INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY Series Four Parts 3 and 4

Transcription

1 INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY Series Four: Sources from the Record Offices in the United Kingdom Part 3: The Papers of James Watt ( ) and James Watt, jnr ( ) from the James Patrick Muirhead Collection, at Glasgow University Library Part 4: The Darby Family, Coalbrookdale Estate and the Iron Bridge - sources from Shropshire Archives Contents listing PUBLISHER'S NOTE - Part 3 CONTENTS OF REELS - Part 3 PUBLISHER'S NOTE - Part 4 CONTENTS OF REELS - Part 4

2 Publisher's Note - Part 3 James Patrick Muirhead is remembered as the biographer of the engineer and scientist James Watt senior, leading member of the Lunar Society and key figure of the Industrial Revolution. For Victorian and later writers the Watt steam engine became synonymous with industrial growth and progress in Britain. Today Muirhead s biographies remain the major source for scholars of James Watt, his life and achievements. Muirhead was born in Lanarkshire in 1813 the son of Lockhart Muirhead who was principle librarian and regius professor of natural history in Glasgow University. His maternal grandmother was the first cousin of James Watt. Muirhead was educated in Glasgow College and later Balliol College, Oxford, practising law in Edinburgh for eight years before moving to Haseley Court in Oxfordshire. In 1844 Muirhead married Katharine Elizabeth, daughter of Matthew Robinson Boulton and granddaughter of Matthew Boulton, the manufacturer and entrepreneur. During his time at Oxford Muirhead became acquainted with James Watt, jnr who later requested Muirhead to write the memoir of his father. In 1854 Muirhead published The Origins and Progress of the Mechanical Inventions of James Watt. The first volume contains a detailed biography and a selection of Watt s correspondence illustrating his achievements. The second volume continues the correspondence and the third contains the full texts and drawings of all Watt s patents, including excerpts from the patent trials of the 1790s. Later, in 1858 Muirhead published an abbreviated edition The Life of James Watt with Selections from his Correspondence. While the collection as a whole is described as papers relating to the Muirhead family, the bulk of the material is connected with Muirhead s biographies of Watt. Papers concerning the biography include: c.900 letters between James Watt, jnr and Muirhead, letters and papers about James Watt, c items for the printing and sales of James Watt s biography, c papers concerning the Great Eastern steamship, 1859 the Soho engine works, 1859 letters to Muirhead concerning Watt s biography, letters from Muirhead to Rev Napier, Items relating to the Muirhead family include: diary of a Voyage to Sicily, 1793, and journals of other journeys in France and Italy by James Watt, jnr Muirhead s translation of D F J Arago s Historical Eloge of James Watt (1834), being the first biography of Watt: published in 1839 papers concerning the funeral of Matthew Boulton, 1842 In addition, to complement and broaden the understanding of the manuscript collection we include a selection of Muirhead s published works on James Watt. These include: The Origin and the Progress of the Mechanical Inventions of James Watt (1854) Life of James Watt with Selections from his Correspondence (1858) The James Patrick Muirhead collection contains valuable material for those studying the development and growth of the Industrial Revolution through the lives and achievements of James Watt and James Watt, jnr. <back

3 Contents of Reels - Part 3 REEL 1 MS Gen 1354/22 Voyage in Sicily, 1793, and journals of other journeys in France and Italy, by James Watt, jnr MS Gen 1354/23 J P Muirhead s fair copy of his translation of M Arago s Eloge of James Watt, August 1839 MS Gen 1354/24 Funeral procession of the late M R Boulton, May MS Gen 1354/25-66 Forty-one letters from Lockhart Muirhead to his wife, One letter from Lockhart Muirhead to his son, 1820 MS Gen 1354/67-90 Miscellaneous letters, Nov Feb 1858 MS Gen 1354/ Twenty-two letters from J P Muirhead to Thomas Jones Wilkinson, One letter from Samuel Smiles to J P Muirhead, 4 Jan 1858 REEL 2 MS Gen 1354/ Letters of acknowledgment for copies of the correspondence of Watt, MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence concerning George Wilson s article for the Edinburgh Review REEL 3 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, Jan Sept 1839 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, Oct 1839 REEL 4 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, Nov - Dec 1839 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, 1840 REEL 5 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, 1843 REEL 6 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, 1844 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, 1845 REEL 7 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, Jan - May 1846 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, June - Sept 1846 REEL 8 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, Oct - Dec 1846

4 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence between James Watt, jnr and James Patrick Muirhead, 1847 MS Gen 1354/ Miscellaneous letters, REEL 9 MS Gen 1354/ Correspondence concerning publication of Life of Watt, etc, MS Gen 1354/ Letters from J P Muirhead to H A Napier, MR 47/6 Letter from James Watt to William Meikleham, Birmingham, 17 May 1810 MS Cullen 574/11 Notes entitled Ex[tract]s from Mr Watt s letter to Dr Brewster on the origin of his improvements on the steam-engine. With miscellaneous notes for material medica, 18-- REEL 10 GUL: U12-f.14 Historical Eloge of James Watt by M Arago translated by James Patrick Muirhead, with additional notes and an appendix. Edition / Year: First Ed, 1839 REEL 11 GUL: Store HQ The Origin and Progress of the Mechanical Inventions of James Watt, illustrated by his correspondence with his friends and the specifications of his patents by James Patrick Muirhead. Edition / Year: First Ed, 1854, 3 volumes. REEL 12 GUL: U12-a.4 The Life of James Watt, with selections from his correspondence by James Patrick Muirhead. Edition / Year: First Ed, 1858 <back

5 Publisher's Note - Part 4 Coalbrookdale has been described as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution because it was here that the Darby family pioneered the world s first successful coke-fired blast furnaces. They produced cast iron in vast quantities making it thinner and cheaper than had previously been possible and opening it up to a wide range of applications. Their cast iron spanned the country in the form of railroad tracks. It was used in textile mills to replace the combustible wood of earlier frames. It was used by Boulton & Watt and other engineering companies to build the industrial machinery of the age. It was also used to create the iconic Iron Bridge across the River Severn at Coalbrookdale the world s first cast iron bridge. This transformed the landscape and nowhere was this more evident than at the place of production. Philip James de Loutherbourg s painting of Coalbrookdale at night (1801), is one of the great images of the Industrial Revolution, showing what had once been an idyllic landscape, with carthorses and a human figure in the foreground, now dominated by the red incandescent furnaces creating a vision of Hell on Earth. In this part we offer access to a cluster of collections from the Shropshire archives describing the activities of successive generations of the Darby family of Coalbrookdale, ironmasters of the Industrial Revolution. The Papers of the Coalbrookdale Company contain items relating to the management of the company, including observations, memorandums, correspondence, reports, resolutions, articles of agreement and bonds. There are calculations of the amount of iron needed for various jobs, and lists of subscribers for projects undertaken. There are production figures for Ketley, Horsehay and Dawley Castle furnaces, 1799, and a memorandum of the final adjustment and dissolution of the co-partnership of the Coalbrookdale, Horsehay and Ketley concerns following the death of Abraham Darby III, c The Archives of the Iron Bridge include the Minute Book of the Trustees of the intended iron bridge between Madeley Wood and Benthall, , written in a clear legible handwriting (Abraham Darby III?). Other items are: Assignment and Transfer of Shares ; Book of Certificates of the Iron Bridge Trust ; Ten original share certificates on vellum; Account Book May 1831-Dec 1841; Account Book Dec 1841-June 1861; Accounts of dividends paid to the proprietors of the Iron Bridge 1st June 1827-Dec 1842; Minute Book of the Trustees of the Iron Bridge June 1800-Dec 1828; Minute Book of the Trustees of the Iron Bridge The Deeds and Family papers of the Darby Family form the bulk of the collection and provide valuable material on legal, commercial, societal, family and personal matters during the 18th and 19th centuries in Coalbrookdale and the surrounding industrial area. They include mortgages, lease agreements, and purchases and exchanges of land, properties and businesses. There are marriage settlements, articles of agreement, receipts for payment, deeds for tenants and wills. These relate mainly to Abraham Darby II ( ), a managerial and technological innovator in iron-making whose success is compared to that of Richard Arkwright in cotton-spinning and Abraham Darby III ( ), the builder of the Iron Bridge. There is a limited amount of material relating to Abraham Darby I, Dud Dudley and Abraham Darby IV. There is much on their wives and families. Sample documents include a Mortgage of one third of Ketley Ironworks, 5 August 1758; and abstract of title to the Washbrook Piece in Madeley sold by Henry Goodman to Abraham Darby, [c.1776]; an attested copy of the assignment of Mr Samuel Darby s share in certain iron and other works in Coalbrookdale and elsewhere on various trusts, 4 February 1794; the Probate and copy of the will of Abraham Darby of Coalbrookdale, Madeley, ironmaster, proved 26 July 1763; and Deeds relating to Sunniside a three-storey, three-bay mansion built for Abraham and Abiah Darby. Such documents tell us a huge amount about the scale and value of the business, the way that capital was raised, the success of ventures, and also about the prosperity that this brought to the Darby family. There are letters relating to experiments and general family correspondence. Another outstanding source is the collection of cashbooks of Abraham Darby III, which reveal his personal spending and lifestyle with accounts of furnishings and luxury goods from London and Bristol, chocolate from Joseph Fry and purchases of wine, newspapers and magazines, and Scholars of the Industrial Revolution will be delighted to have access to these archives which describe the evolution of one of the central companies of the industrial age. <back

6 Contents of Reels - Part 4 Darby of Coalbrookdale (Labouchere) Collection. Reference Code: 1987 REEL /1/1 Further mortgage - date: 24 November 1804 Samuel Darby of Pool, ironmaster & Mary Rathbone of Sunniside, widow. 1987/2/1 Copy lease - date: 12 May 1791 Rt Hon William Lord Craven, Baron Hampstead Marshall, Berks & Benjamin Wright of Coalbrookdale, surgeon and apothecary. 1987/3/1-27 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Copy will of Samuel Sprott of Ludlow, bachelor of physick. - date 24 October 1753; Copy marriage settlement; Articles of agreement; Attested copy lease and release; Copy receipts of payments; Attested copy of recovery. REEL /4/1-15 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Attested copy grant; Lease and release; Bond; Copy will; Acknowledgements of deeds of married women. 1987/5/1-5 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, (1809) Including: Abstract of title of Hannah Tothill wife of William Tothill, gent, and her eldest son to a house & garden at Coalbrookdale devised to them by the will of Sarah Darby spinster, deceased - date: /6/1-2 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Building lease; Assignment of lease. 1987/7/1-15 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Abstract of the title to a messuage or dwelling house, garden &c at Coalbrookdale, date: /8/1-13 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Copy will of Richard Dayus of Coalbrookdale, blacksmith date: 13 January 1799; Lease and release; Fine; Conveyance in fee. 1987/9/1-3 Lease and release - conveyance - (joined together) Enrolled in Chancery 30 August date: 27 & 29 July /10/1 Grant - date: 29 September /11/1-5 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Letter from W R Anstice of London, to George Potts - date: 5 February 1849; Copy lease, Conveyance; Deed of covenant for the production of title deeds. REEL /12/1-6 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Feoffment; Copy will of Thomas Richards of Coalbrookdale, smith - date: 3 December 1817; Lease and release - conveyance. 1987/13/1-20 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Conditions of sale of 5 freehold houses with brewhouses and gardens (late Mr Thorp, decd) at the upper end of Coalbrookdale (Thomas Hughes, John Hornblower, John Davies, Sarah Chilton, Thomas Wyke, Thomas Delves) to be sold by auction at the Tontine Inn 23 Nov Amended for sale 1 May 1801 at the Crown and Court House, Madeley, of 4 leasehold houses, late of Thomas Geary near the Iron Bridge - date: 23 November /14/1-18 Deeds relating to Sunniside, Including: Bond for performance. Abraham Darby to Richard Case - date: 3 May /15/1-9 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Assignment of 2 terms - date: 1 June 1803; Lease and release and confirmation - date: 3 & 4 June /16/1-15 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, , Including: Fine - date: All Souls 26 George III (1785); Attested copy conveyance - lease and release - date: 23 & 24 May 1781.

7 REEL /17/1-12 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: [ ] Fine Sarah Darby, Mr Thomas and Henrietta Cranage, Hannah Thomas, defois, 6 messuages 6 gardens in Coalbrookdale [ ] - date: Hilary 47 Geo III. 1987/18/ Reference not used. 1987/19/1-37 Title deeds of lands late MacMichaels called the Burnace Bank Farm cost 3500 Mch to F. Darby, REEL /20/1 Counterpart lease - date: 9 March /21/1-4 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Abstract of the title of Joseph Reynolds Esq to the Manor of Madeley and sundry houses and lands &c in Madeley - date: /22/1 Lease - date: 26 July Due to the fragile condition of this manuscript Shropshire Archives has requested this item not to be filmed. 1987/23/1 Building lease - date: 5 July /24a/1-2 Attested copy lease and release (copied 12 July 1776) - date: 11 & 12 June /24b/1-2 Deed of request and authority from the persons beneficially interested in the estate and effects of the Coalbrookdale Co to Abraham Darby Esq to convey certain of the Copartnership Estates now vested in him to Henry Whitmore, Henry Dickinson and Francis Tothill, Esqs, and covenant for indemnity - date: 9 January /25/1-8 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Copy will of Mary Purcell of the parish of St Andrew, Holborn, Middx, spinster - date: 4 January 1731/ /26/1-19 Deeds relating to several houses and lands in Coalbrookdale, Mr John Cartwright to F Darby, /27/1-4 Deeds relating to the Priory Piece Sunnyside purchased from Mr Reynolds, REEL /28/1-34 Green Bank Estate, Dawley, /29/1-15 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Abstract of title to the Washbrook Piece in Madeley sold by Henry Goodman to Abraham Darby date: c /30/1-7 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: A list of deeds constituting the title to lands bought of Joseph Reynolds, Esq by Francis Darby 10 February date: 18 March REEL /31/1-9 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, Including: Copy release in fee of Sheepwash Meadow - date: 11 April /32/1-5 Exchanges, /33/1-2 Family Settlements, 1794, nd. Including: Attested copy - assignment of Mr Samuel Darby s shares in certain iron and other works in Coalbrookdale and elsewhere on various trusts - date: 4 February /34/1-3 Deeds relating to the Coalbrookdale Estate of the Darby Family, , n d. Including: Probate and copy of the will of Abraham Darby of Coalbrookdale, Madeley, ironmaster, proved 26 July date: 11 March /35/1-13

8 Leases and agreements to and with the Darbys, Including: The Answer of John Powys Stanley, gent, defendant, to the Bill of Complaint of Joseph Rathbone, Abraham Darby, Samuel Darby and William Reynolds, complainants - date: 26 June REEL /36/1-18 Leases and Agreements by the Darbys, Including: Account; Window Tax 1 11s. 6d; to Sparrow pd John Hatton ½ year Land Tax 3 7s; Total 4 18s 6d - date: 2 April /37/1-2 Non-Darby wills, Including: Administration with will annexed of James Dyster - date: /38/1-10 Messuages and land in Coalbrookdale, Including: Particulars and valuation of land at Sunniside, proposed to be purchased of Mr William M Michael by Mrs Darby - date: 9 June /39/1-23 Land in Eyton, Baschurch, Including: Extracts from Penzer family bible giving four dates of births and marriages over the period /40/1-4. The Lordship of Pimhill, the manor of Fennemere and the Eyton and Fennemere estate in Baschurch and Middle, REEL /41/1-60 Messuages and land in Little Ness, Ruyton-XI-Towns, and Melverley, Including: Lease and release (conveyance): Deed of covenant for the production of title deeds; Deed of exchange; Further mortgage; Copy of court roll of the court of common pleas, etc. Continued on next reel. REEL /41/61-90 Messuages and land in Little Ness, Ruyton-XI-Towns, and Melverley, Including: Lease and release (conveyance): Deed of covenant for the production of title deeds; Deed of exchange; Further mortgage; Copy of court roll of the court of common pleas, etc. Continued on next reel. REEL /41/ Messuages and land in Little Ness, Ruyton-XI-Towns, and Melverley, Including: Lease and release (conveyance): Deed of covenant for the production of title deeds; Deed of exchange; Further mortgage; Copy of court roll of the court of common pleas, etc. 1987/42/1-4 Messuage in Clapham, Surrey, /43/1-9 Maps of land in Coalbrookdale, Dawley Parva and Ruyton-XI-Towns, REEL /44/1-2 Maps of land near Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, and Tring, Hertfordshire, /45/1-2 Personal - Abraham Darby II, /46/1-2 Personal - Abiah Darby, (wife of Abraham Darby II), /47/1-8 Personal - Abraham Darby III, Including cash books [of Abraham Darby III], , /48/1 Personal - Francis Darby, /49/1-5 Personal - Lucy Darby (wife of Edmund Darby), /50/1-3 Personal - Alfred Darby, /51/1-3 Personal - Matilda Darby (wife of Abraham Darby IV),

9 1987/52/1-2 Personal - Grant family of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, REEL /53/1-15 Personal - Bankruptcy of Richard Ford, [1759] /54/1-4 Personal - Bankruptcy of Abraham Ford, /55/1-16 Personal - Purchase by Mary Rathbone of the Meadow and Strethill estate, Coalbrookdale, /56/1-39 Personal - Edwards family of Coalbrookdale, REEL /57/1-3 Miscellaneous, Including: copy will of Arthur Harper of Darliston, Prees, date: 25 July /58/1-54 Coalbrookdale Company, Includes: Papers relating to the management of the company, [c.1774] - [1881], Agreements and bonds, ; Accounts, ; Correspondence to William Norris (Secretary to the Coalbrookdale Company) concerning its formation as a Limited Company, ; Shares, [1718] ; Construction of the iron bridge at Ironbridge, [1775]; Production figures for Ketley, Horsehay and Dawley Castle furnaces, ; Coal mining at Arleston, 1814; Analysis of specimens of iron and sandstone, ; Catalogue of steam pumping engines, 1876; Expenses of making railway waggons and boats, experiments on the strength of iron and wood, and diagrams of steam pumping engines and boring mills, Continued on next reel. REEL /58/55-99 Coalbrookdale Company, See Reel 14 for description of manuscripts. REEL /59/1-9 Other iron founding companies, Ebbw Vale Company, /60/1-5 Other iron founding companies, Madeley Wood Company, [c.1760s] - [c.1780s] 1987/61/1-3 Miscellaneous, Including: newspaper cuttings and printed letter. 1987/62/1-2 Tithes, [1870]. Including: Tithe apportionment for the parish of Madeley - date: /63/1-3 Ecclesiastical, Quaker Meeting House, Coalbrookdale, /64/1-6 Descriptive accounts of Coalbrookdale and its environs, [c.1850]. 1987/65/1-3 Pictures and drawings, [early 19th century]. Including: Engraving of an elevation of one set of the ribs of the iron bridge cast at Coalbrookdale and erected near that place - date: The Iron Bridge Archive. Reference Code: x6001 REEL 17 x6001/3689 Minute Book of the Trustees of the intended bridge between Madeley Wood and Benthall,

10 x6001/3690 Assignment and Transfer of Shares x6001/3691 Book of Certificates of the Iron Bridge Trust, x6001/3692 Ten original Share Certificates on vellum. REEL 18 x6001/3693 Account Book, May December x6001/3694 Account Book, December June REEL 19 x6001/3695 Accounts for the expenditure for repairs on the Iron Bridge, etc, x6001/3696 Accounts of dividends paid to the proprietors of the Iron Bridge, 1st June December x6001/3697 Minute Book of the Trustees of the Iron Bridge, June December x6001/3698 Minute Book of the Trustees of the Iron Bridge, <back