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The Origins of Engineering in Lancashire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2011

A. E. Musson  and
E. Robinson
A. E. Musson
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
E. Robinson
Affiliation:
City of Coventry Training College
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Extract

It is extraordinary how little is known about the engineers who produced the water wheels, steam engines, textile and other machinery of the early Industrial Revolution. In most economic histories of this period there are merely a few brief and vague references to smiths, carpenters, and millwrights, based on Smiles or Fairbairn, with no contemporary evidence whatever. Most accounts of the development of mechanical engineering normally begin with Bramah and Maudslay, from about 1800, and carry on with such renowned nineteenth-century names as Fairbairn, Roberts, Whitworth, and Nasmyth. Before the nineteenth century, we are usually led to believe, mechanical engineering hardly existed. This belief is largely based on nineteenth-century evidence. William Fairbairn, for example, stated that when he first came to Manchester, in 1814, “the whole of the machinery was executed by hand. There were neither planing, slotting, nor shaping machines; and, with the exception of very imperfect lathes, and a few drills, the preparatory operations of construction were effected entirely by the hands of the workmen.” Similarly, the Select Committee on Exportation of Machinery reported in 1841 that “[machine] tools have introduced a revolution in machinery, and tool-making has become a distinct branch of mechanics, and a very important trade, although twenty years ago it was scarcely known.”

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , June 1960 , pp. 209 - 233
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1960

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References

1 Presidential address to the British Association at Manchester, 1861.

2 Select Committee on the Exportation of Machinery, Second Report, in Parliamentary Papers, 1841, VII, vii.

3 See the Victoria County History, Lancaster, II, 367–74, for the nineteenth-century developments.

4 See Singer, C., Holmyard, E. J., Hall, A. R., and Williams, T. I., eds., A History of Technology, IV: The Industrial Revolution c. 1750-c. 1850 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1958), chs. xiii and xiv.Google Scholar A great deal of interesting material is also to be found in the Newcomen Society's Transactions. Much older works, but still very useful, are H., C. and Holtzapffel, J. J., Turning and Mechanical Manipulation (4 vols.; London, 1843)Google Scholar, and Willis, R., “Machines and Tools, for Working in Metal, Wood, and other Materials,” Lectures on the Results of the Great Exhibition delivered before the Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (London, 1852), pp. 291–320.Google Scholar

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6 Fairbairn, W., A Treatise on Mills and Millwork (2 vols.; London, 1861–1863), I, v–vi.Google Scholar

7 Willis, “Machines and Tools.”

8 Smiles, S., Lives of the Engineers, IV: The Steam Engine: Boulton and Watt (rev. ed.; London, 1878).CrossRefGoogle ScholarDickinson, H. W. and Jenkins, R., James Watt and the Steam Engine (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1927).Google Scholar

9 Roe, J. W., English and American Tool Builders (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1916), p. 11.Google Scholar

10 Smiles, S., Industrial Biography (London, 1863), p. 180.Google Scholar

11 Willis, “Machines and Tools,” pp. 306–7.

12 Robinson, E., “The Lunar Society and the Improvement of Scientific Instruments,” Annals of Science, XII (Dec. 1956), 296–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

13 Statutes, 25 Geo. III, c.67 (1785), and 26 Geo. III, c.89 (1786).

14 For a general account of these trades, see V. C. H. Lancaster, II, 360–67, and Tupling, G. H., “The Early Metal Trades and the Beginnings of Engineering in Lancashire,” Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, LXI (1949), 1–34.Google Scholar

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16 J. Aikin, A Description of the Country from thirty to forty Miles around Manchester (London, 1795), P. 174.

17 The names listed in the directories are those of firms; there is no indication of the number of workers employed. It must also be remembered that these early directories may not have been complete.

18 See Baines, E., History of the Cotton Manufacture in Great Britain (London, 1835)Google Scholar; Daniels, G. W., The Early English Cotton Industry (London: Longmans, 1920)Google Scholar, and Wadsworth and Mann, The Cotton Trade.

19 The reed is the appliance used in weaving for separating the threads of the warp and for beating the weft up to the web.

20 Edmond Holme's (1788), John Scholes's (1794 and 1797), and Gerard Bancks's (1800).

21 But see p. 219 of this article for its earlier appearance in local newspapers.

22 Perrins first came to Manchester in 1789 as an engine erector for Boulton and Watt.

23 Aikin, Description of the Country … around Manchester, pp. 176–78.

24 See pp. 224–25 of this article.

25 Preserved among material deposited in the Economics Library of Manchester University by Messrs. Dobson and Barlow, Ltd., textile engineers, of Bolton, and quoted by Daniels, G. W. in “A ‘Turn-Out’ of Bolton Machine-Makers in 1831,” Economic History, I (Jan. 1929), 592–95.Google Scholar

26 Aikin states: “It was about the year 1784 that the expiration of Sir Richard Arkwright's patent caused the erection of water machines [water frames] for the spinning of warps in all parts of the country, with which the hand engines [jennies] for the spinning of weft kept proportion.” Description of the Country … around Manchester, p. 179. See also Baines, Cotton Manufacture, p. 214.

27 Kennedy, J., “Observations on the Rise and Progress of the Cotton Trade in Great Britain, particularly in Lancashire and the adjoining counties,” read before the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society in 1815 and published in his Miscellaneous Papers (Manchester, 1849), pp 5–25.Google Scholar

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29 Derby Mercury, December 13, 1771, quoted in Fitton, R. S. and Wadsworth, A. P., The Strutts and the Arkwrights, 1758–1830 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1958), p. 65.Google Scholar See also Derby Mercury, September 20, 1781, where they were advertising for “Forging & Filing Smiths, Joiners and Carpenters” for the second Cromford mill.

30 Select Committee on Artizans and Machinery, Fourth Report, in Parl. Papers, 1824, V, 253, evidence by Peter Ewart.

31 ibid., p. 545, evidence of John Bradbury.

32 ibid., p. 347. His name is wrongly printed “Herves.” By 1824 Hewes was employing about 150 men.

33 Collier, F., “An Early Factory Community,” Economic History, II (Jan. 1930), 119.Google Scholar

34 See Appendix of this article, for a selection from these.

35 Cf. Fairbairn, Mills and Millwork, I, vi-vii: “The introduction of the steam engine, and the rapidity with which it created new trades, proved a heavy blow to the distinctive position of the millwright, by bringing into the field a new class of competitors in the shape of turners, fitters, machine-makers, and mechanical engineers.”

36 For Wrigley, see p. 227 of this article.

37 J. Wedgwood to T. Bentley, August 24 and October 24, 1767, February 22, 1768, Wedgwood Papers, Rylands Library, Manchester.

38 M. Boulton to J. Wedgwood, July 16, 1767, Boulton and Watt Papers, Birmingham Reference Library.

39 J. Wedgwood to T. Bentley, July 14, 1768.

40 Hoult, J., “Prescot Watch-Making in the XVIII Century,” Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, LXXVII (1925), 39–53.Google Scholar W. J. Roberts and H. C. Pidgeon, “Biographical Sketch of Mr. John Wyke,” ibid., VI (1853–1854), 66–75.

41 James Watt's Journal (Doldowlod), March 20, April 14, and August 17, 1760. We wish to thank Major D. Gibson Watt, M.C., M.P., for access to his private collection at Doldowlod.

42 Aikin, Description of the Country … around Manchester, p. 311.

43 P. Ewart (Manchester) to M. Boulton (Soho, Birmingham), December 12, 1791, Assay Office, Birmingham.

44 P. Ewart (Manchester) to Mr. Forman (Soho, Birmingham), February 11, 1792, ibid..

45 P. Ewart (Manchester) to J. Southern (Soho, Birmingham), January 31, 1792, Boulton and Watt Papers, Birmingham Reference Library. Dickinson and Jenkins, James Watt and the Steam Engine, p. 267, wrongly quote 57 or 58 shillings.

46 J. Rennie (London) to M. Boulton (Birmingham), November 19, 1791, Rennie Box, ibid..

47 Musson, A. E. and Robinson, E., “The Early Growth of Steam Power,” Economic History Review, 2d ser., XI (1958–1959), 427–28.Google Scholar

48 Manchester Mercury, November 14, 1788.

49 R. Dossie, Memoirs of Agriculture, and other Oeconomical Arts (1768), I, 197.

50 Aikin, Description of the Country … around Manchester, pp. 172–73.

51 Wadsworth and Mann, The Cotton Trade, p. 473.

52 Baines, Cotton Manufacture, pp. 143 and 148–49.

53 ibid., p. 153.

54 See p. 223 of this article.

55 S. C. on Artizans and Machinery, Fourth Report, in Pad. Papers, 1824, V, 251.Google Scholar

56 J. Lawson to M. Boulton, November 28, 1797, Assay Office, Birmingham.

57 Farnie, D. A., “The English Cotton Industry, 1850–1896” (unpublished M.A. thesis, Manchester University, 1953), ch. iv.Google Scholar

58 Baines, Cotton Manufacture, p. 150.

59 ibid., quoting J. Aikin and W. Enfield, General Biography (1799), I, 391. See also Davies, D. P., A New Historical and Descriptive View of Derbyshire (Belper, 1811), p. 489.Google Scholar

60 Manchester Mercury, September 17, 1799.

61 J. Kennedy, “A brief notice of my early recollections,” in Miscellaneous Papers, pp. 1–18. McConnel, D. C., Facts and Traditions collected for a Family Record (Manchester, privately printed, 1861).Google Scholar

62 They formed a partnership in 1791, together with Benjamin and William Sandford, two well-to-do fustian warehousemen, who provided most of the capital. McConnel, Facts and Traditions, pp. 137–8; Kennedy, Miscellaneous Papers, p. 17. They appeared in the 1794 Manchester directory as “cotton-spinners and machine-makers.”

63 For a brief history of McConnel and Kennedy, see A Century of Fine Cotton Spinning, 1790–1906 (Manchester, 1906), issued by the firm.Google Scholar

64 Kennedy, Miscellaneous Papers, p. 9; McConnel, Facts and Traditions, p. 133. In the 1794 Manchester directory Adam Murray is described as a machine maker, in that of 1797 as a cotton spinner.

65 The Life of Robert Owen, Written by Himself (1857), I, 22–23.Google ScholarChaloner, W. H., “Robert Owen, Peter Drinkwater and the Early Factory System in Manchester, 1788–1800,” Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, XXXVII (Sept. 1954), 78–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

66 Their partnership was formed in late 1790 or early 1791.

67 Manchester Mercury, February 21, 1792.

68 Henry, W. C., “A Biographical Notice of the late Peter Ewart, Esq.,” Memoirs of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, VII (1846), 113–36; Dickinson and Jenkins, James Watt and the Steam Engine, pp. 288–89; Ewart's evidence before the S. C. on Artizans and Machinery, Fourth ReportGoogle Scholar, in Parl. Papers, 1824, V, 250.

69 J. Watt to J. Watt, jun., October 16, 1790; P. Ewart to J. Watt, October 10, 1790, Boulton and Watt Papers, Birmingham Reference Library.

70 P. Ewart to J. Watt, January 17, 1792; P. Ewart to Messrs. Boulton and Watt, August 4, 1792, ibid..

71 See p. 215 of this article.

72 There are innumerable references in the Boulton and Watt papers to Perrins' work in Manchester.

73 Several of these were important in the manufacture of steam engines. See Musson and Robinson, “The Early Growth of Steam Power,” where this branch of early engineering in Lancashire is dealt with at length. Some slight overlapping with the previous paper is unavoidable here.

74 Tupling, “The Early Metal Trades,” pp. 1–13; Awty, B. G., “Charcoal Ironmasters of Cheshire and Lancashire, 1600–1785,” Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, CIX (1957), 71–124.Google Scholar

75 Birch, A., “The Haigh Ironworks, 1789–1856,” Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, XXXV (March 1953), 316–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

76 Manchester Mercury, July 9, 1782 and April 29, 1783.

77 See p. 226 of this article.

78 Aikin, Description of the Country … around Manchester, pp. 177–78. For Brodie, see p. 228 of this article. Iron was also imported from Cheshire and Yorkshire. See Awty, “Charcoal Ironmasters, 1600–1785.”

79 Musson and Robinson, “The Early Growth of Steam Power,” p. 438.

80 Manchester Mercury, 19 April and 4 Oct. 1796.

81 See Musson, and Robinson, , “The Early Growth of Steam Power,” Ec. H. R. 2d ser., XI (1958–1959), 425–37Google Scholar, for a detailed account of this firm's very extensive steam-engine manufacture.

82 Stancliffe, F. S., John Shaw's, 1738–1938 (Manchester: Sherratt & Hughes, 1939), pp. 45–46Google Scholar. Bateman was president for many years of John Shaw's Club in Manchester.

83 Manchester Mercury, January 1, 1782.

84 Musson and Robinson, “The Early Growth of Steam Power,” pp. 426–27.

85 ibid., p. 437.

86 Aikin, Description of the Country … around Manchester, pp. 176–77.

87 Musson and Robinson, “The Early Growth of Steam Power,” pp. 420–24.

88 Manchester Mercury, February 27, 1787. Musson and Robinson, “The Early Growth of Steam Power,” 437–38. See Robinson, P., The Smiths of Chesterfield (Chesterfield, privately printed, 1957)Google Scholar, for a short history of this firm, which mined iron ore and coal and operated several blast furnaces, a forge, and a boring mill in the Chesterfield area. They were the biggest producers of pig iron in Derbyshire in the early nineteenth century, with an annual output of 2,600 tons. Farey, J., General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derbshire (3 vols.; 1811 ), I, 397.Google Scholar

89 Musson and Robinson, “The Early Growth of Steam Power,” p. 438.

90 Scholes's Manchester and Salford Directory (1794).

91 See p. 226 of this article.

92 Aikin, Description of the Country … around Manchester, p. 177.

93 Colonel T. Johnes (Hafod, Radnorshire) to M. Boulton (Birmingham), June 29, 1894, Assay Office, Birmingham. John Galloway, an eminent nineteenth-century Manchester engineer, whose foundry was built on the foundations of Brodie's, states that Brodie was “the maker of a new stove for ships, and had a large connection, especially with Government.” Galloway's MS. “Reminiscences” (Manchester Central Reference Library), p. 20. According to Brodie's obituary notice in the Gentleman's Magazine (1811), Part I, 89, he “possessed an immense property.”

94 Musson and Robinson, “The Early Growth of Steam Power,” p. 438.

95 Aikin, Description of the Country … around Manchester, p. 177.

96 J. Lawson (Manchester) to M. R. Boulton (Birmingham), November 15, 1797, Boulton and Watt Papers, Birmingham Reference Library.

97 We have discovered that along with this rapid technological development there was a significant growth of scientific and technical education. We hope to publish our findings in the Economic History Review.