Soho Manufactory

The Soho Manufactory was established by Matthew Boulton in 1761 in the area now occupied by South Road[3], Birmingham. Matthew Boulton, already a manufacturer of toys, moved to Soho in 1761 in search of water-power, leasing a small mill which he quickly enlarged to allow increased production. Within a few years he boasted that he had erected 'the largest Hardware Manufactory in the World'[4]. The Soho Manufactory (1761-1863) and Soho Mint (1788- early 1850s) were both situated in the historic parish of Handsworth, now in the city of Birmingham[2].

Origins and Construction

The Soho estate was acquired by Boulton in 1761, and building work for the new manufactory started the next year[1]. One of the earliest large industrial buildings, the factory was built on the site of an earlier watermill on a scale previously unknown. Standing on Factory Road it was built in plain neo-classical style with a central tower above an arched doorway and topped by a cupola[5].

Before Boulton even moved onto Soho house on the Soho estate in 1766 he had over 2,000 conifers planted[1]. In 1788 J.A.Smiths valued the total value of the Soho estate at £10,185.15.-, with £8519.10.- for the manufactory[1].

Manufacturing Operations

The Soho Manufactory with its smaller neighbour, the Soho Mint, was the largest factory in the Birmingham area in the late 18th century, employing on average between 600 and 700 workers. This scale of operation was unusual at the time, since industry in Birmingham was then otherwise characterised by small workshops[4].

Here over a thousand workers were employed making high quality 'toys': buttons, boxes, buckles, coffee pots, lamps, spurs, trinkets, silverware, plate and jewellery for which Birmingham was to become world-famous[5]. The Manufactory was innovative in bringing so large a workforce under one roof making such a wide variety of goods of good quality and with planned division of labour[5].

Steam Power and the Watt Partnership

The inclusion of Watt's steam engine was a driving force for the production, and the surrounding buildings were extended to accompany this[1]. Matthew Boulton and James Watt went into partnership in 1775. One of their first actions was to have Watt's patent of 1769 extended by Act of Parliament in May 1775 for a further 25 years, and this was the term of years that they agreed their partnership would run[28].

Built by James Watt in 1788, it incorporates all of his most important steam-engine improvements. The engine was used at Matthew Boulton's Soho Manufactory in Birmingham, where it drove 43 metal polishing (or 'lapping') machines for 70 years[23]. Watt's rotative engine enabled machinery to be turned directly by steam power and from 1818 Soho was powered by steam not water[5].

Industrial Tourism

The Soho Works became a tourist attraction as people came to view Boulton's manufacturing processes. The image shows visitors in the foreground[8]. The visitors included counts, dukes, duchesses, ambassadors, scientists and all manner of well-to-do travellers who felt their tour of Britain would not be complete without seeing Soho, its machines and its hundreds of workers. Eventually the number of visitors grew so great that they began to disrupt production. Managers, or Boulton himself, had to spend time showing them round and explaining things, and workers begged for tips. Boulton decided to call a halt to factory tours and put up a notice in every inn for some miles around, announcing that henceforth visitors would not be admitted to the Manufactory[8].

The Lunar Society of Birmingham

Soho House was a regular venue for the meeting for the leading eighteenth century intellectuals of the Lunar Society[12]. During its existence from the 1750s to the end of the century the Lunar Society included (although not all at the same time) John Whitehurst, Matthew Boulton, Josiah Wedgwood, Erasmus Darwin, Joseph Priestly, William Small, James Keir, James Watt, William Withering, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Thomas Day and Samuel Galton[11].

In 1765 Benjamin Franklin introduced Boulton to Dr William Small and it was Dr Small who first showed James Watt around the Soho factory in 1767. The two later corresponded over Watt's adaptations to the steam engine[11]. Yet it wasn't until the untimely death of Dr Small in 1775 that the group of friends decided to meet monthly on the Sunday nearest to the full moon, to have enough light to ride home by[11].

Meetings, often hosted at Matthew Boulton's Soho Manufactory, facilitated discussions on pneumatic chemistry and mechanical improvements, with members like Joseph Priestley and James Watt exchanging ideas on gases and engine efficiency[19]. The Dining Room at Soho House is also known as the Lunar Room and it is where the Lunar Society met. The meetings held here were lively affairs, where all the latest ideas and inventions were discussed and scientific experiments carried out[12].

Worker Conditions and Social Provisions

Soho manufactory was also impressive for its provision to the workers. When Soho Foundry opened in Smethwick in 1796 a row of houses was provided for the workers, and a second row added in 1801. The plans for these houses included a kitchen, a pantry, a wash house and three bed chambers. Similar provisions were made for the workers of Boulton and Watt at Soho[1].

However, working conditions reflected the standards of the era. Boulton's Soho Manufactory, employing over 700 workers by 1775 in button and metalware assembly, exemplified this, with shifts extending 12-14 hours amid rudimentary safety measures typical of proto-factories[19].

The Soho Mint

From 1797 Boulton went into minting coins. Some forty-five million high quality George III 'cartwheel' pennies and twopences were produced in two years as well as other coins and medals exported all over the world. The Mint buildings stood on the east side of South Road[5]. In 1786 Boulton applied steam power to coining machinery, obtaining a patent in 1790. He made large quantities of coins for the East India Company and also supplied machinery to the Royal Mint[22].

Legacy and Decline

Together they played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, achieving many world 'firsts': the first working Watt steam engine, the first steam-engine powered mint and the first purpose-built steam engine manufactory (the Soho Foundry), which was the first factory to be lit by gas, to name but a few[2].

Almost 500 of these engines were made by Watt and Boulton. 52 of Watt's engines were used in mines, 84 were used in cotton mills, and the rest in a wide range of industries[30]. By 1800, when Boulton's son Matthew Robinson Boulton took over his father's share of the business, almost 500 steam engines had been installed in the British Isles and abroad[22].

The Manufactory was demolished in the middle of the 19th century and nothing can now be seen above ground[3]. The Soho Manufactory continued to operate until the mid nineteenth-century, by which point steam engine smoke was becoming a less welcome feature of the town[9].