Who was Matthew Boulton?
Manufacturer, industrialist and pioneer in Technology.
Date and Place of Birth:
14th September 1728, New Hall Walk, Snow Hill,
Birmingham, England.
Family Background:
Son of Matthew Boulton senior the manufacturer
of buckles and metal "toys" and Christiana Piers. One
of four children of parents formerly of Chester.
Education:
Reverend John Hausted's Academy in Deritend,
Birmingham. Left school at 14 to become a partner with his father.
Chronology/Biography of Matthew
Boulton:
1745: Entered his
father's business.
1759: Death of his
father leaving him his manufacturing business.
1760: Represented
the buckle makers of England before a House of Commons Committee.
Began manufacturing Sheffield plate which was a process of laying
a thin layer of silver on base metal.
1761: Leases land
at Handsworth and began building the Soho Manufactory in Birmingham,
which consisted of workshops, warehouses and dwellings for the workmen.
Soho House itself was built in 1757.
1762: Began to build
the Soho Works. Started in partnership with John Fothergill to help
him export products to Europe.
Soho House, Handsworth, Birmingham
(© Anthony Blagg)
1766: Completion
of the Soho Manufactory and restoration of Soho House. Foundation
of the Lunar Society which met at Boulton's house. Legend has it
that the name came from the practice of holding meetings on evenings
of the full moon so visitors good see their way home. The Society
was originally founded by Boulton and Erasmus Darwin but later included
such notables as James Watt, Benjamin Franklin
and Josiah Wedgwood. Began manufacturing
items in ormolu as well as jewellery, ‘toys’ (items
such as gilded snuff boxes), Sheffield plate and sterling silver
tableware. Boulton and his wife move into Soho House for the first
time. Boulton had a tea house built in the garden for visitors to
take tea after their visit to the factory which became one of the
wonders of the modern world. He began to count amongst his friends
eminent people such as Sir Joseph Banks, Benjamin Franklin, Sir
William Herschel and Sarah Siddons.
1767: First visit
of James Watt to the Soho works even though
Boulton wasn't present on his occasion. Boulton's interests were
wide and he was largely self taught. He studied chemistry, meteorology,
astronomy, medicine, electricity, the arts and classics as well
as music.
1768: Watt
meets Boulton. His daughter Anne is born on 29th January. He is
placed on the General Hospital Committee which has the task of organising
the first of the Birmingham Music Festivals.
The Dining Room at Soho House where Lunar Society meetings
were held
(© Anthony Blagg)
1769: First patent
between Boulton and Watt for a steam engine.
Boulton later seeks an extension of this patent until 1800 which
was to give the pair a significant commercial advantage.
1770: Birth of son
Mathew Robinson Boulton.
1770's: Began the
first minting of coins to give a standard weight and design.
1772: The botanist
Joseph Banks takes some glass earrings designed by Boulton with
him on Captain Cook’s circumnavigation
of the globe. These are meant as bartering goods to gibe to the
natives.
1773: Opening of
the Birmingham Assay Office which speeded up the process of officially
marking silver in the area after a campaign by Boulton.
1774: Watt
moved to Birmingham.
1775: Entered into
a partnership with James Watt to build and
market Watt's steam pump. Not long after they were joined by another
Scot William Murdoch.
1781: Partnership
with Fothergill dissolved due to heavy financial losses.
1783: Elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
1785: Elected Fellow
of the Royal Society.
1788: Invented a
new process of manufacturing coins which made them more difficult
to counterfeit.
1790: Soho House
is improved by James and Samuel Wyatt.
1792: Became a Member
of the Society of Civil Engineers.
Boulton's Study at Soho House
(© Anthony Blagg)
1793: Boulton
becomes Chairman of the Birmingham Theatre Proprietors Committee.
1794: Becomes High
Sherriff of Staffordshire.
1795: Formation
of the company Boulton, Watt and Sons. Opening of the Soho Foundry
in Smethwick.
1796: Richard Trevithick
visits the Soho Foundry after the opening of a purpose built steam
engine manufactory. Began the remodeling of Soho House. Boulton
and Watt steam engines are soon being exported to all parts of the
world.
1797: The Royal
Mint gives him a contract to make copper coinage at Soho Manufactory.
1800: Became a proprietor
of the Royal Institution.
1805: Boulton strikes
a commemorative medal for sailors who fought at the Battle of Trafalgar.
Marriage:
1. 1756 to Mary Robinson a distant cousin and
daughter of a Lichfield mercer. (died 1759)
2. 1760 to Mary's sister Anne who drowned in the swimming pool at
Soho House, it is said because she couldn't cope with the scandal.
Statue of Matthew Boulton, James Watt and
William Murdoch in Broad Street, Birmingham
(© Anthony Blagg)
Date and Place of Death:
17th August 1809, Birmingham, England of kidney
failure.
Age at Death:
81.
Site of Grave:
St. Mary's Church, Handsworth, Birmingham, England.
Places of Interest:
BIRMINGHAM:
Soho House, Handsworth. (Part of Birmingham
City Museums).
DEVON:
Ornamental Work at Saltram House, Devon. National
Trust.
KENT:
The Historic Dockyard, Chatham,14 New Road, Chatham,
Kent ME4 4QR
The museum has one of Matthew Boulton's Trafalgar medals which was
issued to Francis Graham, a gunner on H.M.S. Minatour
MIDDLESEX:
Kew Bridge Steam Museum, Green Dragon Lane, Brentford,
TW8 0EN holds a Cornish Engine.
