801—1810 letters were found in Box 7/III, the 1811—1820 ones were mainly in Box 7/I, and the “third packet”, covering 1821—1829, were mostly in Box 34/11. Some letters offering “schemes” prior to 1801 can be found among the series of General Correspondence, and some after 1829 can be found among the General Correspondence dealt with in the Drawing Office, 1829 to 1843. |