Browse Times
1792-1802
1794
Josiah Spode began manufacturing bone china. Introduction of Mason’s fly press into the lock making industry enabling the domestic worker to cut parts more easily.
1795
Death of Josiah Wedgwood.
1796
Opening of a foundry in Smethwick by Matthew Boulton and James Watt to manufacture steam engines.
1797
William and John Parkes and John Brookhouse opened a wool spinning mill at Saltisford, Warwick in 1797. They used a Boulton and Watt engine and eventually sold yarn to the Leicestershire hosiery trade and Kidderminster carpet manufacturers.
1798
Richard Lovell and Maria Edgeworth published Practical Education.
1799
William Withering died.
1802
The Soho Works in Handsworth became the first factory to be lit by gas lighting to celebrate the Peace of Amiens. Thomas Wedgwood, the third son of Josiah Wedgwood I, published “An Account of a Method of copying Paintings upon Glass, and of making Profiles by the agency of Light upon Nitrate of Silver” in the Journal of the Royal Institution. He showed how the chemical action of light could be used to produce images. Wedgwood is seen as the first photographer. Death of Erasmus Darwin in Derbyshire. The Health and Morals of Apprentices Act became law, the first example of factory legislation.
Articles in this time period
Advertisement: Kendall and Son, Perfumers, Cabinet Case Makers, and Importers of Foreign Fancy Merchandise, London
Image from: William Hawkes Smith, Birmingham and its Vicinity as a Manufacturing and Commercial District (London and Birmingham, 1836), Local… read more »
Advertisement: Messenger and Sons, Manufacturers of Chandeliers, Tripods and Lamps
Image from: William Hawkes Smith, Birmingham and its Vicinity as a Manufacturing and Commercial District (London and Birmingham, 1836), Local… read more »
Advertisement: Mrs Graham’s Ascent: the first ascent of the Only English Female Aeronaut
Watton’s Newspaper Cuttings, Volume 2 Image from: Shropshire Archives
Advertisement: Opening of Hughes’ s Great Mammoth Equestrian Establishment, Shrewsbury
Watton’s Newspaper Cuttings, Volume 5 Image from: Shropshire Archives
Advertisement: Radclyffes and Co, General Printers and Stationers, Birmingham
Image from: William Hawkes Smith, Birmingham and its Vicinity as a Manufacturing and Commercial District (London and Birmingham, 1836), Local… read more »
Advertisement: Sir Edward Thomason, Birmingham, Manufacturer of Articles
Image from: William Hawkes Smith, Birmingham and its Vicinity as a Manufacturing and Commercial District (London and Birmingham, 1836), Local… read more »
Advertisement: Sir Edward Thomason, Vice Consul and Knight Chevalier
Image from: William Hawkes Smith, Birmingham and its Vicinity as a Manufacturing and Commercial District (London and Birmingham, 1836), Local… read more »
Advertisement: Stock and Sharp, Glass and Lead Warehouse, Birmingham
Image from: William Hawkes Smith, Birmingham and its Vicinity as a Manufacturing and Commercial District (London and Birmingham, 1836), Local… read more »
Advertisement: The Last Appearance of Mr Harper, Black singer and comedian
Watton’s Newspaper Cuttings, Volume 5 Image from: Shropshire Archives
Adverts for John Yates & Sons, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Alfred Harrop and Co, Orange Street Works, Sheffield
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
An “ever-open door”: Erasmus Darwin and Lichfield
Samuel Johnson described Lichfield as a “city of philosophers” where Erasmus Darwinwas the most prominent of an outstanding group of… read more »
Anna Seward and her Poetry
Image: Frontispiece from Llangollen Vale with other Poems by Anna Seward, London, Third Edition, 1796 Birmingham Central Library 5. Anna… read more »
Answer to Dardanus’s
Image: Plan of Birmingham, drawn by J. Sherrif of Oldswinford, late of the Crescent Birmingham. J Bisset, Bisset’s Magnificent… read more »
Apparatus
Image from: Joseph Priestley Collection by Samuel Timmins, Birmingham City Archives.
Apparatus
Image from: Joseph Priestley Collection by Samuel Timmins, Birmingham City Archives.
Article from The Salopian Journal, 10 October 1838, on Mrs Graham’s ascent in a balloon
Watton’s Newspaper Cuttings, Volume 2 Image from: Shropshire Archives
Arundel Brush Works, Sheffield
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858 Local Studies and History,… read more »
Bank of Deposit, London
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Bank of London and National Provincial Insurance Association
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Belisarius receiving Alms (1775)
Image: Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797), Pen, ink and brown wash over pencil. Image from: Derby Museum & Art… read more »
Benjamin Richardson, Flint Glass Manufacturer, Stourbridge
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858 The manufacture of glass… read more »
Benjamin Smith and Son, Manufacturer of Printing Ink, London
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Birmingham
Image: Hinks, Wells & Co, Steel Pen Manufacturers, Buckingham Street Pen Works, Birmingham Image from: The New Illustrated Directory… read more »
Birmingham
Image: William Spurrier, Electro Silver Plate Manufacturer, Birmingham Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of… read more »
Birmingham
Image: John Rubery, Umbrella, Parasol, Furniture and Steel Frame Manufacturer, Birmingham Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men… read more »
Birmingham: Priestley’s Educational Inheritance
Image: The Old and New Meeting Houses, the Unitarian chapels in Birmingham. Image from: William Hutton, An History of Birmingham (Birmingham,… read more »
Bland’s Brunswick Hotel, Sheffield
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Bridgnorth, Shropshire
Image from: Picturesque Views and Descriptions of Cities, Towns, Castles, Mansions and other Objects of Interesting Features in… read more »
Britannia Railway Carriage Works, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
C.P. Swinburn & Son, Gun, Rifle and Pistol Manufacturers, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Calico Printer
Calico is a type of cloth, heavier than linen and made of cotton. A calico printer drew… read more »
Candelabrum, c. 1755-60
Rococo double candelabrum in form of a flowering tree crowned with a nesting bird. The applied flowers… read more »
Carpenter and Tildesley, Patent Lock and Curry Comb Manufacturers, Willenhall
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Carpet Maker
The picture shows a carpet weaver at his loom. The loom consists of two long planks of… read more »
Carpet Weaver
“The art of weaving carpets is carried on to a great extent in England at the present… read more »
Cast-iron Aqueduct, Cromford Derbyshire
The aqueduct carried water from the Greyhound Pond and Cromford Sough to power the water wheels of… read more »
Catherine the Great and her non-visit to Soho House
Image: Death of Catherine the Great. Double-headed eagle and bust of the monarch. 1796. Designed by Conrad Heinrich… read more »
Catherine the Great’s Medals
Image: Death of Catherine the Great. Double-headed eagle and bust of the monarch. 1796. Designed by Conrad Heinrich… read more »
Chadburn Brothers, Optical, Mathematical and Philosophical Instrument Makers, Sheffield
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Chadburn Brothers, Opticians, Sheffield
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Chamberlain’s Royal Porcelain Works, Worcester
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
