| Description | Organisation of Production and Record-Keeping
Boulton & Watt’s organisation of production and its attendant record-keeping are areas which demand further historical study. As mentioned above, the two sites, the Soho Manufactory workshops and Soho Foundry, were to a large degree distinct entities, and in terms of production their organisation and record-keeping were separate. Centralised records which gave an overview were kept in the partners’ office and the Drawing Office at Soho Manufactory.
Exactly how the production processes were organised, and who kept what records, requires much more investigation than time allowed under the Archives of Soho Project. Moreover it is clear from some surviving memoranda about record-keeping (transcribed in the appendix to this list) that although a large number of production records have survived, an almost equal number are now missing. In particular records such as Time Books and accounts of the work done by particular groups of employees are missing, as are many of the records for firm’s later years as James Watt & Co. Therefore much of what is stated in this Introduction should be treated as speculative. More specific details of the individual records will be found in the section of the Introduction titled Scope and Content.
Preliminary Work and Estimates.
When an enquiry had been received about an engine, there was usually some preliminary calculation work to be done before the power of the engine could be decided upon and an estimate could be sent out. The formalisation of this process was gradual – through the 1780s and into the 1790s James Watt and his assistant John Southern, who became head of the Drawing Office, did a great deal of rough work and calculations in their Blotting and Calculation Books. They also made extensive references back to engines that had previously been made. Once an estimate had been arrived at, it would usually be communicated to the enquirer in a letter. Copies of letters containing estimates were kept in the Business and Drawing Office Letter Books along with copies of other correspondence. However the practice developed of making a note of the details of the estimate on a separate piece of paper. Estimates for similar engines were entered on the same piece of piece of paper, thus providing a quick reference when quoting a new estimate. Although the standardisation of engine sizes and the manufacturing of engines for stock reduced the amount of preliminary work that had to be done, the practice of making notes of estimates endured, leading to the large bundles that have survived. This system was also applied to the other products that Boulton & Watt made, including gas lighting, heating and lighting apparatus, mint machinery and so on.
The Ordering Process.
Orders came to the firm through various channels – by letter, by personal visit or via Boulton & Watt’s agents and engine erectors. Once a definite order had been received, the various parts of the engine then had to be ordered. Prior to Boulton & Watt’s development of their own manufacturing facilities, this meant ordering parts from various iron founders, usually by note or letter. Specialist parts were made in the workshops at Soho Manufactory and again these were ordered by notes. Copies of these letters and notes were kept and pasted into order books which were kept in the offices at Soho Manufactory. The earliest surviving “General Order Book” (4/79) begins in 1786; prior to that copies of many letters ordering parts will be found in the early letter books, particularly the Office Letter Book (3/169). Orders were not just placed for whole engines, but also for replacement and spare parts for existing engines; for boilers; for heating and lighting apparatus; or even for supplies such as cement and ink. Various series of order books were opened, but there was no one book that simply contained a running list of what orders had been placed.
With the opening of Soho Foundry and the expansion of the workshops at Soho Manufactory, Boulton & Watt gained their own manufacturing facilities. However in many ways the ordering system did not change. Notes were still made in the offices at Soho Manufactory, usually the Drawing Office, and were passed to the various departments and shops instead of being sent to outside suppliers, and both the originating office and the recipient pasted their notes into books. However one major change in recording orders was instigated in 1797, when the Foundry began to make virtually complete engines. A series of order books which listed the engines that had been made was begun. These books were referred to as the Engine Order Books (4/87 to 4/99) and they were maintained by the Drawing Office. Both bespoke orders and engines made for stock were listed, as were details such as when an engine was ordered, any special parts, when it was appropriated to a particular customer, and so on.
With the expansion of the workshops at Soho Manufactory in the 1800s, Boulton Watt & Co. considered that they had two distinct production sites. Therefore an engine, when ordered, was described in the order books as being ordered either from “Soho” (for Soho Manufactory) or “Foundry” (for Soho Foundry). The abbreviations of “S” and “F” were used in the Engine Order Books to show at which site an engine was being assembled. However, all orders were still passed through the offices at Soho Manufactory – as far as customers was concerned they were purchasing an engine from Boulton Watt & Co., not Soho Foundry or Soho Manufactory. Therefore the engines made on each site were considered as ordered by Boulton Watt & Co. on behalf of the customer. This system meant that customers did not deal directly with Soho Foundry, and all its ordering administration was internal to the firm.
Various series of order books were opened at the Foundry, and further details will be found in the notes on the Scope and Content of the records later in this Introduction. Again they were generally made up of notes pasted into large volumes, both original notes sent from the offices at Soho Manufactory, and copies of further notes made at the Foundry. The organisation of the order books at the Foundry is less clear. Various series of books were kept in parallel, some kept by the clerks in the Counting House, others in the various departments.
Engine Codes.
As engine orders increased, and as engines began to be produced for stock, the firm developed a system of reference codes which assigned each engine a unique letter code. These codes were used throughout the record-keeping process, in the Engine Books, fitting records, packing books, in the order books, on drawings, and also occasionally in correspondence and in the accounting records. Every engine had a code from 1797, and the best way to identify a particular engine from its code, or to locate a code for an engine is via the Engine Order Books, in which engines are arranged by their codes.
1780s / 1790s: Codes for Overseas Engines.
The first codes were used in the late 1780s and early 1790s for engines for overseas customers, for example the engine ordered by Jac. Beconnais & Cie. for Nantes was usually referred to as “I. B. Nantes”, and the two blowing engines for Don Diego Gardoqui of Cadiz were referred to as “BWG No. 1” and “BWG No. 2.” The “BWG” almost certainly stood for “Boulton & Watt Gardoqui.”
1790 to circa 1795: Four-Letter Codes and Numbers for Rotative Engines.
The first actual system of codes was used in 1790 / 1791, for rotative sun and planet engines. The codes appear to have been used for engines that were made in advance of any order. The codes used were four letters long, beginning with ABCA, then ABCB, and so on. For example Sawyer Spence’s 8 horse engine originally bore the code ABCO, while Robert Bayly & Co.’s 10 horse engine was ABCE. It appears that all the possible ABC- codes were used, as a few engines bearing ABD- codes have been identified. This system appears not to have been universally adopted throughout the records, as not every possible code in the sequence has been linked to a particular engine. Most of these codes appear in the list of books of drawings in John Southern’s Blotting & Calculation Book (4/4), in the General Order Book for 1786 to 1793 (4/79) and in the first book of Orders to the Engine Works, Soho Manufactory, 1790 to 1805 (4/100). Also entries in the first Day-by-Day Order Book 1795 to 1797 (4/104) suggest that this system carried on, but that the “AB” element no longer used, as codes such as “FA” are mentioned.
Also some rotative engines in 1792 appear to have been numbered, for example Duck & Potts’ was 38, Wormald Fountain & Gott’s was 39, Brandram Brothers’ was 42. These numbers also appear in the General Order Book. However they stop fairly quickly. Similar numbers are used in the Drawing Day Book (4/145) during 1792, so this may have been a short-lived system of engine numbering.
1797 to February 1803: Codes based on Customer’s Initials.
Around 1797, with Soho Foundry producing complete engines and with the opening of the Engine Order Books, it was decided to allocate every engine a unique reference code. Between 1797 and February 1803, the codes were based on the customer’s intials and were either one or two letters long, for example engine S of 1799 was for the Salvin Brothers, and RE of 1801 was for Ranson & Ellerby.
February 1803 onwards: Alphabetical Codes.
In late February 1803 a system of alphabetical codes was introduced, beginning with A, engine A being an 8 horse for Sir John Hope. Once Z had been reached, a new sequence beginning AA was started. The codes were often followed by the engine’s power or cylinder diameter, so RR14 was a 14 horse engine for Houldsworth & Hussey, while H36 was a 36 inch pumping engine for the East India Dock Co. Once ZZ had been reached, a new single letter sequence beginning with A was started, then after Z came AA again, and so on. This system endured until 1816, and the codes from A to Z and AA to ZZ were repeated several times.
In 1816 a new coding sequence was begun, starting with the code YA and working backwards through the alphabet. Once YZ had been reached, the next codes in the sequence were XA and XB, and after XZ came WA, and so on. This sequence was begun at Y to avoid confusion with the codes beginning with Z that were then being applied to small engines (see below). This system endured through the James Watt & Co. years until the end of the firm’s life in 1895. AA appears to have been reached in the mid to late 1850s, and the reverse sequence was started again, although whether it began with ZA or YA is not clear. Codes beginning with H had been reached by the early 1890s, HK for example was an engine for the Warsaw Water Works.
Codes for Small Engines.
From their introduction in 1799 / 1800 small engines were referred to by codes based on the customer’s initials, in the same way as larger engines. When the alphabetical sequence was introduced for larger engines in 1803, a similar system was introduced for small engines, except that they were referred to with lower case letters, so engine “a” was a 6 horse for Messrs. Halliday. This presumably proved too confusing, as when z was reached in June 1805 a new system of two letter codes beginning with ZA was begun. Once ZZ was reached, the sequence was begun again at ZA. This system lasted until March 1813, and the codes from ZA to ZZ were repeared four times.
In March 1813 a new three-letter system beginning with ZAA was introduced. Once ZAZ was reached, a new sequence was begun starting with ZBA. After ZBZ came ZCA. In August 1815, in the middle of the ZC- sequence, the Z was simply dropped, to leave a two letter code beginning with C. The next sequence simply began with DA. By 1844 JI had been reached, but after this the separate coding of small engines appears to have stopped.
Drawings.
Once an order had been made, drawings were prepared in the Drawing Office. Details of the process of making and recording drawings will be found in the next section (MS 3147/5). However the various written records relating to the drawings – the Drawings Day Books and Ledger, and the indexes of drawings – are listed here.
Organisation of Production.
Boulton & Watt’s organisation of production at both Soho Manufactory and Soho Foundry requires further detailed investigation. Production at Soho Foundry was organised into departments, namely the Foundry, Smithy and Fitting Departments, with the Boiler Department being added in 1803. There was also an Establishment Department which oversaw buildings and machinery which served the whole Foundry, for example cranes or the lodge. Each department had a superintendent. The post of superintendent or manager of the whole Foundry was much less formalised, with the role initially being carried out by William Murdock and his sons. In the 19th century a more defined post of Foundry Manager did develop. At Soho Manufactory the workshops were overseen by the Engine Yard Foreman, and it seems likely that a similar departmental system developed there as the premises grew. The workmen were generally organised into teams, and both day and piece work systems were employed, although there was a general shift to piece work in 1802, extensive records of which survive (4/172 to 4/186). The day to day production records, particularly those involving time worked, rates of pay and wages, were generally kept by the clerks in the separate Counting Houses at Soho Manufactory and Soho Foundry. Contemporary descriptions of the records they kept will be found in the memoranda transcribed in the appendix to this list.
The Soho Manufactory workshops and Soho Foundry specialised to a certain extent in the engines they made. The largest engines tended to be made at the Foundry, as did the standard types of small engine. Production of the latter was formally organised in 1800 / 1801 under the supervision of the former engine erector William Harrison (see 4/76). The smaller powers of boat engine were made on the Soho Manufactory premises, and in 1812 / 1813 the Manufactory was equipped with stocks for testing 14 horse independent engines.
Once the parts of an engine had been made, the engine was assembled and minor alterations made (“fitting”). The engine was tested and the parts checked and weighed, and then it was dismantled. This process was recorded in Fitting Books (4/239 to 4/251) and a more formal series of volumes called Engine Books (4/257 to 4/291). The Engine Books consisted of standard printed lists of the parts of an engine. The weight of the metal used and the cost of each part was entered after the engine had been fitted but before it was sent out. Particular series of Engine Books were dedicated to particular types of engine, so for example one series of books recorded large land engines, another boat engines, and so on. A set of Engine Books was maintained at Soho Foundry, but the definitive “master” sets which recorded engines made at both sites were kept in the Counting House at Soho Manufactory.
Once dismantled, the parts were packed into crates or casks for delivery to the customer via canal, cart or later railway. Again the records of these processes were maintained by the clerks in the Counting Houses.
Lists of Engines and Performance Records.
Once the engines had been sent out, the Engine Order Books and the Engine Books were generally used for referring to previously made engines, and there was no separately maintained list of engine production. Occasionally separate lists were made, usually for financial purposes. However on two occasions the firm did retrospectively review their production and sales. In the 1810s a list of engines arranged country by country and county by county was drawn up. Parts of this list were sporadically added to until the 1860s, although very inconsistently. In 1824 the then head of the Drawing Office William Creighton drew up a list arranged by type and power of engine. His successor Gilbert Hamilton updated this list in 1834. At some point both these lists were bound together and titled “List of Engines made at Soho” (4/321).
Assembly Instructions.
The only formal instruction manual that Boulton & Watt produced was the "Directions for Erecting & Working the newly invented Steam Engines by Boulton & Watt," which was printed around 1778 / 1779. Even then this little booklet was intended for use by the firm’s own engine erectors; few were printed and it was not generally distributed to customers. Assembly of the engine was carried out by the firm’s engine erectors, and any special instructions to the customer were generally communicated by letter. |
| AdminHistory | The records listed here are the surviving documents which record the various processes involved in manufacturing steam engines and Boulton & Watt’s other products, from experiments and estimates, through recording the orders, to manufacturing, packing and delivery, directions for assembly, advertisements and lists of engines made.
Boulton & Watt’s production facilities grew piecemeal. When Matthew Boulton and James Watt first went into business, the engine firm’s premises at Soho Manufactory consisted only of a couple of workshops making specialist parts such as nozzles. The majority of engine parts were made by other iron founders – leading founders such as John Wilkinson or Spedding Hicks & Co., Birmingham firms such as Dearmans & Francis, or firms local to the particular engine customer. The workshops at Soho Manufactory did grow, but until the construction of Soho Foundry in 1795 / 1796 manufacturing of heavy parts such as cylinders was carried out by other firms.
The opening of Soho Foundry gave Boulton & Watt their own dedicated engine works, and by the end of the 1790s it was producing virtually complete engines. Boiler-making began there in 1803, production of gas lighting apparatus in 1805. The pneumatic apparatus designed by James Watt to combat respiratory diseases was also made at Soho Foundry. However the engine premises at Soho Manufactory continued to grow as engine orders increased in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and between 1802 and 1804 there was a major re-organisation and expansion of the engine workshops there. Also the mint machinery that was supplied by Boulton Watt & Co. appears to have mainly been made at Soho Manufactory. The firm considered their premises at the Manufactory as a site of engine production in its own right, which led to a split system of ordering and record-keeping which is discussed below. Expansion at both sites continued until the closure of the workshops at Soho Manufactory in 1851. James Watt & Co., as the firm had become in 1848, continued to make steam engines, boilers and various other engineering products such as turntables, rock pulverising machinery and mint machinery at Soho Foundry until the firm folded in 1895. |