INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY
Series Two: Papers of John Rennie (1761-1821), Thomas Telford (1757-1834) and related figures from the National Library of Scotland

Part 1: Papers of James Watt, Joseph Black, Thomas Telford and John Rennie

This microfilm collection offers material from two of the most important names of the Industrial Revolution, the Scotsmen John Rennie and Thomas Telford. Both were key figures in the development of the roads, bridges and canals that helped transform the British landscape in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The strength and depth of their talent and enthusiasm for engineering is reflected in the wealth of papers that survive them and the National Library of Scotland is particularly rich in those from their later years.

Part 1 is largely dedicated to the John Rennie papers. The youngest son of a respected farming family, John Rennie was born at Phantassie, East Lothian on 7th June 1761. Apprenticed to the agricultural engineer Andrew Meikle (inventor of the threshing machine) at the age of twelve, Rennie quickly mastered the methods and tools involved in designing machinery. From 1784 he continued a career in engineering in England and was soon recommended to James Watt, who charged him with installing new steam-powered machinery at the Albion Flour Mill in Blackfriars, London. This led to further mill work and eventually larger scale engineering projects, such as London Bridge, for which he was, ultimately, to become famous.

Rennies prolific career as an engineer is evident in the numerous notebooks, plans and drawings offered in this collection. The following aspects of his work are covered:

 - Bridges: includes correspondence and reports on London, Waterloo, Vauxhall and Southwark
 - Canals: including Aberdeen, Grand Junction and Grand Western
 - Fens: papers on all drainage work in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire
 - Harbours: includes plans for Aberdeen, Belfast, Bristol, and various London docks
 - Lights: consists largely of letters written by Robert Stevenson regarding the Bell Rock Lighthouse, of which he was site engineer
 - Mills: including street plans, notes and calculations for the construction of the Albion Mill
 - Overseas operations: details of sugar mills, harbours, waterworks, and other projects in locations such as the West Indies, Bombay, Capetown, and St Petersburg

This material offers a variety of information on different aspects of Rennies projects from technical data regarding quantities and types of materials to be used, to more general information about the practicalities of dealing with contractors and schedules,

The committee for conducting the affairs of the Southwark Bridge Company have nearly completed a contract for the building of the bridge and making the centres for the last arches. The contractors offer to do the whole of the stonework and centres in the course of two years from this date provided you would undertake to have the ironwork done in time so as not to retard their proceedings which would be a most important advantage to the concern
MS.19775 Extract of letter from John Rennie to Joshua Walker and Co., of Rotherham, who supplied the iron for the Southwark Bridge (c.1815)

In addition to the details on specific projects, these papers also contain key correspondence between Rennie and other leading industrialists of the time including James Watt, the Brunels, and other members of the Rennie family, notably his eldest son George, who followed his father into the engineering profession. The letters highlight how much these key figures shared information on a variety of topics from materials and building methods to even providing references for individuals Rennie was considering taking into his employment. The following extract is one such letter to Rennie from James Watt,

After 20 years that I have not seen Dudley Clerk, I cannot take upon myself to judge of his character or abilities, he was then young, perhaps 24 or 25, showed some ingenuity in mechanical matters and had abilities as a bookkeeper, it was in the latter capacity only he was employed by me. Though not entrusted with money himself he contrived to borrow it from the canal clerk, who was a silly rascal, and betwixt them I lost the money, as far as I remember. How far Clerk was blamable in this affair I really cannot take upon me to say, being only able to speak from a very confused remembrance. If you said from his knowledge or abilities it is expedient to employ him, you may easily prevent his having anything to do with money; but I would advise a brief enquiry in that point where he has been last. I always found him good humoured accurate and intelligent in what I had to do with him, and as I certainly wish him well, I beg this letter may be reserved for your own use only.
MS.19824  2nd December 1794

The close working relationship between Rennie and Messrs Boulton and Watt is reflected in the large amount of correspondence between them in this collection. Covering correspondence between John Rennie and Messrs Boulton and Watt for the years 1788, 1792, 1800, 1802, 1806 and 1808-21. As Rennie used Boulton and Watt engines in all his mill work, there are many exchanges between them both of a business and personal nature. These letters also include material from James Watt juniors trip up the Rhine in the steam ship Caledonia in 1817.

Included in this microfilm project are related items from the National Library of Scotland that place the Rennie papers in the wider context of the Industrial Revolution. Material such as the Joseph Black Lectures on Chemistry (MS.3533, 3534 and 8487) and the Diary of Thomas Telford (MS.9157) provide evidence of the culture of scientific and industrial development of which Rennie was a key part. This strong body of material enables scholars to examine a significant period in British history from the records created by some of its main protagonists and complements other Industrial Revolution collections, such as that at Birmingham Central Library.