LONDON OFFICE LETTERS OF ADVICE

MS 3147/13

LONDON OFFICE LETTERS OF ADVICE

1828 - 1837

The records listed here are the surviving examples from what was origninally a much larger group of material. These letters record parts delivered to Woolwich Dockyard for the repair of steam ships, dock yard equipment and the Smithery. They were referred to in many different ways – invoices, bills of lading – but the most usual term was “Letters of Advice.”
Boulton Watt & Co. would send two letters of advice to Woolwich, informing the Storekeeper of what parts were being sent to fulfill a particular order or requirement. If the letters were sent from 13 London St., they were signed for Boulton Watt & Co. by James Brown ; if the letters were sent from Soho they were signed for Boulton Watt & Co. by one of the clerks there. Usually the source of the order would be noted on the left-hand side of the list of items, for example “Order of the Honourable Robert Dundas, 1 Sep. 1835”. This appears to have been done at the request of the Receiver of Stores, John Williams, in Oct. 1832 – on the Carron’s letter of 24 Oct. being returned to London St. he wrote “Messrs. Boulton & Co. are requested to insert in all Bills of Lading the date of the authority of the Admiralty for supplying the articles or performing the work.” Note also Williams’ note on Meteor’s letter of 25 Jun. 1832 – “The above articles were delivered on board the vessel – contrary to the arrangement made with Mr. Brown. Every article must be delivered into the Dock Yard, or no notice will be taken of them.”
Once the items themselves arrived at Woolwich, the Storekeeper, Ambrose Keddell, or one of his deputies, George Eden, would sign and date both the letters to show that the goods had been received at Woolwich. The duplicate letter was then posted back to London Street, whether it had originated from there or from Soho in the first place.
On being filed at London Street, the letters were docketed with the name of the vessel, the date of writing, the date the goods were received at Woolwich, and the source of the items. The source of the parts – Soho, the Pallas hulk, or external suppliers such as Boreham’s, Laver etc. was often noted in the bottom left-hand corner, sometimes by a single letter – B for Boreham’s, P for Pallas etc. Large runs of letters were also numbered. They were probably kept in yearly bundles, along with rough account sheets. The rough accounts were made out at Soho and usually covered only those items which had been sent from Soho. A bill was then made out in London Street and delivered for payment.

The Staff and Employment Records are arranged in various series. Some of these series contain s 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:

Wages Books
Articles of Agreement and Apprenticeship Indentures; Memoranda and Papers concerning Agreements, Salaries etc.
The Soho Insurance Society (‘Sick Club’)

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 Boulton & Watt Staff and Employment 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 examples from what was origninally a much larger group of material. These letters record parts delivered to Woolwich Dockyard for the repair of steam ships, dock yard equipment and the Smithery. They were referred to in many different ways ? invoices, bills of lading ? but the most usual term was ?Letters of Advice.?

Boulton Watt & Co. would send two letters of advice to Woolwich, informing the Storekeeper of what parts were being sent to fulfill a particular order or requirement. If the letters were sent from 13 London St., they were signed for Boulton Watt & Co. by James Brown ; if the letters were sent from Soho they were signed for Boulton Watt & Co. by one of the clerks there. Usually the source of the order would be noted on the left-hand side of the list of items, for example ?Order of the Honourable Robert Dundas, 1 Sep. 1835?. This appears to have been done at the request of the Receiver of Stores, John Williams, in Oct. 1832 ? on the Carron?s letter of 24 Oct. being returned to London St. he wrote ?Messrs. Boulton & Co. are requested to insert in all Bills of Lading the date of the authority of the Admiralty for supplying the articles or performing the work.? Note also Williams? note on Meteor?s letter of 25 Jun. 1832 ? ?The above articles were delivered on board the vessel ? contrary to the arrangement made with Mr. Brown. Every article must be delivered into the Dock Yard, or no notice will be taken of them.?

Once the items themselves arrived at Woolwich, the Storekeeper, Ambrose Keddell, or one of his deputies, George Eden, would sign and date both the letters to show that the goods had been received at Woolwich. The duplicate letter was then posted back to London Street, whether it had originated from there or from Soho in the first place.

On being filed at London Street, the letters were docketed with the name of the vessel, the date of writing, the date the goods were received at Woolwich, and the source of the items. The source of the parts ? Soho, the Pallas hulk, or external suppliers such as Boreham?s, Laver etc. was often noted in the bottom left-hand corner, sometimes by a single letter ? B for Boreham?s, P for Pallas etc. Large runs of letters were also numbered. They were probably kept in yearly bundles, along with rough account sheets. The rough accounts were made out at Soho and usually covered only those items which had been sent from Soho. A bill was then made out in London Street and delivered for payment.