|
Matthew Boulton:
Industrialist
Matthew Boulton was born in the town of Birmingham in 1728, the son of a local
manufacturer of toys, buttons and buckles.
Matthew Boulton entered his father’s
business in 1745 and in 1760 married Anne Robinson of Lichfield from
whom he received a considerable dowry. This money enabled him to
invest heavily in developing the family business.
In 1762 Matthew Boulton opened the Soho Works in Handsworth
part of Birmingham now, which soon acquired a
reputation for producing high quality metal work. In planning Soho,
Boulton bypassed the traditional putting-out system where a
businessman used workshops in different locations to manufacture an
item. Instead he concentrated all aspects of production under one
roof. There were stores, drawing and design rooms and specialised
sections for aspects of manufacturing. Matthew
Boulton also had an advertising
and marketing section. He also employed agents to secure items from
home and abroad which would help him with the process of industrial
design. Soho became the largest factory in the world. In 1766,
Matthew Boulton
moved into Soho House, close to his factory. It became one of the main
venues for meetings of the Lunar Society.
|
Matthew Boulton 1728 -
1809 (c.) |
|
|
Matthew Boulton:
Engineer
Matthew Boulton’s energy led him to extend his economic activities. For years,
Matthew Boulton had agitated for an assay office so that he could have his
silver and gold products stamped in Birmingham to indicate the quality
of metal, instead of being sent to other towns. In 1773 Birmingham’s
Assay Office was established. In 1775 Boulton and Watt entered into a
partnership to build and market Watt’s steam pump. They continued to
collaborate in producing Watt’s other inventions, assisted by William
Murdock, one of Matthew Boulton’s engineers. After 1788
Matthew Boulton developed new
coining presses and ways of making coins more difficult to
counterfeit, producing the first modern coins with diagonal “reeding”
along the edges. In 1795 the Soho Foundry in Smethwick was created,the
first purpose-built plant to manufacture steam engines.
By the time of his death in 1809, Matthew Boulton together with the innovative
individuals he had gathered around him had pioneered the British
engineering industry. |
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
From the 1700s, when Savery and Newcomen
were commissioned to designed
steam engines to pump water form the flooded mines
of Cornwall - and James Watt
built the first engine that could turn wheels. From then on
remarkably steam
changed the face of Britain and the world. It was the Golden Age of Steam -
leading to the magnificent achievements of The Flying
Scotsman!
Mamod Working Steam Models recapture the excitement of that era
giving immediate enjoyment and fun. Fire is
generated from the safe solid fuel
tablets, the boilers of Mamod models soon reach working pressure
and you quickly experience the joys of steam in action. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 
We
except all major credit cards via our secure protx online
systems
|
Copyrights © 2004 - All rights
reserved
|
