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
Letter from Erasmus Darwin to James Watt, 1795/12/28
Darwin writes to Watt on behalf of a patient requesting apparatus for making oxygen gas. —————————————- Derby… read more »
Letter from Erasmus Darwin to James Watt, 1796/01/18
Darwin’s recommendation of Dr. Salt as physician to the Birmingham Dispensary. —————————————- Derby Jan 18-96 Dear Sir,… read more »
Letter from Erasmus Darwin to James Watt, 1800/01/21
On the evening of 29 December 1799, Darwin’s son, Erasmus, who was in debt, committed suicide by… read more »
Letter from Erasmus Darwin to James Watt, 1800/11/20
Darwin writes to Watt asking him to purchase a corn-mill on his behalf. —————————————- Derby Nov 20… read more »
Letter from Erasmus Darwin to Matthew Boulton, 1793/01/05
Darwin writes to Boulton to say he regrets being unable to visit Soho and enquire after an… read more »
Letter from Erasmus Darwin to Matthew Boulton, 1794/10/08
Darwin requests Boulton help in obtaining aerated water for the treatment of a patient. —————————————- Derby Oct… read more »
Letter from Erasmus Darwin to Matthew Boulton, 1795/03/13
Darwin writes to Boulton to recommend Dr Salt to the position of physician to the Birmingham Dispensary.… read more »
Letter from Erasmus Darwin to Matthew Boulton, 1800/02/23
Darwin writes to recommend Mr Edwards as a solicitor to Boulton. —————————————- Derby Feb. 23, 1800 Dear… read more »
Letter from Erasmus Darwin to Matthew Boulton, 1800/11/09
Darwin writes to Boulton about the enclosure of land. —————————————- At Mr Galton’s Crescent Birmingham Nov. 9-1800… read more »
Letter from James Keir to James Watt, 1802/04/24
Keir writes to Watt concerning the death of their friend and fellow Lunar Society member, Dr. Erasmus… read more »
Letter from Robert Darwin to James Watt, 1802/04/21
Darwin’s son, Robert writes to Watt about the death of his father. —————————————- Priory near Derby April… read more »
Letter from Samuel Galton, jnr to The Friends of the Monthly Meeting in Birmingham
To the Friends of the Monthly Meeting at Birmingham:— RESPECTED FRIENDS, I have been visited on the… read more »
Lloyd and Summerfield, Park Glass Works, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858 Glass made in furnaces,… read more »
Mabbatt’s Commercial Boarding House, Coventry
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Mabbatt’s Commercial Boarding House, Coventry
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Mander Brothers, Varnish Manufacturer, Wolverhampton
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Mapplebeck and Lowe, Manufacturers of Agricultural Implements, Birmingham
Advertisement, Men and Things of Modern England… The New Illustrated Directory… (Birmingham, M Billing, 1856)
Maria and her dog Silvio (from Sterne’s Sentimental Journey)
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797). Oil on Canvas. Image from: Derby Museum & Art Gallery
Masson Mill and the River Derwent, Matlock Bath near Cromford, Derbyshire
The picture shows the rural landscape in which many 18th century factories were located. The Derwent Valley… read more »
Matthew Boulton and Birmingham Silverware in the late 18th and early 19th centuries
Image: The painted sign for the King’s Head Inn, New Street, Birmingham showing the Head of George III.… read more »
Matthew Boulton’s Medals and Coins on Russian Subjects
Image: Medallion of the Hudson’s Bay Company. 1820. Designed by Conrad Heinrich Kuchler. An example of the high… read more »
Matthew Boulton’s Soho Works, Iron Foundry and House at Soho near Birmingham, 1801
Stebbing Shaw’s The History and Antiquities of Staffordshire (1798 and 1801) is a major source not only for the… read more »
Matthew Harvey, Malleable Iron Founder, Walsall
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Maypole Commercial Hotel and Posting House, Nottingham
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Medals and Coins of Alexander I
Image: Medallion of Alexander I, Emperor of all the Russias. 1812. Image from: Birmingham Assay Office (256) The coronation… read more »
Messenger and Sons, Corrugated Ship & Railway Lamps, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Metal Rolling
Image: Charles Clifford, Rolling Mills, Birmingham Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England,… read more »
Metallic Bedsteads
Image: Richard and Edward Peyton, Brass and Iron Bedsteads, Birmingham Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and… read more »
Mill and Warehouse Building, Cromford, Derbyshire
This five-storey building was built in 1785 to 1790. The four upper floors contained machinery for spinning.… read more »
Needle Making
Image: Milward’s Needle and Fish-Hook Manufactory, Redditch Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern… read more »
New Church, Wellington, c 1800
Built by George Steuart, designer of St. Chad’s Shrewsbury
P. Aitchison and Co, Brass Founders, Sheffield
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Pair of shoe buckles
These silver buckles have an embossed design and are fitted with steel latchets or fasteners.
Papermaking
Image: Paper Maker, from The Book of Trades or Library of Useful Arts, part III, third edition (London Tabart… read more »
Pastoral Group, c.1770
The group with a shepherd playing his pipe to a sleeping shepherdess is a good example of… read more »
Photograph of gravestone of Dr Priestley in Cemetery of Northumberland, Pennsylvania
Image from: Joseph Priestley Collection by Samuel Timmins, Birmingham City Archives.
Photograph of Joseph Priestley’s house in the United States of America
Image from: Joseph Priestley Collection by Samuel Timmins, Birmingham City Archives.
Photograph of portrait of Joseph Priestley
Image from: Joseph Priestley Collection by Samuel Timmins, Birmingham City Archives.
