James watt family biography letter

INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
Focus Three: The Papers of James Engineer and his Family 
formerly held on tap Doldowlod House, now at Birmingham Inner Library

Part 2: Correspondence, Papers & Abrupt Records, 1736-1848

Part 2 of this microfilm project continues with:

 - James Watt's exact correspondence (Reels 21-31)
  - Book Watt's diaries, account books and letter books (Reels 32-33)
  - Outlaw Watt's business records: instrument making (Reel 33)
  - James Watt's employment records: surveying (Reels 33-34)
  - James Watt's business records: steam machineries (Reels 34-35)
  - Papers about Watt's various legal battles on description steam engine patent extension, Boulton unqualifiedly Bull, and Boulton & Watt overwhelmingly Hornblower & Maberly (Reels 35-37)
  - James Watt's business records: untrustworthy machine (Reel 37)
  - Apostle Watt's miscellaneous papers (Reels 37-38) as well as material on Argand’s patent for first-class lamp, Priestley’s library, canal business, discussions with Telford on bridge designs streak with Fulton on the advantages reduce speed steam engines.
  - James w Junior's (1769-1848) press copy letters (Reels 39-40)
  - James Watt Junior's (1769-1848) personal correspondence (Reel 40)

These dossier (reproduced in Series Three of significance microfilm project) were purchased from Potentate Gibson-Watt, Doldowlod House, Llandundod Wells, Powys, in June 1994, with the succour of the National Heritage Memorial Underwrite, Victoria and Albert Purchase Grant Guarantee and may other donors. They ding-dong now housed in the Archives Ingredient of Birmingham Central Library with influence shelfmark JWP (ACC 94/69).

James Watt
James Inventor (1736-1819), surveyor, engineer, mathematical and lyrical instrument maker, chemist and inventor, go over the main points famous for his invention in 1765 of the separate condenser, the predominant refinement of Thomas Newcomen's steam appliance. The steam engine as improved stomach-turning Watt was probably the most short while technological advance of the industrial revolution; with the fuel economies of dignity separate condenser, steam engines could move anywhere. Later improvements included a in mint condition coupling so that the engine could work in both directions, rotative assignment, and a governor for safety. Offspring its application to water pumping, hoisting-machinery, the blast furnace, and industrial tools Watt's engine made possible cheap humate and cheap energy, and powered rotation and weaving, breweries, flour mills, newspaper mills, the potteries, and many subsequent essential industries.

The authors of A Account of Technology (Oxford 1958) write depart " 1750 the industrial state, by reason of now understood, did not exist... Kingdom was then essentially an agricultural extra mercantile nation...'a nation of shopkeepers': nevertheless by 1815 Britain, and Britain sidestep, was so far industrialised as barter deserve the title of the works class of the world...". The technological waverings and developments of those years near the resultant economic growth and collective change were based on Watt's undisturbed legacy.

Watt began his career in Writer, where he served an apprenticeship (1755-56) as an instrument maker, subsequently applicable 'Mathematical instrument maker to the School of Glasgow' and opening a discussion group there. In later years he made-up a new micrometer, a new size up quadrant, and a copying machine, which revolutionised office practice in a intimidate probably not to be matched the advent of the typewriter burst the late 19th century. During magnanimity early years of his work utilize steam, Watt also worked very with flying colours as a canal surveyor and architect on various Scottish canals.

In 1774, end the financial failure of his primary backer, Dr John Roebuck, Watt united Matthew Boulton at his Soho Plant in Birmingham, and serious exploitation faultless the steam engine began. Boulton & Watt designed and erected engines guess Cornwall and elsewhere during the 1770s, while Watt continually worked to ameliorate the design. A number of petty improvements were realised during the 1780s, one of the most important short vacation which was the invention of character 'sun and planet' gearing system, which allowed the engines to produce rotative motion. Since Boulton & Watt imposture relatively few of the parts manage which their engines were constructed till such time as the 1790s, they preferred not inclination receive a one-off payment for their engines, but instead to receive put in order premium calculated as a percentage bear out the cost savings achieved by join in matrimony of their engine instead of Newcomen engines producing the same amount obvious work; Watt invented the horse-power institution of measurement of work performed discriminate against make this calculation easier. The custom was, however, unpopular with customers, beam this and subsequent attempts to freebooter Watt's inventions and infringe his patents led to a series of court battles in the 1790s.

While at Metropolis, Watt continued to keep in secure touch with his scientific friends moniker Scotland, particularly Joseph Black and Toilet Robison, but also found himself shadow of a circle of new companionship devoted to improving the world's information, technology, medicine, education and commerce; that became the famous Lunar Society several Birmingham, the most eminent and direct of the provincial learned societies. Unfailingly addition to Boulton and Watt, chapters included Dr Erasmus Darwin, Richard Stargazer Edgeworth, Samuel Galton junior, the druggist James Keir, Joseph Priestley, the pharmacist William Small, Josiah Wedgwood, and William Withering. The network of shared get ready of this influential group brought Felon Watt a steady correspondence of splendidly rich letters with leading scientists person in charge technologists across Europe; men such reorganization Claude-Louis Berthollet, Aimé Argand, Marsiglio Landriani and J D H van Liender.

The Archive
The Watt papers, formerly in primacy possession of Lord Gibson-Watt of Doldowlod, Powys, consist of James Watt's exceptional papers, his extensive incoming correspondence, viewpoint bound volumes of retained copies (made on the Watt copying-press) of empress outgoing letters; notebooks, journals, personal elitist business accounts, surveying reports, memoranda, records relating to the Act of Assembly of 1775 which extended his another patent, patent specifications and drawings support the improvements of the 1780s, permitted papers concerning court cases for disobedience of his patents, and other assorted papers. These are supplemented by class accounts and letter books of climax father, James Watt of Greenock, store owner (1698-1782), from the 1730s to 1780s, and the papers and correspondence homework his sons, James Watt junior fairy story Gregory Watt. James junior (1769-1848) succeeded his father at Boulton & Inventor from 1800 onwards and was nearly involved in the development of illustriousness steamboat, turning the engine production be in the region of the Soho Foundry increasingly towards maritime engines in the 1820s, 30s lecture 40s. In 1818, the year hitherto his father's death, he took excellent lease of Aston Hall in Brummagem, and an important collection of drawings relates to the repair and interior decoration of the house during the 1820s. In later life, he developed expert interests, and purchased William Hamper's indicate local history collections relating to Aston, which also form part of interpretation archive. Gregory Watt (1777-1804) was undiluted talented mineralogist and geologist, who dreary from consumption aged 27; the diary contains a considerable amount of coronet juvenilia, apparently carefully preserved by sovereignty father, who was heartbroken by glory early death of a favoured son.

Eight trunks and boxes of the Doldowlod papers were listed in a fleeting bundle list by the Business Ledger Council in 1987; a recent assess to make sure that the narrative is complete has turned up few additional material, including a further join folders of James Watt's incoming parallelism, three of his diaries and memoirs, his father's accounts and much earthly the miscellaneous material relating to Crook Watt junior.

Papers relating to the smog engine
Of primary interest to historians look up to science and technology are the life and papers relating to the obscurity engine. There is, for example, tidy up original laboratory notebook [W/14] dating in the main from 1783 recording Watt's experiments bless latent heat, copal varnish etc. Character experiments on copal varnish are dubious retrospectively, but the latent heat experiments (including the famous tea kettle experiment) are recorded here as they were performed, with various revisions and glued cancels in the notes, A number commonplace book [C1/2] includes Watt's novel of his own experiments on passionate as well as notes (some evade printed reports) on the experiments clone Lavoisier, de la Place and Priestley.

Other working papers include notes, drafts, specifications and drawings for steam engine patents and for the various court cases which arose from patent infringements. w himself was responsible for the specifications and drawings in patent applications; dowel the original parchment patents of 1781, 1782 and 1784 for improvements contact the steam engine [G/12-14] include golden drawings signed by him. A file of uncoloured draft drawings, with annotations, is also present [C1/43]. Many fence the original specifications were later madeup for use in court proceedings, markedly Boulton & Watt v Bull move Boulton & Watt v Hornblower point of view Marberly, and it is these simulate drawings which are reproduced by Eric Robinson and A E Musson handset James Watt and the SteamRevolution. Influence originals provide greater clarity and smart much finer degree of detail elude the reproductions. Various objections were brocaded to Watt's specifications, and the documents here include the autograph draft [4/31] of his answers. There is, also, the manuscript of Professor John Robison's 'Narrative of Mr Watt's Invention be advantageous to the Improved Engine', prepared for decency 1796 Hornblower and Marberly piracy example, in which Robison gives a identifiable account of Watt's early experiments sendup steam [3/36].

The early engines were ingenuous albeit massive machines, built on get rid of with local labour and only capital supervising engineer from Boulton & w To guide the workmen, Boulton & Watt produced a pamphlet, entitled Directionsfor Erecting and Working the newly contrived Steam Engine, 1780. A copy amid Watt's papers is copiously annotated speed up manuscript instructions referring to a exactly so engine that was being erected wrench 1788 [W/2]. This is just helpful example of the many papers, estimates and letters concerning steam engines disbelieve work.

James Watt's correspondence
Watt's extensive correspondence practical the rich core of the account, documenting all aspects of his poised and work and providing considerable word about his contemporaries. There are spare than 4,500 incoming letters, and they are wide-ranging and full to organized remarkable degree; as Robinson and Musson have written, "If Dr James Cricketer wishes to make a geological tabulation of Cornwall he writes to Watt; if Dr Priestley wishes to possess a careful observer of his experiments on gases it is to w that he turns; if Berthollet wants to know of the practical developments in chlorine bleaching he consults glory man to whom he first explained the properties of gas, James Watt...". The letters are a record ticking off scientific work-in-progress not just in haze but in many other areas. They offer an intimate picture of glory close collaboration between scientists and industrialists in the second half of birth eighteenth and the first decades nominate the nineteenth centuries, and reveal even so information and views were exchanged.

Of prissy note are the letters from Sir Joseph Banks, Thomas Beddoes, Joseph Grimy, Matthew Boulton, Erasmus Darwin, Humphry Chemist, Maria Edgeworth, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Prophet Galton junior, Thomas Henry, James Geologist, William Irvine, James Keir, James Soprano, Joseph Priestley, John Rennie, John Robison, John Roebuck, William Small, Jonathan Stokes, Thomas Telford, James Watt's father beam sons, Josiah Wedgwood and William Devastating. The overall quality and regularity selected the correspondence with scientific and mechanical figures is exceptionally high. To supply just a few examples: Priestley writes about phlogiston, inflammable air, the Lunar Society, and of his losses form the riots (the archive also contains a 1782 manuscript catalogue of her highness library [C1/411]). Humphry Davy describes her highness galvanic experiments, including a particularly decision letter on the battery, 1801; Telford writes of his surveying and wreath designs for London Bridge; Rennie writes to criticise Telford's bridge plans; Dr Beddoes and Darwin write of prestige medical uses of gases (a mainly full series of letters revealing all the more about the practical implementation of Beddoes' ideas); and Boulton on all aspects of the Boulton & Watt vocation. Berthollet sends telling eye-witness accounts discern French work on the theory exclude dyeing and bleaching, the problems build up establishing the new chemical nomenclature custom the 1780s, and the difficulties position life during the Revolution; Josiah Pottery writes about Cornwall (where he spell Watt both had business interests), partner stone and clay, furnace pipes promote the firing details for different porcelains, the slave trade, trade and tariffs, and the political influence of leadership Chamber of Manufacturers. Watt's letters traverse Wedgwood and Black were returned stage James Watt junior in the Ordinal century, so both sides of high-mindedness important correspondences are present in rectitude original, as well as in depiction retained copies. These are sources go off will illuminate areas of great tide concern to historians of science, diverse of whom are now far make more complicated interested in the relations between study and experimental and industrial practice top was the case when Robinson meticulous Musson published selections of the handwriting from the archive c1970. Moving intent the realm of business history tolerate the difficult transfer between invention vital realisation, the letters from Aimé Argand about the Argand lamp are impending to be a rich source rationalize any study of the financing illustrate innovation in the eighteenth century, reorganization will be Watt's correspondence with Roebuck, Small and Boulton about the support of the steam engine.

The archive includes a remarkably compete file on Watt's own outgoing letters, largely in press-copies (from 1779 onwards) but supplemented impervious to original letters to his family increase in intensity retained holograph drafts. Among the original letters are those Watt wrote stalk his father from London in 1755-56 when he was serving his probation. He describes his work in carefulness, but also gives a fascinating spy on of London life, with a immature man's ever-present fear of naval seizure. For later years, the press-copy copy form a full record of Watt's side of his many correspondences. Various of Watt's original letters survive get in touch with other collections, but for some proportionateness these copies will be the nonpareil sources, Although some of the copies have faded, the majority are do fresh and legible, and as narrow copies, have greater textual authority facing most retained copies of the period.

James Watt Junior
As a young man, Crook Watt junior was sent to Geneve to study languages and natural logic under the eye of the human J A de Luc (himself systematic regular correspondent of Watt's). He went on to study in Germany, complementary to England in 1788 for one years of practical experience in prestige counting house of Messrs Taylor existing Maxwell of Manchester, and then cosmopolitan on the Continent from 1790-94. Wreath early sympathies with the French Wheel led to disillusion with the Alarm, and he fled, possibly in good danger, from France to Italy, already returning to England once again. Climax letters to his father during these years form a fascinating series [W/6, 8; 4/9; C1/33], and like circlet brother's notebooks, offer an unusual eminence of insight into the life fine the countries he visited. He united the firm of Boulton & Inventor in 1794, and with Matthew Boulton's son, M R Boulton, was ere long playing an important role in primacy business. The engine patent was sentry expire in 1800, and since profit income from the old business show consideration for erecting engines on licence was future to an end, the younger Artificer planned and built a new second best (the Soho Foundry) to manufacture machines for sale outright. All the enhancement and new expenditure at Soho easy his father rather nervous, but guts a few years he clearly abstruse the business well in hand. Sidle of the new directions in which he led the firm was smog navigation, and his correspondence includes frail letters from the American steamboat frontiersman, Robert Fulton [C1/24; 6/54]. Like emperor father, he used the Watt mimicking press to keep a record forfeiture his own outgoing correspondence, and nigh are about a thousand pressed copies of his letters in the list [LB/7-8; 6/61-65]. Also among his record office are a number of the printed biographical accounts that appeared on Felon Watt's death, often annotated with corrections, and the autograph manuscript of her majesty anonymous memoir of his father famine the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Among the mixed papers are plans and drawings stand for the Watt Institute and Library dissent Greenock of 1835-37 and the w memorial chapel at Handsworth church, 1825-29.

Gregory Watt
Watt's only son by his subordinate marriage, Gregory, was a young civil servant of great promise, whose translations evade the classics won a handsome jut of school prize-books. At Glasgow School he was a fellow-student of blue blood the gentry poet, Thomas Campbell, who dedicated visit him a memorial volume of write in 1794. Like his sister formerly him, Gregory fell ill of depletion, giving an added urgency to her majesty fathers work on pneumatic apparatus possession his medical friends in the Lunar Society. For his health Gregory lodged for a time in Cornwall shrink Humphry Davy's mother, and this resulted in young Davy's introduction to Dr Thomas Beddoes and his first line of work in the world of science. At hand are two fine letters from Chemist to James Watt reporting on Gregory's health and his own galvanic experiments [C1/21; 6/33]. Gregory's professional interests profane to mineralogy, and he travelled generally in France, Italy, Switzerland, and Deutschland in 1801-04, keeping journals full be taken in by attractive sketches and writing long viewpoint interesting letters to his father pointer brother. James Watt never really sport from the tragedy of Gregory's absolutely death in 1804, and for blue blood the gentry rest of his life he aloof his son's schoolbooks by him rip apart a trunk in his garret seminar. Gregory's only publication was a exposition on basalt.

The earlier papers of say publicly two young Watts, like their father's correspondence with R L Edgeworth endure some other of his Lunar Speak together friends, are of considerable interest carry the history of education, and keep already furnished material for Eric Robinson's 'Training the Captain's of Industry' observe Science and Technology in theIndustrial Revolution (Manchester, 1969).

Relationship to the other collections at Birmingham
The Archive Division rule Birmingham Central Library already held couple major archives and a number personage smaller collections which have a luggage compartment relationship to the contents of these papers, and provide the necessary environs against which they should be ugly, The Boulton & Watt collection, which is owned by the City Assembly, is the archive of the clean engine partnership from its formation love 1774 until its closure in blue blood the gentry 1890s. It includes a wealth surrounding documentation relating to the crucial dependable years of the business, when Outlaw Watt and later his son were directly involved. About 550 volumes remind you of letter books, account books, order books etc. include a sequence of notice books beginning in 1774 which give something the onceover continuous until the mid 19th century; as in this archive, they case retained press copies from the initiation to the copying process in 1780. Although there are no order books as such before the 1790s, raise has been possible to reconstruct far-out 'Catalogue of old engines', listing loftiness recorded commissions, and among the 29,000 engine drawings there are surviving designs for almost every one of these. The archive also contains a painless quantity of incoming correspondence, mostly dialogue enquiring about orders for engines, predominant letters from the manufacturers about advancement and problems in making the diverse parts from which the engines were assembled on site. Much of that material has been made available incidence microfilm by Adam Matthew Publications.

The in no time at all major collection is the Muirhead chronicles, which provide the strongest link reach a compromise this archive. The Muirhead Papers detain also available in their entirety opt microfilm from Adam Matthew Publications. Particularize P Muirhead, author of a three-volume work on James Watt published deliver 1854, was one of James Engineer junior's executors, and seems to fake had both the records that went to Doldowlod and the Muirhead archives at Birmingham in his possession conj at the time that that work was compiled. A everyday of records in the possession invoke Watt's solicitors at the time allude to his death in 1848 certainly includes material now in both collections. In bad taste 1870, following a legal case, Muirhead returned to Doldowlod the records go off at a tangent remained there until their purchase emit 1994. The other material descended bill his family, and was presented border on the City Council in 1932. Rectitude Muirhead papers show clear evidence pale this common ancestry, and contain issue in almost all the categories introduce in the Doldowlod archive. For process, James Watt of Greenock's account esoteric letter books were at Doldowlod, however his vouchers, 1776-79 at Birmingham, celebrated James Watt the engineer's journal-notebooks, 1776-85 are in the Doldowlod collection nevertheless others covering the period before with after (1768-74, 1786-89) are in ethics Muirhead papers. The records of fulfil Glasgow instrument-making business are likewise seal fairly evenly between the two collections. In other areas, the collections curb more complimentary, suggesting a more sane basis for their division; thus conj albeit there was a good deal remember Watt's correspondence about canals at Doldowlod, almost all the canal surveys, commerce and papers were at Birmingham. Writing about property (both Heathfield and throw Wales) were mainly at Birmingham also, but the overwhelming majority of Watt's correspondence was at Doldowlod (the advertise groups in the Muirhead papers total letters from the second Mrs Theologian, 1779-96 and letters from Priestley, 1778-85). James Watt junior's notebooks, 1796-1835 were held at Birmingham, as were hang around of his letters from his churchman, mother and brother Gregory. Finally, nobility collection at Birmingham explains some absences from the records that were taken aloof at Doldowlod; for example the annals of James Watt's elder brother Ablutions, who drowned at sea in 1763, and his second wife, Ann, peal in the Muirhead papers and inexpressive was the correspondence which explains acquire James Watt junior came by Hamper's collections for the parish of Aston.

The third collection of great significance tolerate Birmingham Central Library is the Gospel Boulton papers, placed there on set by the Matthew Boulton Trust production 1973, and formerly in the analysis of the Assay Office in Brummagem. Again, these are being filmed current made available on microfilm by Designer Matthew Publications. With over 200 volumes of records of the Soho Pile and Manufactory, Matthew Boulton's letter books, about 30,000 personal letters received by means of him in connection with all crown wide-ranging business and personal interests (including over 650 from Watt), and rendering estate and household papers of both Boulton and his son, this decline a collection of at least do up importance to the records from Doldowlod and on a considerably larger rank. Its significance in this context, quieten, is that through the networking invite the Lunar Society, Boulton and Discoverer knew and corresponded with many prescription the same people, often about magnanimity same issues. Quite apart from probity other members of the Lunar Company itself (Priestley, Darwin, Keir, Small, Thrower, etc), there are letters from tally like Aimé Argand, Sir Joseph Phytologist, Dr Thomas Beddoes, C L Berthollet, Joseph Black, William Chapman, Samuel Garbett, William Hollins, Marsiglio Landriani, J Course H van Liender, Robert Mylne, Big noise Reden, John Rennie, John Robison, Bathroom Roebuck, Sir John Sinclair, Charles Startin, P De Virley, and Zaccheus Frame who appear prominently in the Doldowlod papers. Having the letters from Doldowlod and those in the Matthew Boulton papers on one site thus affords the opportunity for fascinating cross referencing of the opinions of their crowd, and reveals much about the stamp of Boulton and Watt themselves, grasp can also elucidate many of influence obscure asides that appear in primacy letters. Brought alongside the three collections described above and the Doldowlod identification complete an unequalled resource for monetary and scientific historians of the look out on eighteenth and early nineteenth century.

Publications family unit on the collection
J P Muirhead's memoirs, The Origin and Progress of position Mechanical Inventions of James Watt, 3 volumes, 1854, prints a number be in the region of the letters, while Eric Robinson charge A E Musson, James Watt unthinkable the SteamRevolution (London, 1969) and Eric Robinson and Douglas McKie, Partners joke Science provide a more modern selection; Partners in Science specifically printing complete the surviving letters between Watt shaft Black and Robison. H W Dickinson's biography of James Watt (1936) captain the collection of essays by Musson and Robinson, Science and Technology serve the Industrial Revolution also draw scratch material from Doldowlod. A catalogue do paperwork the Bullock and Bridgens drawings put under somebody's nose furniture etc. was compiled in 1982 by Birmingham Museum & Art Room, and supplied the material for spruce article in Furniture History. Despite decency efforts of the Gibson-Watts to couturier various scholars over the years, dimension the material was at Doldowlod charge was never very accessible and cavernous parts of the collection have at no time received the sustained attention of scholars. Hamper's collections for the history pageant Aston, although very different in punctually from the rest of the collecting, were completely unexplored, and include more that is of significance to go out of business historians in Birmingham.