Browse Times
1792-1802
1794
Josiah Spode began manufacturing bone china. Introduction of Mason’s fly press into the lock making industry enabling the domestic worker to cut parts more easily.
1795
Death of Josiah Wedgwood.
1796
Opening of a foundry in Smethwick by Matthew Boulton and James Watt to manufacture steam engines.
1797
William and John Parkes and John Brookhouse opened a wool spinning mill at Saltisford, Warwick in 1797. They used a Boulton and Watt engine and eventually sold yarn to the Leicestershire hosiery trade and Kidderminster carpet manufacturers.
1798
Richard Lovell and Maria Edgeworth published Practical Education.
1799
William Withering died.
1802
The Soho Works in Handsworth became the first factory to be lit by gas lighting to celebrate the Peace of Amiens. Thomas Wedgwood, the third son of Josiah Wedgwood I, published “An Account of a Method of copying Paintings upon Glass, and of making Profiles by the agency of Light upon Nitrate of Silver” in the Journal of the Royal Institution. He showed how the chemical action of light could be used to produce images. Wedgwood is seen as the first photographer. Death of Erasmus Darwin in Derbyshire. The Health and Morals of Apprentices Act became law, the first example of factory legislation.
Articles in this time period
Charles Bage and Iron Construction
Image: The ground floor of Charles Bage’s Ditherington Mill showing the iron columns used in construction. The picture… read more »
Charles Bage, the Flax Industry and Shrewsbury’s Iron-Framed Mills
Image: View of Ditherington Mill in April 2003, the world’s first completely iron-framed building. The factory was built… read more »
Chemical Philosophers of the Present Day: Dr Priestley
Image from: Joseph Priestley Collection by Samuel Timmins, Birmingham City Archives.
Colebrook Dale
Image:The Iron Bridge, near Coalbrookdale Shropshire. Thomas Harral, Picturesque Views of the Severn (1824). Harral’s views were largely based… read more »
Commercial Hotel, Sheffield
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Conclusion: Classical Order versus Romantic Nature
Virgil’s Tomb (1782), Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797), Oil on Canvas. Derby Museum & Art Gallery. Wright painted several… read more »
Cottage in Needwood Forest
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797). Image from: Derby Museum & Art Gallery
Cromford: A Factory Community
Image: Housing in North Street, Cromford, Derbyshire. Richard Arkwright built houses to attract people to work in his… read more »
Curiosities in Greene’s Museum
Image: “Miss Seward”. John Jackson, History of the City and Cathedral of Lichfield(London, 1805). Anna Seward, the Lichfield poet… read more »
Darwin, Priestley and Romantic Materialism
Image: Bridge through a Cavern, Moonlight (1791). Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797), Oil on Canvas. Derby Museum & Art Gallery.… read more »
Davy Brothers, Engineers and Millwrights, Park Iron Works, Sheffield
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Detail of Landscape with a Rainbow
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797). Image from: Derby Museum & Art Gallery
Dingley’s Commercial Hotel, Moor Street, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Dr John Ash, M.D.
Image: Print of a portrait of Dr John Ash (1723-1798) from R K Dent, Old and New Birmingham: A… read more »
English Hotel Guide
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Enlightenment and Dissent: A Poem
By Roi Ankhkara Kwabena, Poet, Writer and Cultural Activist Roi was born in the Caribbean island of… read more »
Entrance to the Great Cavern at Castleton
This is an example of the type of limestone cavern that impressed visitors and potential visitors to… read more »
Epistle to Nathaniel Lister Esq. of Lichfield by Anna Seward
“[From “”Poetical Works of Anna Seward, Vol 2″”] [333] EPISTLE TO NATHANIEL LISTER, ESQ. OF LICHFIELD ON… read more »
F & C Osler, Glass Chandlier & Table Glass Manufacturers, Birmingham
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858 Plate Glass is made in… read more »
Family, Commercial and Private Boarding House, London
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Farrier
Source: The Complete Book of Trades, or the Parents Guide and Youth’s Instructor in the Choice of a… read more »
Fire in Rome
Originally called Fire in Rome, this image is probably one of Wright’s drawings of the Girandola firework… read more »
Floyer and Erasmus Darwin
Image: Joseph Wright (1734-1797), Portrait of Erasmus Darwin (1792). Oil on Canvas. Image from: Wolverhampton Art Gallery Erasmus Darwin, who started… read more »
Floyer and Samuel Johnson
Image: Print of Samuel Johnson from John Jackson, History of the City and Cathedral of Lichfield (London, 1805). Image from: Local… read more »
Floyer and the Medical Importance of Bathing
Image: Stowe Pool, Lichfield from John Jackson, History of the City and Cathedral of Lichfield (London, 1805). In front of… read more »
Floyer’s Pioneering Medical Publications
Image: St John’s Hospital, Lichfield. Floyer based much of his evidence in his book, The Physician’s Pulse-Watch, from evidence… read more »
Francis B. Oberton, Coach and Saddler’s Ironmonger, Walsall
Advertisement, Men and Things of Modern England… The New Illustrated Directory… (Birmingham, M Billing, 1856)
Frank Clayton, King’s Arms Hotel, Sheffield
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Frontispiece: View of Birmingham from Bordesley Fields, near the Coventry Road
Image from: William Hawkes Smith, Birmingham and its Vicinity as a Manufacturing and Commercial District (London and… read more »
George Dowler, Medallist and Die Sinker, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Girandola with St Peter’s Rome (1774/5)
Image: Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797). Sepia wash with brown ink. Image from: Derby Museum & Art Gallery This… read more »
Gunpowder Joe: Priestley’s Religious Radicalism
Image: Cartoon: The Friends of the People, showing Joseph Priestley on the left Image from: Birmingham City Archives, Priestley… read more »
H.H. Giles, Saracen’s Head Hotel and Commercial Tavern, Bristol
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858 Local Studies and History,… read more »
Half penny with portrait of John Wilkinson, Shropshire Iron Master
John Wilkinson Iron Master”, British tokens, copper, Birmingham, 1792 Wolverhampton Art Gallery. M160/107/108/109.
Handloom Weaving
Image: Carpet Weaver. N Whittock et al, The Complete Book of Trades (London, Marshall and Co., 1837). The image shows… read more »
Harrop and Hague, Norfolk Street, Sheffield
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Hart’s Patent Economizing Gas Burner, London
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Herva at the Tomb of Argantyr by Anna Seward
[from “Llangollen Vale with Other Poems”] (22) HERVA*, AT THE TOMB OF ARGANTYR A RUNIC DIALOGUE HERVA.… read more »
Hollis and Sheath, Gun-Makers, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
