M.Boulton & Plate Manufactory (F?)

The correspondence in this series includes some miscellaneous items recording the names and qualities of workmen, among whom there seems to have been some movement to form a ‘combination’ (the early forerunners of a trades union), though it is not clear what the outcome of this was.

There is also a long and interesting sequence of letters between the civil engineer Robert Stevenson and Soho, between 1813-1821, about orders for reflector plates for the e Northern Lighthouses, which Stevenson was then in the process of designing and constructing. He placed repeated orders for large numbers of silvered copper reflectors, sometimes reporting that one or more in a batch had failed (apparently due to the plating flaking off during the installation process).
In one letter Stevenson also speculates on the best metal to use for the burners, to give the best quality of light. He suggests sending a senior lighthouse keeper, a former coppersmith, to Soho for training in how best to maintain the reflectors so that he can train the other lighthouse keepers. He also orders large sheets of copper with which to sheath lighthouse cupolas, in sizes which it proves impossible for Soho to produce, and there are compromises to be made which involve an acceptance of soldered seams. Both Stevenson and M. Boulton & Plate Co. may have been working at the limits of the available technology.

Some of the correspondence is with Richard Chippindale, Boulton’s erstwhile London agent, who had accepted a post at Soho in 1808 following the sudden death of the me of the correspondence is with Richard Chippindale, Boulton’s erstwhile London agent, who had accepted a post at Soho in 1808 following the sudden death of the The last few documents in the series concern calculations in preparation for the disposal of the Plate Company.

Any notes are transcribed from the dockets on the documents. Notes in square brackets are provided by the cataloguer.

NB: Some documents which were formerly in this box have been moved to other parts of the Archive (see below), hence the gaps in the old reference numbers at the end of this list.

See also:

13/42 Agents (M. Boulton & Plate Company): W. B. Chamberlain; E. E. Edkins; T. Remmett. 1819-1834. (cD2) (1 file)
Also contains accounts and letters to M. Boulton & Plate Co.

13/136 M. Boulton & Plate Co.: Disposal of the Concern. 1833-. (1 file)

[10. Miscellaneous Cashiers’ Records, 1822-1863]

M. Boulton & Plate Co.

10/22 Abstract of Settlement and Realisation of Capital. 1834-1837. (1 file)
10/23 Rough accounts, memoranda, preparatory balances etc. c.1833-1837. (1 file)