(Location: 52°29′33″N 1°53′17″W / 52.492537°N 1.888189°W)
The firm of Boulton & Watt was initially a partnership between Matthew Boulton and James Watt.
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The engine partnership
The partnership was formed in 1775 to exploit Watt's patent for a steam engine with a separate condenser. This made much more efficient use of its fuel than the older Newcomen engine. Initially the business was based at the Soho Manufactory near Boulton's Soho House on the southern edge of the then-rural parish of Handsworth. However most of the components for their engines were made by others, for example the cylinders by John Wilkinson.
In 1795, they began to make steam engines themselves at their Soho Foundry in Smethwick, near Birmingham, England. The partnership was passed to two of their sons in 1800. The firm lasted over 120 years, and was still making steam engines, a few of which are preserved, in 1895.
Archive
The firm left an extremely detailed archive of its activities, which was given to the city of Birmingham in 1911 and is kept at Birmingham Central Library. The library has since obtained various other related archives.
See also
Further reading
- Hills, Richard L. (2002). James Watt: His Time in Scotland (1736-1774). Landmark Publishing. pp. 480. ISBN 1843060450.
- Roll, Erich (1930). An Early Experiment in Industrial Organisation : being a History of the Firm of Boulton & Watt, 1775-1805. Longmans, Green and Co.. pp. 320}.
External links
- Archives of Soho at Birmingham Central Library.
- The Powerhouse Museum's Boulton and Watt engine
- Revolutionary Players website
- Cornwall Record Office Boulton & Watt letters
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