Material added by George Tangye

These records are extremely miscellaneous in their scope and content. They include some extremely significant items such as the photographs of Soho Foundry at the time of its sale in 1895, and the photographs of the Great Eastern under construction in November 1857. These photographs are by Robert Howlett, with display label and note about the dimensions of the vessel (16 items) - [Reference is MS 3147/31/1].
Also included are several photographs, articles, letters and papers which describe George Tangye’s custody of the collection and the pride he took in having preserved the Boulton & Watt archives for Birmingham. Tangye and Kirton were particularly interested in William Murdock, so there are several items relating to him, including a small pamphlet about his locomotive published by Tangye’s in 1902.

The records are arranged as follows:
Photographs and Engravings
Correspondence
Articles, Pamphlets etc.
Exhibitions
Miscellaneous

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 Material added by George Tangye. However fragile items or those in a poor state of repair may not be served at the discretion of the Duty Archivist.

George Tangye, of the firm of Tangye Bros. of Cornwall Works, Smethwick, purchased the majority of the Boulton & Watt collection from James Watt & Co. in 1895, when the firm and its assets were being sold off by the Trustee. Tangye kept the collection in his own ?Watt Room? or ?Watt Museum? at the Cornwall Works until 1915, when the collection was moved to the Birmingham Library, the transfer to the city having been agreed in 1911. During his custody of the collection Tangye made several additions. He also lent several items out for loan, and he and his curator R. H. Kirton allowed several writers access to the collection.