Production Records

MS 3147/4

Production Records

1774 - 1895

Despite the wide covering dates, survival of the Production Records is far from complete. Very few series are complete, and coverage for the firm’s later life as James Watt & Co. from 1848 to 1895 is particularly poor, especially for the later part of the 19th century. Records from the offices at Soho Manufactory such as order books and estimates, and 'high level' records such as Engine Books are those that have survived best. Lower level records such as Time Books and detailed records from the various departments at Soho Foundry have survived in very small quantities.

Calculations, Notebooks, Memoranda and Working Papers
James Watt and John Southern's Blotting and Calculation Books.
James Wattt used 'Blotting' and 'Calculation' books to record rough calculations about the power and dimensions of particular engines to be made, calculations for special parts such as rope-winding spirals for mines, notes of local information given by customers, prices of coal, experiments on wood and any other useful information to assist engine design. John Southern, Watt's assistant and later the first head of the Drawing Office, adopted the practice, and in fact his one surviving book is the most extensive.

It appears that by the late 1780s/early 1790s two distinct types of book emerged – 'blotting books' for Watt and Southern and Watt's rough and reference work, and 'calculation books' as a more formal record in which other Drawing Office staff entered their work – for example William Creighton's entry in the Drawings Day Book for 13 September 1792 notes 'writing in the calculations book' and that for 1 April 1794 notes 'WC writing into the Calculation Book'. It is not clear when the two types became distinct.

The numbers which have been added to the covers of Watt's books are probably from an early numbering scheme which allocated a number to all of the firm’s early books. For example the notebook of experiments on the engine at Soho (3/545) is numbered '7' on the cover in a very similar style, and the earliest Engine Ledger (1/1) is numbered '4.'

No. 1 Calculation Blotter, 1779, No. 2 Blotting & Calculation Book, 1782-1783.
These two originally separate books were bound together by the Library. Almost all entries in the first book are dated, from Apr. 1779 to Mar. 1782, and almost all are by Watt. Despite the cover date, it contains transcripts [?] of experiments on the Shadwell engine dating back to Dec. 1776. Also page 82 contains an estimate of the cost of copying machines.

Almost all entries in the second book are also dated, from Aug. 1782 to circa Sep. 1783, and almost all are in Watt's hand. The entries in the first half of the book are marked 'Entd.', and later entries have a reference to the page number in another book noted under them. What these cross-references are to is not known.

No. 3 Blotting Book, 1784-1789, 1810s-1860s.
This large volume is similar to above books. Only 47 pages were used in the 1780s, with entries by Watt and occasionally by John Southern. Entries are cross-referred to the 'Ledger' and the first 46 entries are numbered. Performance graphs of engines from the 1810s on, but mainly from the 1850s and 1860s, have been added in to the blank pages and to the spaces on the used pages. The book is indexed.

This book was also called the 'Waste Book' – see the sheet of calculations on Prince George Mine (in 5/1282a) which refer to entry number 34 in this book.

No. 6 Calculations & Proportions of ye Parts of Engines, 1780.
Watt only used a few pages in this book, for two entries – 'Expansive Engine' and 'Regulator Nozzles'.

Soho Memoranda, circa 1786-1803.
This large book is almost entirely composed of entries by John Southern, with only a few by James Watt. It contains a wealth of rough notes, ideas, calculations and tables, mostly for engines and machinery to be made for customers. It also contains general thoughts on engine production, experiments on wood and iron, coal prices, weights and measures, accounts of agreements, reports on factories and other engines, thoughts on a boat engine, a giant mushroom (folio 267), and so on. It also contains Southern’s original numbered list of the portfolios of drawings, or 'Books' as they were confusingly called. This begins on folio 99, continuing on folios 201, 236, and 246. Also an 'account of agreements' from 1791 begins on folio 118, and on folio 210 a list of drawings. The book is indexed.
The more accurate title of this volume is Blotting Book No. 1. The list of books on folio 246 is marked 'continued in Blotting Book No. 2 Fol. 25'. The title 'Soho Memoranda' was applied much later, when the original cover marked 'Blotting Book' had been lost. The book was re-bound by the Library.

Missing Blotting and Calculation Books.
‘Ledger.’
There are several references to a 'Ledger' in the Soho Memoranda, for example, the entry for Mr. Woods'’ engine (folio 25) is marked 'Ledger p310', and that for the paper mill (folio 32) is marked 'Ledger p307.' There are also several references to a Ledger in No. 2 Blotting & Calculation Book. This appears not to have been a financial volume, but possibly this was an alternative way of referring to a Calculations Book.

Calculations Books.
The Calculations Book referred to in the Soho Memoranda, for example the entry for fly wheels (foilo 43) marked 'Calc. Book p310', the entry for the Metropolitan engine of Feb. 1788 (folio 44) marked 'Calc. Book p293', and the air pump entry (foilo 56) marked 'Calc. Book p313' is now missing. Also missing is the Calculations Book referred to by William Creightion in the Drawings Day Book, and amy other Drawing Office calculations books that might have existed.

'Blotting Book No. 2.'
John Southern's second blotting book that followed the Soho Memoranda is missing. See the Soho Memoranda, folio 200, List of Books 'continued at the end of the blotting book No. 2 (purple edged)', or folio 172, calculations for Thompson's sugar mill, marked 'see new blotter pge.102'.

‘Brown Book.’
Again this was possibly a Calculations Book. There is only one reference to the ‘Brown Book’ in the Soho Memoranda, on foilo 147, on the condensation in a 15’ single engine – ‘see 191 &c. Brown book.’

Notebook of James Watt Jr.
This small notebook mainly contains rough pencil notes on gas lighting apparatus design and production for various customers, mainly in Manchester and Leeds. It also contains various notes on engines and drafts of letters written by Watt Jr. in Manchester in 1806.

Boiler Notebooks.
Sections of boilers, 1804-1819.
A small softcover notebook with sketch sections of various types of boilers made for various customers. The types of boiler are long iron boilers without tubes, iron boilers with tubes, iron boilers with tubes and uptakes, round copper boilers and long copper boilers. Pages for long copper boilers with tubes and copper boilers with uptakes in them have not been filled in.

Tables of dimensions etc. of boat boilers, 1817-1834.
A small softcover notebook containing detailed tables of the dimensions and other characteristics of boat boilers made at Soho, including the name of the vessel, the boiler number, details of absorbent surafces and dates on the drawings.

Drawing Office Memoranda, Calculations & Working Papers.
Box 5 under the Library’s numbering scheme contained a large amount of miscellaneous correspondence and papers, much of which had formerly been housed in the Drawing Office. Any record of the original order of these papers is now missing, but the various memoranda and notes appeared to fall into the following divisions: details of dimensions of engines, tables of sizes of parts, sketches of parts, instructions for setting eccentrics and valves etc.; calculations, graphs, reference papers etc., including notes on hydraulic experiments and material transcribed from engineering books; prices of castings, other manufacturers’ engines and carriage of engines and parts, mixtures for brass and cement, etc, 1829-1841; and a miscellany of calculations, memoranda and sketches for customers. These papers were used in the Drawing Office for calculating the powers and prices of engines and for formulating estimates for customers. Many are very rough in nature, and are far less formal than the series of estimate papers described below.

James Watt & Co. Calculations for Engines.
These papers were also in Box 5 under the Library’s numbering scheme. They were probably also kept in the Drawing Office, and again many are very rough in nature.

Estimates, Costs and Prices.
Bundles of Estimates.
An overview of the system of making estimates has already been given, in the section titled Administrative History. Generally estimates for similar engines were kept together, and each piece of paper had estimates for several individual engines entered on it. The individual entries are usually quite short, simply giving the customer, the type of engine being estimated, the cost, and any extra spares. The entries on the whole do not give any information about the customers’ premises. There are also bundles containing estimates for individual engine parts, spares and replacements, bundles of estimates for boilers, and bundles covering other products such gas lighting, heating apparatus, water rams, sugar mills, mint machinery and so on. There is also one bundle of miscellaneous estimates dating from the James Watt & Co. period of the firm, 1848 to 1895. The majority are in the hands of the heads of the Drawing Office and their assistants, but there are also estimates written by the partners, mainly James Watt Jr. and Matthew Robinson Boulton.

At some point several of the bundles of estimates were badly damaged by water, and therefore cannot be served.

Rough Estimate Books.
The exact function of these books is unclear, but they were kept at Soho Foundry, whereas the bundles described above were kept in the offices at Soho Manufactory. The book dating from 1819 to 1826 contains estimates for duplicates and spare parts, both making and fitting, and does not appear to contain any entries for complete engines. The other two books are large books containing rough estimates for engines, boilers, pumps, replacement articles and so on. The second book, 4/74, has been re-bound by the Library.

Statements and Estimates Book.
This book was also kept at Soho Foundry. It contains rough estimates for engines, boilers, pumps, spare parts, and so on.

Papers relating to Production Costs etc.
Two bundles of papers relating to the cost of producing steam engines. The first bundle mostly contains papers relating to the proposed production of small engines under William Harrison at Soho Foundry beginning in 1800, although a few other miscellaneous items have been added. The second bundle mostly deals with the cost of making castings and the price of wrought iron.

Prices.
The papers in this bundle are the closest that Boulton & Watt came to drawing up fixed price lists. However they were not printed or published, and were used internally in the offices at Soho Manufactory.

Order Books.
General Order Books.
These order books were kept in the Drawing Office at Soho Manufactory. They contain press copies of order notes sent from the Drawing Office to outside firms and contractors such as John Wilkinson, the Soho Manufactory workshops and later Soho Foundry. How extensively these were referred to as ‘General Order Books’ is not known, but one reference can be found in the drawings of the steam boat King William IV from 1830 (MS 3147 /5/1252).
General Order Books 4/79 to 4/84 were re-bound by the Library, but at different times. Numbers 4/79 and 4/80 were mis-identified as Letter Books, and are marked as such on their spines, while numbers 4/82, 4/83 and 4/84 are somewhat misleadingly marked ‘Order Book (Foundry)’ on their spines. Numbers 4/85 and 4/86 have not been re-bound, and their spines bear contemporary labels marked ‘Orders.’

Engine Order Books.
These order books were also kept in the Drawing Office at Soho Manufactory. They were begun by John Southern around 1797, when Soho Foundry began manufacturing engines. Each folio records a single engine, with a printed list of standard components and press copies of order notes for individual components. Manuscript details such as customer, engine code, cylinder size, stroke, number of the ‘book’ of drawings, any change of ownership and whether the order was allocated to the Manufactory or the Foundry were also been added. However the level of information varies from engine to engine.

The engines are recorded chronologically, with small engines recorded in separate tables at the back of the books. The date of when an engine was appropriated to a particular customer is also noted. As engines were ordered for stock or speculatively, there was sometimes a long gap between the date of ordering and the date of appropriaten. The engine codes were allocated as engines were ordered as opposed to appropriated, so the engines also appear in alphabetical code order.

These books formed a central record of engines produced. Henry Hazleton made extensive use of them (including a fourteenth which is now missing) when compiling The Catalogue of Old Engines in the 1890s (MS 3147/10/9). He added his drawing portfolio numbers and other occasional notes to the pages. The missing fourteenth book appears to have had a very short date range, as there are very few references to it in the Catalogue of Old Engines. This suggests that the series was discontinued soon after the closure of the engine firm’s premises at Soho Manufactory.

The spines and covers of these books suffered extensive damage, and Henry Hazleton re-covered the first nine using discarded drawings portfolios. The Library kept these nine books in two large blue boxes with the drawings, which led to them being omitted from the original list of the volumes. The other four volumes have not been re-bound.

Orders to the Engine Works, Soho Manufactory.
These order books were kept in the offices at Soho Manufactory. They contain copies of orders that were passed to the engine firm’s workshops at the Manufactory. The notes cover all types of order, from whole engines to individual components. They also contain some notes outlining general manufacturing and fitting procedures. The series ended when the engine firm’s premises at Soho Manufactory were closed in 1851.
The first volume covering 1790 to 1805 (4/100) is an extremely large volume which has not been re-bound. The second book (4/101) has not been re-bound either, and the original titles of both these books are now missing. The third and fourth books (4/102 and 4/103) have been re-bound, the former is simply marked ‘Order Book’ on the spine, but the second is misleadingly marked ‘Order Book (Foundry).’

Day-By-Day Order Books, Soho Manufactory.
These books were filled in daily, and are a hand-written diary-style record of orders sent out from the office. The entries note who placed the order, where it was sent and often when the finished product was sent to the client. Entries were often accompanied by drawings and sketches. However when compared with the other Manufactory books, they do not seem to be a complete record of all the orders sent out, and exactly what the purpose of these books was is not yet clear. The series was also relatively shortlived, ending in 1822. The absence of entries by John Southern and William Creighton would suggest that these books were not kept in the Drawing Office.

The first book (4/104) has been re-bound and is marked ‘Order Book (Foundry)’ on the spine. The next two books (4/105, 4/106) have not been re-bound by the Library. The first is simply marked as an ‘Order Book’ while the second is titled ‘Engine Order Book.’ The fourth and fifth books (4/107, 4/108) have both been re-bound. The first is marked ‘Engine Order Book’ while the second is marked ‘Order Book (Foundry).’

Drawing Office Mints Machinery Order Books.
This series of small softcover order books was kept by John Southern in the Drawing Office. They consist of press copies of orders of parts for various mints, notes on the different sorts of machinery for each mint, and so on.

Under the Library’s scheme these books were kept in Box 13 with the correspondence relating to various mints, and they were mis-identified as ‘Bundles of letters.’

Soho Foundry Order Books.
The organisation of the Foundry order books is less clear than those at Soho Manufactory, but several distinct series can be identified. These were probably kept in different departments or in the Counting House. The 1811 ‘List of Books kept at Soho Foundry’ (see the appendix) records two series kept by the clerks in the Counting House: ‘1st For orders to be executed at Soho Foundry, the originals to be pasted into it & copies given to the persons who are to execute them’ (4/116, Soho Foundry Order Book Nov. 1810-Sep. 1816) and ‘2nd For Castings to be made at the Soho Foundry for Soho Engines the copies of the orders to be entered into it’ (a missing Soho Order Book.

The Foundry books have suffered particularly badly from missing volumes and indexes and in some cases missing parts of volumes. Some volumes were on the point of disintergration, and many fragments and loose pages and indexes were gathered together and placed in a separate box. The Library numbered this box as Vol. 552, but unfortunately its existence was not noted when the re-binding was carried out, and these fragments were not re-united with their parent volumes before re-binding took place. Many of the volumes, therefore, now have loose pages and indexes at the beginning or end.

1st Series:
These books contain originals of order notes passed to the Foundry. The notes were usually addressed to personnel at the Foundry such as William Murdock, Abraham Storey or the Head Clerk. These books seem to form the primary set of Foundry orders, at least until 1830. The notes were often pasted in alongside a printed sheet listing the standard parts of the engine. These books are not always in chronological order, as separate parts for the same engine ordered at different times were often pasted in together.

All but the eighth book (4/121) have re-bound and marked ‘Order Book (Foundry)’ on the spine. The final book (4/122) has part of the index to the fifth book of the second series (4/127) bound inside.

2nd Series:
This series is similar to the 1st series in style, but contains hand-written copies that appear to have been made from the notes in the 1st series. Not all the notes in the 1st series books are duplicated in these books. They were possibly kept in one of the departments at the Foundry.

The first book has not been re-bound, and the original title is now lost. All the others have been re-bound and are all marked ‘Order Book (Foundry).’ The fourth book (4/126) has the index to the first Soho Orders Books (4/132) bound inside, while part of the index to the fifth book (4/127) is bound inside the final book of the 1st series (4/122).

3rd Series:
These books also appear to be made up of copies from the Main Series, but again not everything from the main books is duplicated. From a different department or office to the second series above?

Both books have been re-bound, and both are labelled ‘Order Book (Foundry)’ on the spine.

Soho Order Books, Soho Foundry.
These books contains notes of orders sent to the Head of the Foundry by the Foreman of the Engine Works at Soho Manufactory. The orders are in the main for parts for engines being assembled at the Manufactory, but also parts of machinery for Matthew Boulton’s other concerns, occasional orders for domestic ‘hot air stove’ pipe castings and later, notes for whole engines to be put in hand.

These books had suffered particularly badly from being damaged and falling apart, and when they were re-bound several of the fragments were missed out. Because of this it is not actually clear how many volumes covered the dates Feb. 1824 to Oct. 1832 – it may have been one large volume or two. The first book listed here (4/132) is actually in two parts. These were re-bound by the Library as two separate books which are marked ‘Order Book (Foundry)’ and ‘Order Book’ on their spines. However they feature continous pagination and a common index, which has been erroneously bound intonthe fourth book in the second series of Foundry Order Books (4/126 above). A further fragment from this book was found in the box of book fragments numbered as Vol. 552.

The second book here (4/133) is a small fragment that was also found in that box. It is unclear whether it too was once part of the first book or a remnant of a smaller second book.

The third book (4/134) is missing its index and is incomplete, lacking its first 20 or so pages. Four of those pages, with their numbers now obliterated, were also found in the box numbered Vol. 552. This book has been re-bound and is marked ‘Order Book’ on its spine.

The fourth book (4/135) is a large fragment of what was once a much large volume. It too was found in the box numbered as Vol. 552.

Odd Orders, Soho Foundry.
These books are made up of hand-written entries. Exactly what constituted an ‘odd order’ is not yet clear, but they may have been orders for spares or duplicate parts. The first book (4/136) has been re-bound and is marked ‘Order Book Odd Orders’ on the spine. The second book (4/137) is much smaller than the other order books. It lacks an index and may be a running record of the orders as they were carried out.

Soho Foundry Fitting Department Superintendent’s Order Book.
This book contains press copies and notes, mostly sent to George Grieve, the superintendent of the Fitting Department between 1802 and 1807. They are arranged alphabetically by customer. The book has been re-bound and is marked ‘Order Book (Foundry)’ on the spine.

James Watt & Co. Order Books.
Various order books dating from the James Watt & Co. period of the firm in the latter half of the 19th century. The earliest of these books date from 1852, the year after the closure of the engine workshops at Soho Manufactory. Most of these books are probably sole survivors of much larger series, and some may be the continuations of some of the series described above.

The first two books (4/139, 4/140) have not been re-bound, and the latter is marked ‘No. 11’ on the spine. The third book has been re-bound and is marked ‘Order Book (Foundry)’ on the spine. None of the other books have been re-bound, and the sixth book (4/144) bears the contemporary number ‘16’ on its spine.

Drawing Office Records and Records of Drawings
These books and papers are the written records describing the making and organisation of the firms’ drawings. The drawings themselves are listed in the next section (MS 3147/5).

Drawings Day Books.
The staff of the Drawing Office kept a record of their day-to-day work in a series of books known as the ‘Drawings Day Books’. These books are diary-style daily listings of what had been drawn, what the drawing’s identifying code was (from November 1788 onwards), who it was for, when it was started and finished, when packages of drawings were sent out and who to, and various other details. The identifying code that was assigned to each drawing was written on the drawing itself. Therefore by looking up the codes on the drawings in these books, further information about the drawings in the portfolios can be found. The books also contain a great number of incidental details, such as visitors to Soho, cleaning of closets, deaths of senior figures in the firm, and so on. This style of book appears to have been started by John Southern, and was carried on into the later period of the firm’s life as James Watt & Co. However the series is incomplete.

The first book (4/145) is actually made up of six smaller softcover books which have been gathered together. The first runs from March 1786 to September 1789. At its start it also has a few pages arranged by engine, from October 1784 to February 1785. The second book runs from October 1789 to June 1793. The third runs from July 1793 to December 1798. The fourth runs from January 1799 to August 1803. The fifth runs from August 1803 to September 1815, and appears to have pages missing from its end. The sixth book, which runs from January 1816 to November 1842, is also imcomplete and has pages missing from its beginning and end. It is not known when these books were gathered together, but it was probably done by the firm themselves or by Tangye. The book has subsequently been re-bound by the Library. Neither of the other two Drawings Day Books have been re-bound.

Drawings Ledger.
A ‘Drawing Office Ledger’ also survives from very late in the firm’s life. This records similar details to the Drawings Day Books but is arranged by customer rather than day-by-day entries. Given the overlap of dates between the last Drawing Day Book (4/147) and this book it appears that the two types were run in parallel for at least part of 1882 and 1883.

Indexes.
The first of these Drawing Office notebooks (4/149) is an index to the ‘books’ (i.e. the portfolios) of drawings kept in the Drawing Office. It was drawn up by Gilbert Hamilton, who was head of the Drawing Office from 1832, and covers all the books of drawings up to the late 1850s / early 1860s. It is arranged alphabetically by customer, each entry giving the power of the engine, followed by the customer’s name or the name of a steam boat, then the number of the ‘book’ in which the drawings for that customer will be found. A running list of the books of drawings arranged by the book number will be found in John Southern’s ‘Blotting Book No. 1’ (or ‘Soho Memoranda,’ 4/4), but obviously that list does not cover the same timespan as this index. It should be noted that this is an index to the original numbering of the drawings, and bears no relation to Henry Hazleton’s 1890s reorganisation. It should also be noted that the sections of the index for U and V are missing.
The second two notebooks (4/150a & b) are arranged in the same way, and appear to be partial copies of each other. Each book is split into two sections. The first section is arranged alphabetically by engine component, so adjusting screw, air pump bucket, and so on. By the name of each component is a list of engines for which drawings of that component were made, so for example ‘Adjusting screw: Crouchley/Horsehays/Ocker Hill/Whitegritt/Spedding/Stockdale’ and so on. The second section of each notebook is arranged by engine, and under each engine is a list of the drawings made. The first notebook, referred to as the ‘little red book,’ is small, and runs to around 1789. The second book is slightly larger, and runs into the early 1790s. The second book also has alphabetical entries for engines in the first section, which are cross-referred to the second section. Some, but not all of the information from the first book has been copied into the second, and there are some cross-references in the second book to the first.

Book of Steam Boat Boiler Drawings.
This hardcover notebook contains neat partially coloured copies of drawings of steam boat boilers. The drawings include dimensions, the number of the boiler, the name of the boat it was for, and so on. The book is indexed and marked ‘Boat Boilers’ on the spine.

Directions for Copying Drawings, Rules etc.
Three memoranda of Drawing Office procedures that were found scattered through the collection, including James Watt’s instructions about copying drawings.

General Orders, Directions and Instructions.
These volumes record standard manufacturing practices and procedures that were adopted at Soho Manufactory and Soho Foundry, details of common components and so on – ‘general orders’ refers to orders in the sense of instructions rather than sales. Most of the books are made up of hand-written or press copy notes pasted onto the pages.

General orders, directions, instructions etc., circa 1791-circa 1873.
This small softcover volume contains notes on standard parts and practices such as drawing sizes, engine powers, sizes of boilers and parts such as valves, cranks, motions etc. This book was begun at Soho Manufactory, probably in the Drawing Office, and it continued to be used at Soho Foundry after the closure of the engine workshops at the Manufactory in 1851. At some point it was mis-titled as an ‘Engine Book.’

General orders and directions, Soho Manufactory, 1801-1807.
This small sofcover book contains manuscript and later press copy notes of general instructions issed from the Drawing Office to both Soho Manufactory and Soho Foundry. The originals of many of these notes will be found in the General Order Book from the Foundry.

General order book, Soho Foundry, May 1803-Mar. 1860.
This large book was kept at Soho Foundry, and contains notes of manufacturing instructions and details of common components. Many of these notes were issued by the Drawing Office at Soho Manufactory, and the copies retained there will be found in the General orders and directions described above. This book also contains instructions for fitting and packing. Often a note that was made for an individual engine was found to be useful for later orders, and passed into general practice. Such notes were removed from their original order books and placed in this book, often with a note being made in the original book about removal to the ‘General Order Book.’ This book may have also been called the ‘Memorandum and Regulation Book’ – the 1811 ‘List of Books kept at Soho Foundry’ (see the appendix) records such a book for recording ‘all regulations.’

The book has been re-bound, and is marked ‘Order Book (General)’ on its spine.

Instructions, estimates etc., Soho Manufactory, circa 1828-circa 1850.
This hardcover notebook contains instructions on the operations involved in various types of fitting piece work, an index of prices of fitting and turning operations, general instructions about fitting, percentages to be charged, an index of prices of supplies and tools such as clay and pulleys, prices of fitted components, and Soho’s estimated prices for parts. Further material about manufacturing prices will be found later in this list.

Pattern-Making Records.
Patterns were the mock-ups of engine parts and components, usually made of wood, from which castings were made. Patterns made for parts for a particular engine were charged to the client. Large numbers of patterns were also made for internal use and they were charged to the various departments. The firm appear to have made their own patterns from the outset and dedicated pattern-making shops were established. However relatively few records concerning pattern-making have survived. All of those that have are from the Foundry, and many date from the later period of the company’s life as James Watt & Co.

These books were described as ‘Pattern Books,’ a somewhat misleading term. All are books of accounts of monies owed for pattern-making, and none contain diagrams or illustrations of actual patterns.

Patterns to be charged with goods sold, Soho Foundry.
These books contain both individual customer accounts for patterns, and quarterly summaries of pattern accounts due. They are in rough but not exact chronological order, and they are indexed by customer. According to the 1811 ‘List of Books kept at Soho Foundry’ (see the appendix), the information in these books was taken from the pattern makers’ accounts of timber etc. they had used, and from their time books, no examples of which have survived. There was also a parallel series of pattern books recording ‘Patterns for the use of Buildings & Machinery for Soho Foundry,’ again none of which have survived.

The third (4/159) and last (4/164) books have been re-bound, and are marked as ‘Pattern Books’ on their spines. The index to the first book is missing.

Pattern Accounts Ledgers.
These large ledgers contain separate accounts of patterns made for individual engines, recording the work done and the charges made for it. They also contain accounts of patterns charged to the buildings and machinery of Soho Foundry. In many of the accounts the name of the pattern makers are noted. The ledgers are indexed by customer.

Miscellaneous Pattern-Making Books.
Patterns, Oct. 1845-Jul. 1863.
This book contains accounts of patterns made for odd orders and for the buildings and machinery as well as external customers. The entries include the initials of the pattern makers. It was probably opened at the engine workshops at Soho Manufactory – it contains a list of lathes at Soho – then continued at the Foundry. It has been indexed.

Pattern Book (Rough), 1847-1860.
This book contains a chronological account of patterns made for odd orders, with the names of the pattern makers, from 3 September 1847 to 16 May 1851. Following this are various individual engine accounts. Most of the engine accounts are in pencil and seem to be very incomplete. It allso includes accounts of buildings and machinery patterns from September 1853 to September 1860. Its title may indicate that it contained rough information for use in the Pattern Accounts Ledgers previously described. It has been indexed. The book has been re-bound, and is marked ‘Pattern Book (Rough)’ on its spine.

Patterns made at Soho Foundry, Sep. 1857-Sep. 1858.
This book contains accounts of patterns made both for internal departments and external customers.

Piece Work, Premium Work and Day Work Records.
These papers record the various systems of paying the men who made the engine parts at the Soho Manufactory workshops and Soho Foundry. Various systems were employed – payment by the day, payment by the piece and premium work, in which particular articles were paid at higher rates. Piece work was generally adopted in 1802, although it had been used for paying for certain work before that.

Piece prices, that is the amount paid for each part made, were usually agreed beforehand with the teams of men who would carry out the work. Components were placed in different classes of piece work, depending on the complexity of the part, the amount of metal used, and so on, and different piece prices were paid for the various classes. Careful records were kept of what was involved in the manufacture of each component, for example the cost of moulding, the weight of metal used, how many items were made over certain periods of time, and it these records that make up the bulk of the material here.

These papers were found in an extremely disordered state, with original bundles having been split up and mixed together with no apparent logic. No record of the original titles of these bundles has been found. Therefore this arrangement must be treated as an approximation of the original order, and, due to the lack of titles, quite detailed descriptions of the contents of each bundle will be found in the List section of this catalogue.

There are also various volumes containing accounts of piece work. These date from much later in the firm’s life, from the 1820s into the James Watt & Co. period.

Piece and Day Work Papers.
A bundle of general papers detailing various aspects of piece and day work at Soho Manufactory and Soho Foundry.

Papers relating to the Introduction of and Agreements for Piece Work, Soho Foundry.
These bundles of papers cover the general introduction of piece work at Soho Foundry in 1802 up until the major revision of prices made in 1816. The first bundle (4/173, Papers 1795-1806) is a general bundle which contains information about the previous wages agreements and premium work, and the intial proposals for piece work.

The next eight bundles (4/174 to 4/181) were all begun at the introduction of piece work in 1802, and all are similar in content. Each bundle contains the agreement of piece work rates made with the head of a particular team of men, details of the work they are to do and their rates of pay, and detailed records of the weight and cost of the components they were to make. When these agreements were revised, or when a team began to cast new components, details were placed in these bundles. Retrospective tables of wages and work done were also frequently added to the bundle. At some point, the papers in these bundles were numbered. The papers in the first bundle (4/174, Agreement for piece work with Edward Collier, George Croft and Batholomew Young) were simply numbered from 1 onwards. The subsequent bundles were given letters, so the items in the second bundle (4/175, Agreement for piece work with Thomas Mousley) were numbered 1A, 2A and so on, the items in the third bundle (4/176, Agreement for piece work with James Middleton) were numbered 1B, 2B, and so on. It was this numbering that enabled the reconstruction of these bundles, and very few items were found to be missing. The bundles continued to be added to after the numbering was carried out.

The other bundles contain papers that were not part of the above system of arrangement, and their arrangement must be seen as more tentative. Some of the items may have been removed from the above bundles.

Revision of Piece Work Prices, 1816, Soho Foundry.
These papers relate to the major revision of the prices paid for piece work that was undertaken in September 1816. A great deal of reference was made to the inventory of 30 September for this revision.

Piece Work Prices, Soho Manufactory.
This notebook contains a list of prices for piece work – fitting, forging of parts such as cranks, cylinders, shafts, etc., for engines of various powers. It is marked ‘W. Lloyd’ on the cover. It is dndated, but William Lloyd became Head Clerk in 1832.

Piece Work Ledgers, Soho Manufactory.
The first three of these ledgers contain running accounts of piece work done by individual employees, some of whom had ‘assistants’ and ‘strikers’ working under them. They are possibly records of fitting piecework. All three books are indexed, and the third book (4/194) bears the title ‘Large Pieceworkers’ Ledger.’

The fourth ledger is in a different format. The accounts are arranged in ‘creditor/debtor’ columns rather than running accounts. It includes the men listed in the first two ledgers (4/192 and 4/193) but also others. This series continued, as the book ends with a note saying ‘to new book’. It is marked ‘B’ on cover. It is indexed, but part of the index has been torn out.

All these ledgers post-date the ‘Piece Workmen’s Ledgers’ described in 1811 in the ‘List of Books kept at Soho Foundry’ (see appendix), and they are in a different format.

Personal Piece Work Accounts, Soho Manufactory.
These two books were kept by the clerks on behalf of individual workers, one book per worker, keeping a running account of work done, weight of metal used etc. The men whose books survive, Edward Molyneux and Edward Seager, also feature in the Piecework Ledgers above.

Piece Work Books, Soho Foundry.
These three books contain running week-by-week accounts of piece work done and who by. They are possibly accounts of piece work done by the pattern-makers.

Smiths’ Piece Work.
This book, a late record from the James Watt & Co. period, contains running weekly accounts of work done. The names of the smiths are not given, but it does record the totals of wages paid, and what has been worked on.

Raw Materials and Distribution Records.
These books record the supplies of metal, timber and other raw materials, and their distribution to the various departments. As the various shops and departments supplied each other with what they needed, a system of internal ordering and distribution grew up. Parts and prices were recorded in Distribution Registers. No registers exist for the Manufactory – it is possible that they operated a different system. Several survive from the Foundry, but their use appears to have changed over time.
Iron and Steel, Copper, Brass and Tin Account, Soho Manufactory.
This book contains a running account of the metals received from suppliers and given out to the forgers, casters etc. at the engine workshops at Soho Manufactory.

‘Smithy Foundry Stores’, Department Books and Distribution Registers, Soho Foundry.
These books all appear to have fulfilled the same function – noting what items had been sent from one internal department of the Foundry to another, and their cost.

The first book (4/203) was called the ‘SFS’ (‘Smithy Foundry Stores’) book, and is marked ‘SFS Book: Smithy Foundry Stores &c. From the commencement of the Works to the 31st March 1797.’ It records goods delivered by the Smithy Department (folios 1-54) and Foundry Department (folios 60-78) to ‘sundries’; stores (folios 86-111); bricks (folios 159-162); and lime and sand delivered to ‘sundries’ (folios 165-166). The entries were posted to the Day Book (1/44) and the Buildings and Machinery Book (9/1).

The SFS Book was replaced by a system of individual books, which were at some point bound together (4/204). These books are referred to by the Day Book as ‘Department Books.’ They consist of a Foundry Department Book, a Smithy Department Book, a second Smithy Department Book (the two seem to have run at the same time), a Fitting Department Book, an Establishment Department Book, a Stores Book and a Timber Account. Also at end is a monthly abbrievature of the accounts and the wages paid. Entries were posted to the Day Book. The book was re-bound by the Library and erroneously marked ‘Fitting Department Account of Goods (Distribution Register)’ on the spine.

There is a gap in the records between 1798 and 1800, but the later books were known as Distribution Registers. The first book (4/205) is divided into sections, as follows: ‘Goods delivered from Foundry/Smithy/Storehouse to Sundries;’ an untitled account, possibly for the Fitting Department; ‘Timber delivered from Timber Account to Sundries,’ and ‘Arrangement of Wages.’ The second book (4/206) is similar, but only records goods delivered from the Foundry Department and Smithy, and the Arrangement of Wages. It is possible that the system of Distribution Registers was abandoned, and the system of having one book per department was reverted to. This is suggested by the existance of the Fitting Department Account of Goods (Distribution Registers) as described below.

Fitting Department Account of Goods (Distribution Registers), Soho Foundry.
The exact nature of these books is unclear. They are titled ‘Fitting Department Account of Goods (Distribution Registers),’ but they record goods delivered from the Foundry Department mainly to the Fitting Department, and the Arrangement of Wages. Very few pages are used in each book.

The sixth book (4/212) has been re-bound and is marked Fitting Department Account of Goods (Distribution Register) on the spine. The seventh book has also been re-bound, but at a different time, and is marked ‘Account Book’ on its spine.

Other Distribution Registers, Soho Foundry.
Distribution register, Oct. 1811-Sep. 1812.
This book contains accounts of goods from the Foundry, goods from the Smithy, a Wrought Iron and Steel Account, a Copper Tin Brass and Lead Account, an account of goods for the Boiler Department, an account titled ‘Storehouse,’ the Arrangement of Wages, and a ‘Manufactured Goods Account.’ According to the 1811 ‘List of Books kept at Soho Foundry’ (see the appendix), the Distribution Register contained ‘The transfers of goods and materials from one department to another entered from rough delivering books, the wages &c. paid to the different departments – from the Time Book, the arrangement of Messrs. Boulton Watt & Co.’s Quarterly Accounts’ but the list also noted that the book was not being completely kept. No examples of rough delivering books or time books have survived, but details of their composition will be found in the ‘List of Books...’. The Distribution Register has been re-bound and is marked Fitting Department Account of Goods (Distribution Register)’ on its spine.

Sundry Department, Oct. 1814-Sep. 1815.
This book appears to record goods delivered from the ‘Sundry Department.’ A loose fragment of spine found inside is marked ‘Sundry Dept. 1815’.

Miscellaneous Accounts etc., 1799-1806.
This book seems to have been intended to be a Distribution Register, as it has Distribution Register-style headings on several pages. However it never seems to have fulfilled its original purpose, and has been used for a miscellany of accounts, as follows:

3 horse engine for Mr. Clarke of Bath, 3 horse engine for Sayce Kellon, Bath (parts lists similar to Engine Book entries)
'Supplies to be charged to various raw materials accounts'
'Sundries received per ledger of personal accounts 30 Sept. 1799-30 Sept. 1800'
Inventory (draft or incomplete?), 30 Sept. 1803
Ale account (incomplete and undated)
Inventory (draft or incomplete?), 30 Sept. 1806

Moulding and Casting Records.
Castings to Fitting Books, Soho Foundry.
A series of small pocket books noting the parts cast and identifying them with codes such 'D4, G9', but not noting the names of the casters. These may be from the Foundry Department at Soho Foundry. The difference between what appears to be a main series of books and the other individual books of a similar format described below is unclear. This main series may record castings made for the Fitting Department, whereas others may record castings for other departments or for stock.

Other Moulding and Casting Books.
Castings Made, Soho Foundry, Jul. 1802-8 Oct. 1842.
The first page of this book its titled 'castings made.' It was one of a series, as the last page is marked 'to new book.' It is similar in format to the Castings to Fitting books described above.

Castings Book, 3 Oct. 1879-23 Jun. 1888.
This is a later survival from the firm's period as James Watt & Co., and it has slight differences to the other castings books. It was part of a series, as the last page is marked 'to new book.'

Moulders' Estimates, Soho Foundry, 1815-1839.
This book is divided into accounts for individual moulders. The entries in the accounts are arranged chronologically. The entries record what item the mould being made was for, what engine it was for, and the price. The accounts also note that each moulder had a team of four or five men working under him.

Other Production Records.
Work done by John Smith and William Wright.
This book was originally mis-identified as the account of a metal-dealer. It records the metal, mainly brass and tin, withdrawn from the stores by Smith and Wright by weight, and the weight of the pieces produced.
Coppersmiths' Accounts, Soho Foundry.

This book contains the quarterly accounts of two of the Soho Foundry coppermsiths, Samuel Pemberton and Richard Hunting. The accounts record the items made, what engine or customer they were for, the weight and the cost. This book is presumably a lone survival of a large series of similar records.

Weight and Cost Book.
This book contains details of wages, fuel, stores and so on expended on various types of work. It is divided as follows:
Iron Castings 30 Sept. 1874-Michaelmas Quarter 1894
Brass Castings 30 Sept. 1874-Michaelmas Quarter 1894
Wrought Ironwork 30 Sept. 1874-Michaelmas Quarter 1894
Copper Pipes, Expansion Joints etc. Lady Day 1885-Michaelmas Quarter 1894

Miscellaneous Records.
Various production records including bundles of miscellaneous papers, an unidentified book (4/235) which may be a record of fitting or pattern piece work on odd orders, a bundle of rough accounts from the James Watt & Co. period (4/238), and notebook detailing items ordered by the mining engineer John Darlington (4/238A).

The Production Records are arranged in various series. Some of these series contain many volumes or bundles, but many contain only one volume or bundle, either because no other examples from that series survive, or because the volume or bundle in question was a one-off. The series are grouped together thematically, as follows:
Calculations, Notebooks, Memoranda and Working Papers
Estimates, Costs and Prices
Order Books
Drawing Office Records and Records of Drawings
General Orders, Directions and Instructions
Pattern-Making Records
Piece Work, Premium Work and Day Work Records
Raw Materials and Distribution Records
Moulding and Casting Records
Other Production Records
Fitting Records
Engine Books
Boiler-making Records, Lists of Boilers, Boiler Books
Packing Books
Delivery and Accounts with Carriers
List of Engines, Books to record Engine Details and Performance
Printed Directions and Advertisements

More detailed information on each series is given in the Description field, while reference numbers and covering dates of the actual records, and a list of the old reference numbers will be found in the pdf of the full series list attached. Item level lists are available in the searchroom of Birmingham Archives and Heritage.

212 volumes, 20 boxes

There are no restrictions on access to or use of the Boulton & Watt Accounting and Financial Records. However fragile items or those in a poor state of repair may not be served at the discretion of the Duty Archivist.

The records listed here are the surviving documents which record the various processes involved in manufacturing steam engines and Boulton & Watt?s other products, from experiments and estimates, through recording the orders, to manufacturing, packing and delivery, directions for assembly, advertisements and lists of engines made.

Boulton & Watt?s production facilities grew piecemeal. When Matthew Boulton and James Watt first went into business, the engine firm?s premises at Soho Manufactory consisted only of a couple of workshops making specialist parts such as nozzles. The majority of engine parts were made by other iron founders ? leading founders such as John Wilkinson1 or Spedding Hicks & Co., Birmingham firms such as Dearmans & Francis, or firms local to the particular engine customer. The workshops at Soho Manufactory did grow, but until the construction of Soho Foundry in 1795 / 1796 manufacturing of heavy parts such as cylinders was carried out by other firms.

The opening of Soho Foundry gave Boulton & Watt their own dedicated engine works, and by the end of the 1790s it was producing virtually complete engines. Boiler-making began there in 1803, production of gas lighting apparatus in 1805.2 The pneumatic apparatus designed by James Watt to combat respiratory diseases was also made at Soho Foundry. However the engine premises at Soho Manufactory continued to grow as engine orders increased in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and between 1802 and 1804 there was a major re-organisation and expansion of the engine workshops there. Also the mint machinery that was supplied by Boulton Watt & Co. appears to have mainly been made at Soho Manufactory. The firm considered their premises at the Manufactory as a site of engine production in its own right, which led to a split system of ordering and record-keeping which is discussed below. Expansion at both sites continued until the closure of the workshops at Soho Manufactory in 1851. James Watt & Co., as the firm had become in 1848, continued to make steam engines, boilers and various other engineering products such as turntables, rock pulverising machinery and mint machinery at Soho Foundry until the firm folded in 1895.

Organisation of Production and Record-Keeping.Boulton & Watt?s organisation of production and its attendant record-keeping are areas which demand further historical study. As mentioned above, the two sites, the Soho Manufactory workshops and Soho Foundry, were to a large degree distinct entities, and in terms of production their organisation and record-keeping were separate. Centralised records which gave an overview were kept in the partners? office and the Drawing Office at Soho Manufactory.

Exactly how the production processes were organised, and who kept what records, requires much more investigation than time allowed under the Archives of Soho Project. Moreover it is clear from some surviving memoranda about record-keeping (transcribed in the appendix to this list) that although a large number of production records have survived, an almost equal number are now missing. In particular records such as Time Books and accounts of the work done by particular groups of employees are missing, as are many of the records for firm?s later years as James Watt & Co. Therefore much of what is stated in this Introduction should be treated as speculative. More specific details of the individual records will be found in the section of the Introduction titled Scope and Content.

Preliminary Work and Estimates.When an enquiry had been received about an engine, there was usually some preliminary calculation work to be done before the power of the engine could be decided upon and an estimate could be sent out. The formalisation of this process was gradual ? through the 1780s and into the 1790s James Watt and his assistant John Southern, who became head of the Drawing Office, did a great deal of rough work and calculations in their Blotting and Calculation Books. They also made extensive references back to engines that had previously been made. Once an estimate had been arrived at, it would usually be communicated to the enquirer in a letter. Copies of letters containing estimates were kept in the Business and Drawing Office Letter Books along with copies of other correspondence. However the practice developed of making a note of the details of the estimate on a separate piece of paper. Estimates for similar engines were entered on the same piece of piece of paper, thus providing a quick reference when quoting a new estimate. Although the standardisation of engine sizes and the manufacturing of engines for stock reduced the amount of preliminary work that had to be done, the practice of making notes of estimates endured, leading to the large bundles that have survived. This system was also applied to the other products that Boulton & Watt made, including gas lighting, heating and lighting apparatus, mint machinery and so on.

The Ordering Process.Orders came to the firm through various channels ? by letter, by personal visit or via Boulton & Watt?s agents and engine erectors. Once a definite order had been received, the various parts of the engine then had to be ordered. Prior to Boulton & Watt?s development of their own manufacturing facilities, this meant ordering parts from various iron founders, usually by note or letter. Specialist parts were made in the workshops at Soho Manufactory and again these were ordered by notes. Copies of these letters and notes were kept and pasted into order books which were kept in the offices at Soho Manufactory. The earliest surviving ?General Order Book? (4/79) begins in 1786; prior to that copies of many letters ordering parts will be found in the early letter books, particularly the Office Letter Book (3/169). Orders were not just placed for whole engines, but also for replacement and spare parts for existing engines; for boilers; for heating and lighting apparatus; or even for supplies such as cement and ink. Various series of order books were opened, but there was no one book that simply contained a running list of what orders had been placed.With the opening of Soho Foundry and the expansion of the workshops at Soho Manufactory, Boulton & Watt gained their own manufacturing facilities. However in many ways the ordering system did not change. Notes were still made in the offices at Soho Manufactory, usually the Drawing Office, and were passed to the various departments and shops instead of being sent to outside suppliers, and both the originating office and the recipient pasted their notes into books. However one major change in recording orders was instigated in 1797, when the Foundry began to make virtually complete engines. A series of order books which listed the engines that had been made was begun. These books were referred to as the Engine Order Books (4/87 to 4/99) and they were maintained by the Drawing Office. Both bespoke orders and engines made for stock were listed, as were details such as when an engine was ordered, any special parts, when it was appropriated to a particular customer, and so on.

With the expansion of the workshops at Soho Manufactory in the 1800s, Boulton Watt & Co. considered that they had two distinct production sites. Therefore an engine, when ordered, was described in the order books as being ordered either from ?Soho? (for Soho Manufactory) or ?Foundry? (for Soho Foundry). The abbreviations of ?S? and ?F? were used in the Engine Order Books to show at which site an engine was being assembled. However, all orders were still passed through the offices at Soho Manufactory ? as far as customers was concerned they were purchasing an engine from Boulton Watt & Co., not Soho Foundry or Soho Manufactory. Therefore the engines made on each site were considered as ordered by Boulton Watt & Co. on behalf of the customer. This system meant that customers did not deal directly with Soho Foundry, and all its ordering administration was internal to the firm.

Various series of order books were opened at the Foundry, and further details will be found in the notes on the Scope and Content of the records later in this Introduction. Again they were generally made up of notes pasted into large volumes, both original notes sent from the offices at Soho Manufactory, and copies of further notes made at the Foundry. The organisation of the order books at the Foundry is less clear. Various series of books were kept in parallel, some kept by the clerks in the Counting House, others in the various departments.

Engine Codes.As engine orders increased, and as engines began to be produced for stock, the firm developed a system of reference codes which assigned each engine a unique letter code. These codes were used throughout the record-keeping process, in the Engine Books, fitting records, packing books, in the order books, on drawings, and also occasionally in correspondence and in the accounting records. Every engine had a code from 1797, and the best way to identify a particular engine from its code, or to locate a code for an engine is via the Engine Order Books, in which engines are arranged by their codes.

1780s / 1790s: Codes for Overseas Engines.The first codes were used in the late 1780s and early 1790s for engines for overseas customers, for example the engine ordered by Jac. Beconnais & Cie. for Nantes was usually referred to as 'I. B. Nantes', and the two blowing engines for Don Diego Gardoqui of Cadiz were referred to as 'BWG No. 1' and 'BWG No. 2.' The 'BWG' almost certainly stood for 'Boulton & Watt Gardoqui.'

1790 to circa 1795: Four-Letter Codes and Numbers for Rotative Engines.The first actual system of codes was used in 1790 / 1791, for rotative sun and planet engines. The codes appear to have been used for engines that were made in advance of any order. The codes used were four letters long, beginning with ABCA, then ABCB, and so on. For example Sawyer Spence?s 8 horse engine originally bore the code ABCO, while Robert Bayly & Co.'s 10 horse engine was ABCE. It appears that all the possible ABC- codes were used, as a few engines bearing ABD- codes have been identified. This system appears not to have been universally adopted throughout the records, as not every possible code in the sequence has been linked to a particular engine. Most of these codes appear in the list of books of drawings in John Southern's Blotting & Calculation Book (4/4), in the General Order Book for 1786 to 1793 (4/79) and in the first book of Orders to the Engine Works, Soho Manufactory, 1790 to 1805 (4/100). Also entries in the first Day-by-Day Order Book 1795 to 1797 (4/104) suggest that this system carried on, but that the 'AB' element no longer used, as codes such as 'FA' are mentioned.

Also some rotative engines in 1792 appear to have been numbered, for example Duck & Potts' was 38, Wormald Fountain & Gott?s was 39, Brandram Brothers? was 42. These numbers also appear in the General Order Book. However they stop fairly quickly. Similar numbers are used in the Drawing Day Book (4/145) during 1792, so this may have been a short-lived system of engine numbering.

1797 to February 1803: Codes based on Customer?s Initials.Around 1797, with Soho Foundry producing complete engines and with the opening of the Engine Order Books, it was decided to allocate every engine a unique reference code. Between 1797 and February 1803, the codes were based on the customer?s intials and were either one or two letters long, for example engine S of 1799 was for the Salvin Brothers, and RE of 1801 was for Ranson & Ellerby.

February 1803 onwards: Alphabetical Codes.In late February 1803 a system of alphabetical codes was introduced, beginning with A, engine A being an 8 horse for Sir John Hope. Once Z had been reached, a new sequence beginning AA was started. The codes were often followed by the engine's power or cylinder diameter, so RR14 was a 14 horse engine for Houldsworth & Hussey, while H36 was a 36 inch pumping engine for the East India Dock Co. Once ZZ had been reached, a new single letter sequence beginning with A was started, then after Z came AA again, and so on. This system endured until 1816, and the codes from A to Z and AA to ZZ were repeated several times.

In 1816 a new coding sequence was begun, starting with the code YA and working backwards through the alphabet. Once YZ had been reached, the next codes in the sequence were XA and XB, and after XZ came WA, and so on. This sequence was begun at Y to avoid confusion with the codes beginning with Z that were then being applied to small engines (see below). This system endured through the James Watt & Co. years until the end of the firm?s life in 1895. AA appears to have been reached in the mid to late 1850s, and the reverse sequence was started again, although whether it began with ZA or YA is not clear. Codes beginning with H had been reached by the early 1890s, HK for example was an engine for the Warsaw Water Works.

Codes for Small Engines. From their introduction in 1799 / 1800 small engines were referred to by codes based on the customer?s initials, in the same way as larger engines. When the alphabetical sequence was introduced for larger engines in 1803, a similar system was introduced for small engines, except that they were referred to with lower case letters, so engine 'a' was a 6 horse for Messrs. Halliday. This presumably proved too confusing, as when z was reached in June 1805 a new system of two letter codes beginning with ZA was begun. Once ZZ was reached, the sequence was begun again at ZA. This system lasted until March 1813, and the codes from ZA to ZZ were repeared four times.

In March 1813 a new three-letter system beginning with ZAA was introduced. Once ZAZ was reached, a new sequence was begun starting with ZBA. After ZBZ came ZCA. In August 1815, in the middle of the ZC- sequence, the Z was simply dropped, to leave a two letter code beginning with C. The next sequence simply began with DA. By 1844 JI had been reached, but after this the separate coding of small engines appears to have stopped.

Drawings.Once an order had been made, drawings were prepared in the Drawing Office. Details of the process of making and recording drawings will be found in the next section (MS 3147/5). However the various written records relating to the drawings ? the Drawings Day Books and Ledger, and the indexes of drawings ? are listed here.

Organisation of Production.Boulton & Watt?s organisation of production at both Soho Manufactory and Soho Foundry requires further detailed investigation.4 Production at Soho Foundry was organised into departments, namely the Foundry, Smithy and Fitting Departments, with the Boiler Department being added in 1803. There was also an Establishment Department which oversaw buildings and machinery which served the whole Foundry, for example cranes or the lodge. Each department had a superintendent. The post of superintendent or manager of the whole Foundry was much less formalised, with the role initially being carried out by William Murdock and his sons. In the 19th century a more defined post of Foundry Manager did develop. At Soho Manufactory the workshops were overseen by the Engine Yard Foreman, and it seems likely that a similar departmental system developed there as the premises grew. The workmen were generally organised into teams, and both day and piece work systems were employed, although there was a general shift to piece work in 1802, extensive records of which survive (see 4/172 to 4/186). The day to day production records, particularly those involving time worked, rates of pay and wages, were generally kept by the clerks in the separate Counting Houses at Soho Manufactory and Soho Foundry. Contemporary descriptions of the records they kept will be found in the memoranda transcribed in the appendix to this list.

The Soho Manufactory workshops and Soho Foundry specialised to a certain extent in the engines they made. The largest engines tended to be made at the Foundry, as did the standard types of small engine. Production of the latter was formally organised in 1800 / 1801 under the supervision of the former engine erector William Harrison (see 4/76). The smaller powers of boat engine were made on the Soho Manufactory premises, and in 1812 / 1813 the Manufactory was equipped with stocks for testing 14 horse independent engines.

Once the parts of an engine had been made, the engine was assembled and minor alterations made ('fitting'). The engine was tested and the parts checked and weighed, and then it was dismantled. This process was recorded in Fitting Books (4/239 to 4/251) and a more formal series of volumes called Engine Books (4/257 to 4/291). The Engine Books consisted of standard printed lists of the parts of an engine. The weight of the metal used and the cost of each part was entered after the engine had been fitted but before it was sent out. Particular series of Engine Books were dedicated to particular types of engine, so for example one series of books recorded large land engines, another boat engines, and so on. A set of Engine Books was maintained at Soho Foundry, but the definitive 'master' sets which recorded engines made at both sites were kept in the Counting House at Soho Manufactory.

Once dismantled, the parts were packed into crates or casks for delivery to the customer via canal, cart or later railway. Again the records of these processes were maintained by the clerks in the Counting Houses.

Lists of Engines and Performance Records.Once the engines had been sent out, the Engine Order Books and the Engine Books were generally used for referring to previously made engines, and there was no separately maintained list of engine production. Occasionally separate lists were made, usually for financial purposes. However on two occasions the firm did retrospectively review their production and sales. In the 1810s a list of engines arranged country by country and county by county was drawn up. Parts of this list were sporadically added to until the 1860s, although very inconsistently. In 1824 the then head of the Drawing Office William Creighton drew up a list arranged by type and power of engine. His successor Gilbert Hamilton updated this list in 1834. At some point both these lists were bound together and titled 'List of Engines made at Soho' (see 4/321).

Assembly Instructions.The only formal instruction manual that Boulton & Watt produced was the 'Directions for Erecting & Working the newly invented Steam Engines by Boulton & Watt,' which was printed around 1778 / 1779. Even then this little booklet was intended for use by the firm's own engine erectors; few were printed and it was not generally distributed to customers. Assembly of the engine was carried out by the firm?s engine erectors, and any special instructions to the customer were generally communicated by letter.