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Boulton, Matthew

3. September 1728 – 18. August 1809

English engineer, medal- and coin-maker and entrepreneur of the early Industrial Revolution.

Matthew Boulton, together with James Watt, developed and sold steam engines manufactured at his Soho Foundry in Birmingham. The two men also established a mint facility, the Soho Mint, as well as other factories. Influenced by the thinking of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Boulton set up a social insurance plan for his factory employees.

In 1800, his son, Matthew Robinson Boulton, and James Watt Junior, took over as managers of the firm of Boulton & Watt.

Traveljournal 1814

  • Fischer, Johann Conrad: Tagebücher. Bearbeitet von Karl Schib. Schaffhausen 1951.
  • Henderson, W. O.: J. C. Fischers Reisen durch die Industriegebiete Englands 1814–1851. In: Tradition - Zeitschrift für Firmengeschichte und Unternehmensbiographie 1964, S. 128f.
  • Henderson, W. O.: J. C. Fischer and his Diary of Industrial England 1814–1851. London 1966, S. 68f.

Cite as: Boulton, Matthew. In: Travel Reports of a Pioneer: Digital Edition of the Travel Journals of Johann Conrad Fischer 1794–1851. Published by Franziska Eggimann. Edited by Franziska Eggimann, Nicolau Lutz, Valerija Rukavina und Christopher Zoller-Blundell. Schlatt 2023, Version 1.2, https://johannconradfischer.com/en/names/gfa-actors-7534, viewed on 7 June 2025.

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Matthew Boulton (portrait by Carl Frederik von Breda, c. 1792)