Description:This is an image of the world famous Soho Manufactory, built in eighteenth century Handsworth. James Watt and Matthew Boulton were partners from 1775 to 1800. During that time Watt's steam engine revolutionised industry and manufacturing. The firm they established lasted over 120 years, making engines at Soho in Handsworth until 1895. Matthew Boulton was a member of the 'Lunar society', a group of intellectuals and inventors which debated the immorality of the slave trade. At the same time, the 'Boulton and Watt' firm are known to have sold engines to West Indies slave plantation owners, leading us to the question: were Boulton and Watt cynically capitalising on the 'African trade' or did they believe that such engines would actually reduce the amount of slave labour that was needed in the planatations?
The Boulton and Watt Archive
The Boulton and Watt Collection is the archive of the steam engine partnership of Matthew Boulton and James Watt, dating from its formation in 1774 until the firm's closure in the 1890s. The archive comprises about 550 volumes of letters, books, order books and account books, approximately 29,000 engine drawings and upwards of 20,000 letters received from customers.