madeinbirmingham
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Location: BIRMINGHAM
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 Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2009 8:45 pm Post subject: MATTHEW BOULTON |
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I am very please to print below a fine short article by Adrian Lanchester Hale (Copyright)
MATTHEW BOULTON
The name of Matthew Boulton is one that is recognised by many people; however it may be little realised that although his long partnership with James Watt helped develop the steam engine as an integral part of 19th and early 20th Century industry, the results of some of his other enterprises are still felt by nearly every person in the developed world today.
Matthew Boulton was born in Birmingham, on September 3, 1728, where his father was a manufacturer of what were at the time termed toys – these were such things as included buckles and buttons. Some early education is believed to have taken place at a private school in Deritend, however 1745 saw him joining his fathers business, then located it is understood, in Livery Street, part of the Snow Hill area of Birmingham.
Business increased and as a result in 1755 they took over Sarehole Mill in the Cole Valley close to Hall Green. Sarehole Mill was used by the Boultons to roll sheet metal for several years. One of the many strengths of Matthew Boulton was his belief to think “outside the box”. He was not content with trading in the manner that was customary for the time. His thinking brought about a concept to put together a style of working that encompassed all the relevant parts of manufacture under one roof. In so doing, he entered into a partnership with John Fothergill who with his knowledge of European markets was able to increase business further. So much so that the works at Snow Hill soon became too small for the business and a new site was required.
Around 1761 Boulton located a site at a place about 2 miles north of Birmingham called Soho. Although on the site there was an existing structure, Hockley Mill, there was also an area of undeveloped land where he was able build the premises he needed. The initial building was designed by Benjamin Wyatt & Sons, of Lichfield, and was built between 1762 and 1765. As well as becoming Birmingham’s foremost tourist attraction and being at the time the largest manufactory in the world, it encompassed all the components that Boulton needed to see his plans bear fruit. The three-storey building not only housed the workshops but also design offices, showrooms, stores and accommodation for some of the 1,000 workers he employed there. The building is reputed to have cost £10,000; approximate value in 2006 would be £1.035million. He was mindful that there would be occasions when his workers would be ill and during the 1770’s introduced a scheme whereby they gave up 1/60th of their wages that in the event of them being ill it would pay them 80% of their salary – it is worth remembering that this was the 18th Century.
1766 saw him move into Soho House, only a few hundred yards from his manufactory. This was an existing property that he leased shortly after moving to the manufactory. Gradually Boulton made various changes and extensions to the building, which at the time had grounds of around 100 acres, again using the Wyatt’s as architects. Soho House became one of the venues for The Lunar Society whose members met at venues around Birmingham.
Once his manufactory was established Boulton started to extend his business activities again. One of the problems he encountered was in getting his silver and gold products assayed. At his time the nearest assay office was in Chester and given the state of the roads together with the security of his goods he began to press for an assay office in Birmingham. This he was successful in getting established in 1773, though until 1824 only silver could be assayed. When the office opened in August 1773 Matthew Boulton was its first customer.
It is understood that Boulton and Watt first met around 1768, however in 1774 their relationship deepened as a result of Boulton taking over the share of John Roebuck who had earlier entered into a partnership with Watt but had now fallen into severe financial problems. As a result of this Watt moved from Scotland to Birmingham and a partnership was formed. The first issue tackled by Boulton was to get the patent to manufacture steam engines, granted to Watt in 1769 extended, as due to technical difficulties Watt had not produced any. Doubtless using the knowledge he gained when pressing for the Assay office Boulton petitioned Parliament by way of a private act to get the patent extended. After some resistance the extension was granted and Watts patent now expired in 1800.
With a guaranteed monopoly in the supply of their engines Boulton and Watt commenced production, though this in itself was beset with problems. Their first engines were built in 1776 at Bloomfield Colliery near Tipton and the New Willey Ironworks, near Broseley, Shropshire. As the financial systems that we take for granted today were not in existence engines were built to order and again due to the costs involved Boulton could not apply the same production process to the engines as he had done for products made at his manufactory. Production of the parts for the engines were subcontracted out to smaller companies and the engines were constructed on site. The way in which the engines were charged for was quite interesting in that should payment not be possible in full then charges were made as a proportion of the saving made by the purchaser of the engine with payment being made over an extended period. This method of payment was predominantly used by Cornish mines due to the way they were financed. This in itself created problems for the company in so far that a proportion of the engines were never paid for in full when the buyers defaulted.
The coin of the realm in the late 18th century was a national disgrace, it was estimated that the majority of the small value coinage in circulation was either forged or had been adulterated in one way or another, by clipping and/or shaving. With his partnership with Watt on a steady course Boulton decided that as no one else would do anything about this poor situation he would. Boulton embarked on a programme of employing engravers and coming up with a way of producing unforgeable copper coins. It was not an easy path but he eventually succeeded in persuading the government that safe coinage would be of benefit to the country. 1797 saw him produce over 40 million new penny and two penny pieces. These were the first new coins issued in Britain for nearly 40 years though Boulton had by then been producing coinage for export since 1787, his first coins being exported to Sumatra. The success of these coins prompted further orders for smaller denomination coins and in time the government asked Boulton to re-equip the Royal Mint. Procrastination by the powers resulted in this not being completed by Boultons death in 1809, though by this time he had been trying to for 10 years! It is through his efforts that we have the coinage we do today, many of our modern coins still have the raised edge he introduced to save wear on the faces of the coins. He also introduced milled edges, which gave further protection against forgery and tampering.
Matthew Boulton died on 17 August 1809, leaving an estate valued at approximately £150,000. He is buried in a vault at St Mary’s Church, Hampstead Road, Handsworth.
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JP --- History is just one thing after the other! |
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