Matthew Boulton FRS (born September 3, 1728; died August 17, 1809) was an English businessman, inventor, mechanical engineer, and silversmith. He worked closely with James Watt, a Scottish engineer. In the last part of the 1700s, their partnership helped install hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines. These engines improved factory and mill operations, making mass production possible. Boulton also used modern methods to produce coins for Britain and other countries, providing the Royal Mint with updated tools.

Boulton was born in Birmingham. His father was a manufacturer of small metal items who died when Boulton was 31. By that time, Boulton had already managed the business for years and later expanded it significantly. He moved operations to the Soho Manufactory, a facility he built near Birmingham. At Soho, he used new techniques to create silver plate, decorative metalwork, and other artistic items. He became connected to James Watt when Watt’s business partner, John Roebuck, owed Boulton money. Boulton accepted Roebuck’s share of Watt’s patent as payment. Boulton then worked to extend Watt’s patent by 17 years, allowing their company to sell Watt’s steam engines. These engines were first used in mines and later in factories across Britain and other countries.

Boulton was an important member of the Lunar Society, a group of influential men from Birmingham who worked in science, art, and religion. Members included Watt, Erasmus Darwin, Josiah Wedgwood, and Joseph Priestley. The group met monthly near the full moon. Their ideas and inventions helped advance fields like science, farming, manufacturing, mining, and transportation, which supported the Industrial Revolution.

Boulton started the Soho Mint, where he used steam power to improve coin production. He aimed to improve the quality of British coins and, after years of effort, won a contract in 1797 to make the first British copper coins in 25 years. His coins, called "cartwheel" pieces, were hard to copy and included the first large copper British penny. This penny remained in use until 1971. Boulton retired in 1800 but continued running the mint. He died in 1809. His image appeared with James Watt on the Bank of England’s Series F £50 note.

Background

Birmingham was long known as a center for making iron. In the early 1800s, the town grew quickly because making iron became easier and cheaper after people changed from using charcoal to coke for smelting. A lack of wood in England, which had been heavily cut down, and the discovery of large coal deposits in Warwickshire and Staffordshire helped speed up this change. Much of the iron was made in small factories near Birmingham, especially in the Black Country, including towns like Smethwick and West Bromwich. The thin iron sheets produced there were sent to factories in and around Birmingham. Since Birmingham was far from the sea or major rivers and canals had not yet been built, metalworkers focused on making small, valuable items like buttons and buckles. A Frenchman named Alexander Missen wrote that while he had seen high-quality items like cane heads and snuff boxes in Milan, "the same can be had cheaper and better in Birmingham." These small items were called "toys," and their makers were known as "toymakers."

Boulton was a descendant of families from the area of Lichfield. His great-great-great-great-grandfather, Rev. Zachary Babington, was the Chancellor of Lichfield. Boulton’s father, also named Matthew and born in 1700, moved to Birmingham from Lichfield to complete an apprenticeship. In 1723, he married Christiana Piers. The older Boulton was a toymaker who ran a small workshop that specialized in making buckles. Matthew Boulton was born in 1728. He was the third child of the family and the second son to share the name Matthew. The first Matthew had died at age two in 1726.

Early and family life

After young Matthew Boulton was born, his father’s business became successful, and the family moved to the Snow Hill area of Birmingham, a wealthy neighborhood with new homes. Because the local grammar school was in poor condition, Matthew was sent to an academy in Deritend, a different part of Birmingham. At age 15, he left school, and by age 17, he had developed a method for adding colored glass to buckles. This technique became very popular, and the buckles were sold in France before being brought back to Britain and marketed as new French designs.

On March 3, 1749, Matthew married Mary Robinson, a distant cousin and the daughter of a successful merchant who was also wealthy. The couple briefly lived with Mary’s mother in Lichfield before moving to Birmingham, where Matthew’s father made him a business partner at age 21. Though Matthew signed letters as “from father and self,” by the mid-1750s, he was managing the business. Matthew’s father retired in 1757 and died in 1759.

The Boultons had three daughters in the early 1750s, but all died before reaching their first birthday. Mary’s health worsened, and she died in August 1759. Soon after, Matthew began to court Mary’s sister, Anne. At the time, religious laws in England forbade marrying a deceased wife’s sister, though common law allowed it. Despite this, Matthew and Anne married on June 25, 1760, at St. Mary’s Church in Rotherhithe. A writer named Eric Delieb suggested that the priest who performed the ceremony, Rev. James Penfold, may have accepted money to allow the marriage. Later, Matthew advised another man seeking to marry his late wife’s sister to travel quickly to Scotland or a quiet area of London, stay for a month, and then marry secretly to avoid legal issues.

Anne’s brother, Luke Robinson, opposed the marriage, fearing Matthew would control or waste the Robinson family’s wealth. Luke died in 1764, and his estate passed to Anne, giving Matthew control over it.

The Boultons had two children: Matthew Robinson Boulton and Anne Boulton. Matthew Robinson Boulton had six children with two wives. His eldest son, Matthew Piers Watt Boulton, was well-educated and a scientist. He is known today for inventing the aileron, a device used to control airplane wings. Like his father, he married twice and had six children.

Innovator

After his father died in 1759, Boulton became the leader of his family's toymaking business. He traveled to London and other places to promote his products. He had a friend give a sword to Prince Edward, which caught the attention of Prince Edward's older brother, George, Prince of Wales, who later became King George III. George ordered a sword for himself.

Boulton used money from his two marriages and his father's inheritance to find a larger place for his business. In 1761, he rented 13 acres (5.3 hectares) in Soho, Staffordshire, which included a house called Soho House and a mill. At first, family members lived in Soho House, and later, his first business partner, John Fothergill, lived there. In 1766, Boulton asked Fothergill to leave, and he moved into Soho House with his family. Both Boulton and his wife died there: Anne Boulton died in 1783 from what seemed to be a stroke, and Boulton died in 1809 after a long illness.

The 13 acres in Soho included land that Boulton enclosed for farming. He later criticized the poor condition of the people who had used the land before. By 1765, the Soho Manufactory was built. The main building had a Palladian-style front and 19 sections for loading and unloading goods. It also had rooms for workers on the upper floors. The building was designed by local architect William Wyatt, a time when most industrial buildings were designed by engineers. Other buildings at the site included workshops. Boulton and Fothergill invested in the latest metalworking machines, and the complex was seen as a modern industrial achievement. The main building alone was expected to cost £2,000 (about £276,000 today), but the final cost was five times that. The partnership spent over £20,000 to build and equip the site. Since they did not have enough money, they borrowed heavily and carefully managed their debts.

At the Soho Manufactory, Boulton aimed to produce sterling silver items for wealthy customers and Sheffield plate for those with less money. Sheffield plate was made by fusing silver and copper sheets. Boulton and his father had long made small silver items, but no records show large silver or Sheffield plate items being made in Birmingham before Boulton. To make items like candlesticks more affordably than London competitors, the company used thin, stamped metal pieces that were shaped and joined. By the late 1700s, the Soho Manufactory expanded to make shoe buckles and seals, helping Birmingham become a center for silver and mass-produced metal goods. A problem was the lack of an assay office in Birmingham. Lighter items like toys did not need testing, but heavier items had to be sent 70 miles (110 kilometers) to Chester for testing, risking damage or loss. Sending items to London risked competitors copying them. In 1771, Boulton wrote to Parliament, asking for an assay office in Birmingham. Though London goldsmiths opposed the idea, Parliament passed a law to create assay offices in Birmingham and Sheffield. However, the silver business was not profitable because it tied up too much money in inventory. The company continued making Sheffield plate but let others manage it.

To sell to wealthy customers, Boulton began making vases decorated with ormolu, a type of gilded metal. Ormolu was made by mixing gold with mercury, applying it to an object, and heating it to remove the mercury, leaving gold decoration. In the late 1760s and early 1770s, wealthy people wanted decorated vases, and Boulton tried to meet this demand. He first ordered ceramic vases from his friend Josiah Wedgwood but found ceramic could not support the weight of the decorations. Instead, he used marble and other stones. He copied designs from classical Greek art and borrowed pieces from collectors and artists.

Fothergill and others searched Europe for designs. In 1770, Boulton sold vases to Queen Charlotte, George III’s wife. He held annual sales at Christie’s in 1771 and 1772. These events helped promote Boulton’s work, but many items were unsold or sold for less than cost. When the trend for vases faded in the early 1770s, the partnership had too many unsold items and sold most of them to Catherine the Great of Russia. She called the vases better than French ormolu and cheaper. Boulton continued trying to get orders, but the term "ormolu" was no longer used in the company’s description after 1779. When Fothergill died in 1782, only 14 ormolu items remained in the "toy room."

Among Boulton’s most successful products were mounts for small Wedgwood items like plaques, brooches, and buttons, especially in jasper ware, a type of ceramic Wedgwood is famous for. These mounts, many of which still exist, were made of ormolu or cut steel, which had a shiny, jewel-like appearance. Boulton and Wedgwood were friends, sometimes working together and sometimes competing. Wedgwood wrote that having Boulton as a competitor gave him courage.

In the 1770s, Boulton created an insurance system for workers, which was the first of its kind in a large business. Employees paid one-sixtieth of their wages into the Soho Friendly Society, which was required for all workers. Apprentices were often poor or orphaned boys, and Boulton refused to take the sons of wealthy families, saying they would not fit in with the poorer boys.

Not all of Boulton’s ideas worked. He and painter Francis Eginton tried to mass-produce paintings for middle-class homes but stopped the project. He and James Keir created an alloy called "Eldorado metal" that they claimed would not rust in water and could be used to protect wooden ships. However, the Admiralty rejected their claims after sea tests, and the metal was used for windows and doors at Soho House. Boulton worried that a nearby canal might harm his water supply, but this did not happen. In 1779, he wrote, "Our navigation goes on prosperously; the junction with the Wolverhampton Canal is complete, and we already sail to Bristol and to Hull."

• Products made by Boulton’s manufactory
• Ormolu tea urn by Boulton & Fothergill
• Beer tankard made of Sheffield plate

Activities and views

Boulton did not receive formal education in science. His friend and Lunar Society member James Keir praised him after his death:

From a young age, Boulton was interested in scientific discoveries of his time. He rejected ideas that electricity was connected to the human soul, writing, "we know it is matter, and it is wrong to call it spirit." He called such ideas "chimeras of each other's brain." His curiosity led him to meet other scientists, like John Whitehurst, who also joined the Lunar Society. In 1758, Benjamin Franklin, a leading expert on electricity, visited Birmingham. Boulton met Franklin and introduced him to his friends. Boulton worked with Franklin to store electricity in a Leyden jar. When Franklin needed new glass for his "glassychord" (a mechanical version of musical glasses), Boulton provided it.

Even though his business grew, Boulton continued his "philosophical" work, which was another term for scientific experiments. He recorded observations in his notebooks, such as the freezing and boiling points of mercury, people's pulse rates at different ages, the movements of planets, and methods for making sealing wax and disappearing ink. However, Erasmus Darwin, another Lunar Society member, wrote to Boulton in 1763, saying, "Now that you are a serious businessman, I hardly dare ask you for help with anything scientific."

In the late 1750s, Boulton and others, including Whitehurst, Keir, Darwin, and later James Watt, Josiah Wedgwood, and Joseph Priestley, began meeting informally. These meetings became monthly gatherings near the full moon, a common practice for clubs in Britain. The group later called itself the "Lunar Society." After the death of Dr. William Small in 1775, Boulton helped organize the society more formally. They met every Sunday, starting with dinner at 2 p.m. and continuing with discussions until at least 8 p.m.

Although not a formal member, Sir Joseph Banks was involved in the Lunar Society. In 1768, Banks traveled with Captain James Cook to the South Pacific, carrying green glass earrings made in Soho for the local people. In 1776, Cook ordered an instrument from Boulton, likely for navigation. Boulton warned Cook that the instrument might take years to complete. Cook left on his voyage in June 1776 and was killed three years later. Boulton’s records show no further mention of the instrument.

Boulton had business relationships with some Lunar Society members. He partnered with Watt for 25 years. He bought vases from Wedgwood’s pottery to be decorated with ormolu and considered working with Wedgwood. Keir was a long-time supplier and associate of Boulton, though they never became partners.

In 1785, both Boulton and Watt were elected Fellows of the Royal Society. Whitehurst wrote to Boulton, stating that no one voted against him.

Boulton hoped the Lunar Society would last, but as members died or moved away, they were not replaced. In 1813, four years after his death, the society dissolved, and its assets were sold through a lottery. Few details about the society remain because no meeting minutes were kept.

Boulton was active in Birmingham’s civic life. He supported the building of a hospital after his friend Dr. John Ash proposed it. A fan of Handel’s music, Boulton organized a music festival in 1768 to raise funds for the hospital. The hospital, Birmingham General, opened in 1779. He also helped build the General Dispensary, where people could receive outpatient care. He served as treasurer and promised to cover any financial shortfalls. The Dispensary moved to a new building in Temple Row in 1808, shortly before Boulton’s death.

Boulton helped found the New Street Theatre in 1774. He believed theaters attracted wealthy visitors to Birmingham, increasing spending. He tried to get the theatre recognized as a patent theatre but failed in 1779. He succeeded in 1807. He also supported the Oratorio Choral Society and worked with Joseph Moore to host private concerts in 1799. He attended a performance of the Messiah at Westminster Abbey in 1784 and wrote, "I scarcely know which was grandest, the sounds or the scene. Both were transcendibly fine that it is not in my power of words to describe."

Concerned about crime, Boulton criticized the number of prostitutes in Birmingham’s streets. Before the police existed, he joined a group to patrol the streets at night. He also supported the local militia by funding weapons. In 1794, he was elected High Sheriff of Staffordshire, his home county.

Boulton cared about global issues. Initially, he supported American colonists but later worried that an independent America might harm British trade. In 1775, he organized a petition urging the government to take a stronger stance against the Americans. After the revolution succeeded, he resumed trade with the U.S. He supported the French Revolution but was horrified by its violent actions. When war with France began, he funded weapons for volunteers to defend against a possible invasion.

Family and later life, death, and memorials

When Boulton became a widower in 1783, he was responsible for raising his two teenage children. His son, Matthew Robinson Boulton, and his daughter, Anne, both had health problems. Matthew often became sick and struggled in school, moving between schools until he joined his father’s business in 1790. Anne had a sick leg that limited her ability to live a full life. Even though Boulton was often away for work, he cared deeply for his family. In a letter to his wife in January 1780, he wrote about his feelings for them.

When the patent for the steam engine expired in 1800, Boulton and Watt ended their partnership. Each handed over their roles to their sons. The sons made changes, including stopping public tours of the Soho Manufactory, which Boulton had previously supported. In retirement, Boulton remained active, continuing to manage the Soho Mint. When a new Royal Mint was built on Tower Hill in 1805, Boulton was chosen to install modern machinery there. This work upset Watt, who had fully retired from Soho. In 1804, Watt wrote to Boulton, “Your friends fear much that your necessary attention to the operation of the coinage may injure your health.”

Boulton helped solve a shortage of silver by convincing the government to stamp the Bank of England’s large supply of Spanish dollars with an English design. The Bank had tried to make the dollars acceptable by marking the coins with an image of King George III, but the public did not trust them, partly because of counterfeit coins. This situation inspired the saying, “The Bank to make their Spanish Dollars pass / Stamped the head of a fool on the neck of an ass.” Boulton removed the old design when he restamped the coins. Although counterfeit coins still appeared quickly, these coins remained in use until 1816, when the Royal Mint produced new silver coins. Boulton oversaw the last major production of copper coins for Britain in 1806 and a large batch of coppers for use only in Ireland. Even as his health worsened, he had his servants carry him from Soho House to the Soho Mint, where he watched the machines work. In 1808, the mint produced nearly ninety million coins for the East India Company. He once said, “Of all the mechanical subjects I ever entered upon, there is none in which I ever engaged with so much ardour as that of bringing to perfection the art of coining.”

By early 1809, Boulton was seriously ill. He had long suffered from kidney stones that also caused pain in his bladder. He died at Soho House on August 17, 1809. He was buried in the graveyard of St. Mary’s Church, Handsworth, in Birmingham. Later, the church was expanded over his grave. Inside the church, a large marble monument to Boulton was placed on the north wall of the sanctuary. His son commissioned the monument, and the sculptor John Flaxman created it. The monument includes a marble bust of Boulton above two putti, one holding an engraving of the Soho Manufactory.

Boulton is remembered through several memorials and honors in Birmingham. Soho House, where he lived from 1766 until his death, is now a museum, as is Sarehole Mill, his first workshop. The family papers of Matthew Boulton, James Watt, and the firm of Boulton and Watt are preserved in the Archives of Soho, held at the Library of Birmingham. Blue plaques mark his birthplace on Steelhouse Lane and Soho House. A gilded bronze statue of Boulton, Watt, and Murdoch by William Bloye stands near Centenary Square in central Birmingham. Matthew Boulton College was named in his honor in 1957. In 2009, the 200th anniversary of his death led to many tributes, including a year-long festival organized by Birmingham City Council.

On May 29, 2009, the Bank of England announced that Boulton and Watt would appear on a new £50 note. The design is the first to feature a dual portrait, showing the two men side by side with images of a steam engine and the Soho Manufactory. Quotes from each man are included: “I sell here, sir, what all the world desires to have—POWER” (Boulton) and “I can think of nothing else but this machine” (Watt). The notes entered circulation on November 2, 2011.

In March 2009, a Royal Mail postage stamp was issued in Boulton’s honor. On October 17, 2014, a bronze memorial plaque for Boulton was unveiled in the Chapel of St. Paul, Westminster Abbey, next to the plaque for his business partner, James Watt.