Heritage and Research Collections
Museums, libraries, archive and heritage sites that hold collections of research material related to James Watt.
Quick Links:
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Cathedral House St Chad's Queensway Birmingham B4 6EU
Collection details:
• Lease between Watt and William Withering
Wolfson Centre for Archival Research, Library of Birmingham, Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham B1 2ND
Collection details:
Archives of Soho comprising of:
• Matthew Boulton Papers
• James Watt Papers
• Boulton & Watt Archive
Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, B3 3DH
Website:
Collection details:
• Portraits
• Views of places and buildings associated with Watt including representations of his Heathfield House workshop
• Commemorative medals
25 Dolman Street Nechells Birmingham B7 4RQ
Collection details:
• Various items relating to James Watt and his business interests
96 Euston Road London NW1 2DB
Collection details:
• Patents
• Correspondence of James Watt and James Watt Jnr
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Muirhead Tower (LG Floor) University of Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham B15 2TT
Collection details:
• Correspondence between Watt and others
• Prints of members of the Lunar Society including James Watt
Old County Hall Truro Cornwall TR1 3AY
Collection details:
• Correspondence and material relating to steam engines
• Correspondence of Thomas Wilson, agent to Boulton and Watt
• Correspondence between Boulton, Watt and other regarding their Cornish interests
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Museumsinsel 1 80538 München Germany
Collection details:
• Notebook containing two detailed drawings made at Soho in 1791 of Watt's rotative steam engine
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The Keep, Woollards Way, Brighton, BN1 9BP
Collection details:
• Correspondence of Davies Gilbert mainly concerning his scientific and antiquarian interests, and particularly resulting from his presidency and vice presidency of the Royal Society including letters between Davies Gilbert and James Watt.
• Gregory Watt of Soho (Birmingham), (1777-1804), son of James Watt the younger, mainly concerning a pump lamp (with thumb nail sketches), family matters and political development in France and America
Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL
Collection details:
• Correspondence of James Watt and Joseph Black
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University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8QQ
Collections details:
• Correspondence of James Watt
• Items related to James Watt and his employment with the University
• Objects relating to James Watt
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Fir Tree Lane, Rotherwas, Hereford, HR2 6LA
Collection details:
• Account of Aston Hall by James Watt
Hergest Croft, Kington, HR5 3EG
Collection details:
• Letters of James Watt Jnr and his parents to Mr and Mrs James Crummer
Edinburgh Campus, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH14 4AS
Collection details:
• Portraits in Art Collection
• Objects associated with James Watt including James Watt Roller Copying Press complete with an original letter written by Watt and printed on the press
The Hunterian University of Glasgow, Gilbert Scott Building, University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8QQ
Collections details:
• Scientific and Medical Instruments Collection: Replicas of instruments used
• Archaeology, Ethnography and History Collection: Memorial rings, images and model of Newcomen engine
• Numismatic Collection: Coins and medals commemorating Watt
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Adam Matthew Publications
Collection details:
Microfilm collection of documents relating to the Industrial Revolution
Series one is based on the Boulton & Watt Archive and the Matthew Boulton Papers from Birmingham Central Library.
Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1 Birdcage Walk, London, SW1H 9JJ
Collection details:
• Correspondence from Boulton and Watt
• Portraits and likenesses
• Photographical material
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Special Collections, The Brotherton Library, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT
Collection details:
• Letter between James Watt and William Forman
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15 Kelly Street, Greenock, PA16 8JX
Collection details:
• Decorative Arts Collection
• Fine Arts Collection
• Social History Collection
• Photographic Collection
• Numismatic Collection
Broad Street, Oxford, OX1 3AZ
Collection details:
• Objects relating to James Watt, including a copying press and related items
• Prints and likenesses
• Medals
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Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1JF
Collection details:
• Objects associated with James Watt including a Boulton and Watt engine and barometer
• Objects in
- Industry and Commerce
- History of Science
Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU
Collection details:
• Information re various law suits involving James Watt
Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3BU
Collection details:
• Letters of James Watt Jnr to William and Robert Mylne
Cromwell Rd, London, SW7 5BD
Collection details:
• Printed material on James Watt
• Letters of Joseph Banks to James Watt
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Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA
Collection details:
• Act relating to James Watt’s steam engine
500 Harris St, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
Collection details:
• Objects, drawings and medals associated with James Watt
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21 Albemarle Street, London, W1S 4BS
Collection details:
• Correspondence between Watt and Sir Humphrey Davy
6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG
Collection details:
• Various correspondence of James Watt
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Smethwick Library, High Street, Smethwick, B66 1AA
Collection details:
• Images of Boulton and Watt engines at various industrial sites in the Black Country
• Photographs related to Watt locations
• Portraits of Lunar Society members
• Correspondence and drawings from Boulton & Watt, then James Watt & Co
Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, SW7 2DD
Collection details:
• Publications
• Patent information
• Conference proceedings
• Correspondence
• Recreation of Heathfield House workshop: The attic workshop of James Watt, preserved as it was when he died in 1819. The complete contents of Watt’s Heathfield workshop are displayed with some original structural elements such as windows, doors and fireplace and furniture. There are over 8,400 objects left as they were in Watt’s lifetime, which represent a complete physical 3D record of Watt's entire career.
• Objects made by or associated with Watt
• Watt’s sculpture collection: Over 400 items reflecting people to whom Watt was connected and in whom he was interested.
• Watt Collection: The Watt Collection in the Science Museum Library consists of 119 titles owned by James Watt (1736-1819), the famous engineer, and is associated with the garret workshop of his home in Heathfield, Birmingham.
The Shakespeare Centre, Henley Street, Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 6QW
Collection details:
• Items relating to land in Birmingham leased to Boulton and Watt
PO Box 12541 102 29 Stockholm
Collection details:
• The technical notebook of Jons Matthias Ljunberg which contains a record of his information-gathering activities in Britain in the 1770s and 1780s. The Soho manufactory feature prominently and the notebook contains marginal and full page technical drawings of the products and machines of Soho and elsewhere, including the Albion Mills
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University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT
Collection details:
• Correspondence between James Watt and Samuel Galton
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