William Balston, Maidstone, 1805, 1806, 1839, 1863—1865, 1867—1869, 1874, 1893

Crank Engines.

372. William Balston, Maidstone (KK). Dec. 1805, Feb., Jun. 1806, Jun. 1839, Jan. 1863, Oct., Dec. 1864, Jan.-Mar. 1865, Nov. 1867, May 1868, May 1869, Feb., Jun. 1874, Jan., May 1893. 59 items.
36 horse power double-acting crank engine, with 30¾ inch cylinder, 6 foot stroke, parallel motion, [cast iron beam, cast iron connecting rod]. New 33 inch cylinder added 1893.
Also heating apparatus 1806, waggon and supplementary boilers and revolving grates, 1865.

Engine drawings, 1805-1806:
Reverse sketch side view of the engine, plan of the engine and boilers; reverse plan and sections of the engine and boiler houses and boilers; elevation and plan of the mill showing the various rooms, engine house, river etc. All the drawings except those of the mill bear letter codes.

Heating apparatus, 1806:
"Memorandum respecting Mr. Balston's heating apparatus, 5 Jun. 1806"; press copy sketch sections of the heating apparatus, 7 Jun. 1806.

"Brunton's Supplementary Boiler", Jun. 1839:
Coloured original and coloured reverse drawings made in the London office and sent to Soho and the Foundry.

Drawings of various parts, 1863-1864:
New wheels - coloured original drawing made in London, Jan. 1863; new brass - pencil drawing dated 20 Oct. 1864; Brunton's Supplementary Boiler - coloured original drawings made in London, Dec. 1864, marked "Two required"; tracing of new crank - not dated. All these drawings except that of the crank bear letter codes.

New boilers and revolving grates, 1865:
Proposed new boilers - tracing; new boilers - coloured original and tracing; general arrangement of boilers, steam pipes etc. - coloured original and reverse copy, both with tracings of amended steam pipe arrangements; elevations and cross-sections of boilers - tracing; details of grates, elevation of gearing for driving ditto - coloured original and coloured reverse drawings; cast iron girder & wall box for carrying gearing for driving revolving grates - 2 tracings; vertical spindle for driving grates - tracing; 8 inch stop valve - 2 coloured reverse drawings; details of lay shaft, worm gearing & bracket - coloured original and coloured reverse drawings and tracing; sections and plans of gearing for driving revolving grates - coloured original drawings and tracing; shafting and levers for revolving grates - 2 sketches from Foundry attached together; boiler seating - coloured original drawings; bracelet for lower end of vertical spindle for driving grate, lay shaft for driving grate, emptying pike, plates for front of supplementary boilers - tracings; sketches of fire door frames for supplementary boilers ordered from Smith & Hawkes; "List of Articles to be supplied to Messrs. W. & R. Balston", by F. A. Parsons and William Langdon, dated 18 London St., 9 Mar. 1865 - this lists 2 wagon and 2 supplementary boilers, apparatus, pipes etc. and 2 revolving grates, gearing, apparatus etc.

Drawings of various parts, 1867-1874:
Fire doors, Nov. 1867; "sundries" - brasses, bonnets, pipes etc., May 1868 - tracing; steam expansion diagram [?], May 1869; new nozzles, valves etc., Feb. 1870 - reverse drawings; girder for carrying crank shaft block & casting for carrying column, Feb. 1870 - coloured original and reverse drawings; delivery valve, Feb. 1873 - drawing on linen; new connecting rod brasses, Jun. 1874 - two drawings on linen. Almost all the 1863-1874 drawings bear letter codes, and the majority were drawn in the London Office.

New 33 inch cylinder etc., Jan., May 1893:
Details of new cylinder and piston, plans and sections of air pump and condenser - drawings on blueprint paper; details of piston rod for new cylinder- 2 copies, 1 partially coloured on linen and 1 on blueprint paper; details of air pump rod etc., - partially coloured drawing on linen; details of bucket and foot valve - coloured drawing; alteration to guard on air pump bucket - drawing on blueprint paper. All the drawings of 1893 bear letter codes and most were made in the London office.

Original Portfolio or 'Book' No. 548. Catalogue of Old Engines p. 114.

For William Balston. Springfield paper mill, Maidstone. The firm became Balston & Co., and later W. & R. Balston. Frequently spelt "Balstone". The engine underwent various alterations, and in early 1865 two new waggon boilers with revolving grates and two "Brunton's supplementary boilers" were added.

See also: Incoming Correspondence.
Published references: Tann, p. 167 - elevation & plan of the mill.