| Description | In the Catalogue of Papers compiled by William D. Brown in 1791 this file is listed under the title "Chamber of Manufacturers and Irish Propositions," though in the Index to that Catalogue the title is merely "Chamber of Manufacturers." The relationship of this early file to the present one is unclear, as there is a file elsewhere named "Chamber of Manufacturers," containing various papers on the same subject. In the rough catalogue compiled by Matthew Robinson Boulton and John Robinson about 1819, it is recorded that a portfolio entitled "Irish Propositions, 1785" was placed in Box H. I. Unfortunately, the portfolio appears to have been discarded.
The documents are arranged in five sequences, as follows:
Letters received by Boulton in London. Feb.-Apr. 1785. (1-7)
Letters received by Boulton after his return from London. Apr. 1785. (8-12)
Various written papers upon Irish arrangement. Feb.-Apr. 1785. (9-28)
Papers of Samuel Garbett. 1785. (29-36)
Other Papers. 1785. (35-74)
The first three sequences were formerly contained in separate packets, the wrappers of which survive (1, 8, 13). The "Papers of Samuel Garbett," which are mostly letters addressed to him, were evidently passed on to Boulton at some time. The remaining "Other papers" are mostly printed documents; these have been kept in the order in which they were listed by the Assay Office, but it is not clear to what extent this order is chronological.
Entries for 32, 33, 38, 73, and 74 were added to the Assay Office Catalogue after it was originally compiled. It is likely, therefore, that these documents were transferred to this file from elsewhere. The entry for 6 was also inserted later, but this appears merely to have been omitted from the typescript Catalogue in error, as it appears on an earlier handwritten list. |