Matthew Boulton

Matthew Boulton FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. He applied modern techniques to the minting of coins, striking millions of pieces for Britain and other countries. He retired in 1800, though continuing to run his mint, and died in 1809. His image appears alongside his partner James Watt on the Bank of England’s current Series F £50 note.

About Matthew Boulton in brief

Matthew Boulton FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of BoulTON & Watt steam engines. He applied modern techniques to the minting of coins, striking millions of pieces for Britain and other countries. He retired in 1800, though continuing to run his mint, and died in 1809. His image appears alongside his partner James Watt on the Bank of England’s current Series F £50 note. He was a key member of the Lunar Society, a group of Birmingham-area men prominent in the arts, sciences, and theology. Members of the Society have been given credit for developing concepts and techniques in science, agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport that laid the groundwork for the Industrial Revolution. His great-great-great grandfather, Rev. Zachary Babington, having been Chancellor of Lichfield, was born in 1700. His father, also named Matthew, moved to Birmingham from Lichfield to serve an apprenticeship, and in 1723 he married Christiana Piers. He died in 1728, having had a second child, the first of that name having been born in 1726. The elder child was a toymaker with a small workshop specialising in buckles. At the age of 15 he left school and invented a technique inlaying enamels that proved so popular that the latest buckles were exported to France, then billed as ‘do-do’ The family moved to the Snow Hill area of Birmingham, then a well-to-do neighbourhood of Snow Hill, and then to Deritendend, on the other side of Birmingham.

He had a son, Matthew, who was sent to an academy in Deritends, and later to university. He also had a daughter, Mary, who went on to become a teacher, and a son-in-law, David, who later became a barrister. He is buried in Birmingham, along with his wife, Christiana, and their two children, Matthew and Mary. The couple had three children, who were all born in Birmingham and then moved to Deridend, in the north of England, where they lived until they died in the early 20th century. They had two sons, David and Matthew, both of whom were born in the late 19th century and later moved to London, where he became involved with the Soho Manufactory. In 1797, he obtained a contract in 1797 to produce the first British copper coinage in a quarter century. His pieces were well-designed and difficult to counterfeit, and included the first striking of the large copper British penny, which continued to be coined until decimalisation in 1971. He then adopted the latest techniques, branching into silver plate, ormolu and other decorative arts, and became associated with James Watt’s steam engine. He later lobbied Parliament to extend Watt’s patent for an additional 17 years, enabling the firm to market Watt’sSteam engine.

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