French Walls Financial Records

As noted above, the surviving records are mostly bills and other papers. There are gaps in the records but the sequence of bills is relatively complete from 1816 to 1840. The Head Clerk at the Foundry also administered aspects of James Watt Jr.'s private account, so various bills referring to such matters as delivery of items to Doldowlod, or bricks for Aston Hall can be found there.
Quarterly Accounts and Other Papers.
Copies of quarterly accounts, 1819-1821 and statements of weekly receipts and payments, 1819-1820.
This bundle contains press copies of quarterly accounts of cash received, mainly from rents, and cash payments made on accouunt at French Walls. Statements of weekly receipts and payments from the estate are also included up to Midsummer Quarter, 1820. After this the statements were kept separately - see below.

Quarterly statements of weekly receipts and payments, 1821, 1824-1829 and receipts for Henry Downing's rent, 1826-1829.
This bundle contains statements of cash received, usually from rents, and cash expenditure on wages, stationery, materials etc. The outstanding cash was paid to James Watt Jr. who signed the entry. The statements from Michaelmas Quarter 1821 to Christmas Quarter 1823 are missing. It also contains receipts for Henry Downing's rent. Downing paid his rent to the clerk at Soho Foundry responsible for administering French Walls, John Dawn. Dawn wrote out the receipt and paid the money to
James Watt Jr. who signed the receipt when he got the money. The bundle also included two receipts which are for rents other than Downing's.

Press Copies of statements of Costs of Alteration.
Two press copies of accounts of repairs and alterations at French Walls, from 28 May 1829 to 28 September 1830. The originals of these accounts were sent to James Watt Jr.

Statements of James Watt Jr.'s accounts with Boulton & Watt Jrs. and Boulton Watt & Co. for alterations at French Walls.
This bundle contains various statements of account for items and materials supplied from Soho for alterations and repairs at French Walls. There is also a statement of the cost of French Walls to James Watt Jr. and the income from rental, from 1816 to 1840.

Bills and Vouchers.
As will be seen from the List, the bills were found in various arrangements, sometimes in quarterly and sometimes in yearly bundles. The bills from 1817 to 1828 are the most disordered and they are probably not complete for these years. The bills are usually for mens' wages, materials, repairs, stationery and so on. There is also a small bundle of bills for the Michaelmas Quarter, 1838, for bricks and other supplies for work at Heathfield and Aston Hall. These were admisintered via French Walls.
Note that various bills dating between 1820 and 1822 will be found with the Incoming Correspondence for 1817 to 1822 (MS 3147/23/3).

The Financial Records are sub-divided as follows:
Quarterly Accounts and Other Papers
Bills and Vouchers

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.

There are no restrictions on access to or use of the French Walls 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 records of French Walls, the iron works in Smethwick owned by James Watt Jr. The accounting records of French Walls were kept by the clerks in the counting house at Soho Foundry, particularly the Head Clerk, who also administered aspects of James Watt Jr.'s private account. Most of the records here are relatively low-level financial records, such as vouchers, bills and copies of quarterly statements. Any higher level accounts such as journals and ledgers, or records of sales, have not survived.