Hero of the Day: Matthew Boulton

Lance's picture
Submitted by Lance on Sat, 2008-03-01 23:41.

Matthew Boulton (September 3, 1728 – 18 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and engineer. He also formed one half of the firm "Boulton and Watt"; a partnership between Matthew Boulton and James Watt, formed in 1775 to make steam engines at their Soho Foundry in Smethwick.

Many people are (hopefully) familiar with James Watt, one of many Scottish inventors, whose designs and ideas helped make the industrial revolution possible. His improvements to the Newcomen "atmospheric engine" - boostng efficiency and power through applying the principles of Professor Jospeh Black's "theory of latent heat" - enabled the widespread commercial use of stationary steam engines. The SI unit of power, the watt, is named after him, as are over 50 roads or streets in the UK.

Less familiar to some is his business partner Matthew Boulton. Boulton formed the business savvy half of the partnership, without which James Watt's work on the steam engine may have never been realised.

Matthew Boulton (abbreviated from wikipedia):

Boulton was born in Birmingham, England where his father, Matthew Boulton the elder, was a "toymaker" (a manufacturer of small metal articles of various kinds). In 1749 he became a partner in his father's business (and the general manager), and in 1755 the Boultons acquired Sarehole Mill, which they used for rolling sheet metal.

Shortly after his father's death in 1759, Boulton went into partnership with John Fothergill. In 1762, they established the Soho Manufactory, two miles north of Birmingham. Here they undertook the manufacture of artistic objects in metal, such as his cut steel buttons, earlier marcasite imitations of diamonds, that were very popular in British society, as well as the reproduction of oil paintings by a mechanical process in which he was associated with Francis Egginton (1737-1805), who subsequently achieved a reputation as a worker in stained or enamelled glass. In this, he was also encouraged by Robert Adam. Between 1762 and 1775 he established a strong reputation as a craftsman; his works at Soho were widely known for excellent and artistic workmanship.

About 1767, Boulton, needing to improve the power supply for his machinery, made the acquaintance of James Watt, who on his side appreciated the advantages offered by the Soho works for the development of his steam-engine.

In 1772, Watt's partner, Dr. John Roebuck, got into financial difficulties, and Boulton, to whom he owed £1200, accepted his two-thirds share in Watt's patent in satisfaction of the debt. Three years later, Boulton and Watt formally entered into partnership, and it was mainly through the energy and ingenuity of the former, who devoted all the capital he had or could borrow to the enterprise, that the steam engine was at length made a commercial success. For 11 years the Soho Foundry made Watt's steam-engines for colliery owners to pump water out of mines, the Boulton & Watt engine being four times more powerful than Thomas Newcomen's original design. Watt marketed his rotary-motion steam engine from 1781. The earlier steam engine's vertical movement was ideal for operating water pumps but the new engine could be adapted to drive all sorts of machinery. Richard Arkwright pioneered its use in his cotton mills and within 15 years there were 500+ Boulton & Watt steam engines in British factories and mines. Boulton also arranged, in 1775, an act of parliament extending the term of Watt's 1769 patent to 1799.

Key Innovations:
* Boulton's secret to improving labour productivity was by equipping his works with all kinds of labour-saving devices made by the use of clever designs with interchangeable components, and making use of technology to reproduce designs, each of which was efficiently manufactured in quantity.
* Instead of putting work out in the traditional way to toymakers around the town, he brought all the functions of a modern business, including design and marketing, under his control.
* In the 1770s he introduced a very early social insurance scheme, funded by workers' contributions of 1/60th of their wages, and which paid benefits of up to 80% of wages to staff who were sick or injured or killed.
* He ensured that the works were clean, well-lit and well-ventilated.
* He refused to employ young children.


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