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
Photograph of portrait of Joseph Priestley at the age of 30
Image from: Joseph Priestley Collection by Samuel Timmins, Birmingham City Archives.
Photograph of Priestley House, Northumberland, Pennsylvania, from South-East, showing Priestley’s Laboratory
Image from: Joseph Priestley Collection by Samuel Timmins, Birmingham City Archives.
Photograph of scientific instruments
Image from: Joseph Priestley Collection by Samuel Timmins, Birmingham City Archives.
Poetic Survey Around Birmingham
POETIC SURVEY ROUND Birmingham, &c. ————————- Poetic Survey Around Birmingham Suppose some TRAV’LLERS, at an Inn set… read more »
Portrait of William Cuningham-Fairlie [unconfirmed]
Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823, b. Edinburgh – d. Edinburgh). Wolverhampton Art Gallery. OP 533. Acquired with a… read more »
Priestley and John Wesley
Image: Portrait of John Wesley struck off by electricity by Joseph Priestley Image from: Birmingham City Archives, Priestley… read more »
Priestley and the Church of England
Image: Bishop Samuel Horsley, one of Priestley’s main Anglican opponents. Image from: Birmingham City Archives, Priestley Collection by Samuel… read more »
Priestley in Northumberland, Pennsylvania
Image: Joseph Priestley House, Northumberland, Pennsylvania, from the south-east showing Priestley’s laboratory Image from: Birmingham City Archives, Priestley Collection… read more »
Priestley: Body, Matter and Death
Miravan Breaking Open the Tomb of his Ancestors (1772). Joseph Wright of Derby(1734-1797), Oil on canvas. Derby Museum &… read more »
Priestley’s Arrival in America
Image: Chemical Philosophers of the Present Day, Dr Priestley. The apotheosis of Joseph Priestley. The scientist ascends into… read more »
Priestley’s Death and long-term Reputation
Image: Gravestone of Dr Priestley in the Cemetery of Northumberland, Pennsylvania. “To the memory of the Rev Dr… read more »
Priestley’s Early Career
Image: The Earl of Shelburne, Priestley’s patron from 1772 to 1780 Image from: Birmingham City Archives, Priestley Collection by… read more »
Priestley’s Origins
Image: Birthplace of Joseph Priestley, Fieldhead, Leeds, Yorkshire. Image from: Birmingham City Archives, Priestley Collection by Samuel Timmins Joseph… read more »
Prime and Sons, Magneto Plate Works, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858 ELECTRO-PLATING It would be… read more »
Princess Ekaterina Dashkova’s Visit to Soho, Handsworth
Image: Soho Manufactory. William West, Picturesque Views… of Staffordshire(Birmingham, 1830). Engraving by T Radclyffe was based on a drawing… read more »
Procter’s Swan Hotel, Bristol
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
R. F. Sturges, Manufacturer of Electro Silver Plated Wares, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858 Electro-Plating The origin of… read more »
Remains of a Cistercian monastery called White Ladies in Shropshire
From Picturesque Views of the Severn, 1824 by Thomas Harral
Rev. d’Ewes Coke and Family
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797). Oil on canvas. Image from: Derby Museum & Art Gallery
Richard Bach and Co, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineers, Birmingham
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
Romeo and Juliet, the Tomb Scene
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797). Oil on canvas. Image from: Derby Museum & Art Gallery
Ruins of Tutbury Castle
Water colour undated, Paul Sandby (1725-1809, b. Nottingham – d. London).
Russian Military Visitors
Image: Blair and Sutherlands, Gun Makers, Brook Street and Harper’s Hill, Birmingham. Advertisement from Bisset’s Magnificent Guide, or Copperplate… read more »
Russian Visitors to the English Midlands
Text: Olga Baird Image: Russian Medallion to commemorate the erection of Peter the Great’s statue in 1773. Peter the… read more »
Rydal Waterfall
Virgil was a famous Roman poet who died in 19 BC. His tomb was located in the… read more »
Self Portrait at the age of 20 by Joseph Wright
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797). Oil on canvas. Image from: Derby Museum & Art Gallery
Shrewsbury’s Industrial Context
Image: The main mill at Ditherington from the west, c.1945. Image from: Shropshire Archives Ditherington Mill developed as part… read more »
Silversmiths and Silverware in late 18th and early 19th century Birmingham
Image: Silver caddy spoon, probably by Samuel Pemberton, c.1800. The delicate design is created by a filigree technique… read more »
Sir John Floyer and Lichfield
Image: South-west view of Lichfield, an eighteenth century print engraved by J Ryland and published in John Jackson, History… read more »
Sir Richard Arkwright: Industrialist
The art of portraiture was changing during the Industrial Revolution. The expansion of commerce and industry in… read more »
Sir Richard Arkwright: Industrialist
Image: Portrait of Sir Richard Arkwright (1789-1790). Joseph Wright of Derby, Oil on Canvas. Text: Olga Baird… read more »
Smith and Phillips, Gas Engineers, London
Advertisement, Men and Things of Modern England… The New Illustrated Directory… (Birmingham, M Billing, 1856)
Snuff Box
Inside view of Tortoiseshell snuff box, which is particularly suitable for piqué work (inlaid gold) with its… read more »
Snuff Box
This silver box is engraved with a bright-cut decoration, similar in design to several Samuel Pemberton toothpick… read more »
Stafford
Image from: Picturesque Views and Descriptions of Cities, Towns, Castles, Mansions and other Objects of Interesting Features in… read more »
Stock & Son, Glass and Lead Merchants, Birmingham
Image from: The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858 The mode of making… read more »
Study of Fragment of a Classical Frieze, Rome (1774)
Image: Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797), Pencil, pen and grey ink and grey wash. Image from: Derby Museum &… read more »
T.S. & R.M. Morris, Black Swan Hotel, Sheffield
The New Illustrated Directory Entitled Men and Things of Modern England, 1858
The “Bear Pit”, Cromford, Derbyshire
Known to locals as the “Bear Pit”, this example of hydraulic engineering was constructed in 1785 by… read more »
