1765-1775

1765
William Small moved to Birmingham from Virginia. James Watt invented a separate condenser which improved the efficiency of Newcomen’s engine by providing a separate chamber for condensing steam. John Taylor, button maker and Sampson Lloyd II, ironmaster set up Birmingham’s first bank.

1766
Erasmus Darwin met Richard Lovell Edgeworth and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Three canals were started in the West Midlands: The Birmingham to Wednesbury Canal, the Trent and Mersey Canal and the Staffordshire to Worcestershire Canal. Thomas and George Cranage at Coalbrookdale took out a patent for converting pig iron into wrought iron.

1767
James Watt visited Erasmus Darwin. James Keir settled in West Bromwich. Publication of Joseph Priestley’s History of Electricity. Publication of Burdett’s Map of Derbyshire, the first properly surveyed English county map.

1768
The import of foreign silk was prohibited. This encouraged the development of the silk industry in Derby, Leek and Macclesfield and ribbon weaving in Coventry, Bedworth and Nuneaton. Richard Arkwright developed the water frame to spin cotton.

1769
James Watt patented the single-action steam engine in Scotland.

1770
Thomas Day settled in Lichfield and Richard Lovell Edgeworth visited him there.

1771
Richard Lovell Edgeworth and Thomas Day visited Jean-Jacques Rousseau in France. Jesson and Wright in Wednesbury took out a patent for “potting and stamping iron” which was adopted by other Black Country firms. Richard Arkwright’s water frame was first used in Nottingham. A water-powered version was also created at Cromford in Derbyshire. Josiah Wedgwood created a new factory at Etruria to manufacture his pottery.

1772

The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal and the Birmingham to Wednesbury Canal were opened to traffic.
Supported by Lord Shelburne until 1781, Joseph Priestley had the leisure to develop his scientific experiments.

1773
James Keir established a chemical works at Tipton</a, supplying alkali, potash, soda soap and red lead to the glass industry.
Thomas Day's poem The Dying Negro published. Establishment of the Birmingham Assay Office.

1774
John Wilkinson developed a method of boring cylinders with mechanical precision.
Encouraged by Matthew Boulton, James Watt came to Birmingham from Scotland. John Wilkinson’s invention enabled him to produce the high quality cylinders he needed for his steam engines.

1775
The name Lunar Society was first used. Deaths of William Small, John Taylor, button maker and John Baskerville, printer. William Withering moved to Birmingham taking over William Small’s practice and his place in the Lunar Society. Start of Matthew Boulton and James Watt partnership. Baddeley introduced transfer printing into the pottery industry. The earliest recorded building society was Ketley’s in Birmingham in 1775. It was followed by the establishment of others in the West Midlands. Start of the American War of Independence