The Shropshire Enlightenment: a Regional Study of Intellectual Activity in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries
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The Shropshire Enlightenment: a regional study of intellectual activity in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries by Roger Neil Bruton A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of History and Cultures College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham January 2015 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract The focus of this study is centred upon intellectual activity in the period from 1750 to c1840 in Shropshire, an area that for a time was synonymous with change and innovation. It examines the importance of personal development and the influence of intellectual communities and networks in the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge. It adds to understanding of how individuals and communities reflected Enlightenment aspirations or carried the mantle of ‘improvement’ and thereby contributes to the debate on the establishment of regional Enlightenment. The acquisition of philosophical knowledge merged into the cultural ethos of the period and its utilitarian characteristics were to influence the onset of Industrial Revolution but Shropshire was essentially a rural location. The thesis examines how those progressive tendencies manifested themselves in that local setting. The study therefore explores contemporary knowledge acquisition and dissemination, both within and beyond the industrial environment for which the county has become historically known. Comparisons are made with similar processes in other localities and conclusions drawn on local specificity in the context of economic and agricultural improvement and the enhancement of infrastructure. It acknowledges in the process, the cultural change effected in the lives of many individuals across the social spectrum. Acknowledgements First and foremost, my gratitude must go to my supervisors, Professor Peter Jones and Dr Malcolm Dick for their advice, encouragement and support throughout, what at times, seemed a never-ending journey of discovery and labour. To the archivists and staff at the Cadbury Research Library at the University of Birmingham, Shropshire Archives, Staffordshire Record Office and Birmingham Archives and Heritage who were invariably responsive to enquiries and requests, with suggestions and helpful ideas, I offer my thanks. I am eternally grateful to the University of Birmingham and the trustees of The John Pagett Bursary for the awards that they each endowed upon me, which enabled me to continue with this study without the constant need to look over my shoulder for the approach of the bailiffs. To my friends and fellow toilers at the coalface of postgraduate study, particularly Elaine, Sue and Guy and the other members of the Dark Nights of the Soul group, the sharing of the pleasures and the burden of this process is acknowledged and gratefully appreciated. Table of contents Title Page Abstract Acknowledgements Table of contents List of images List of figures List of Appendices List of abbreviations Chapter 1: Introduction 1-21 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Literature review 4 1.3 Methods and Sources 16 1.4 Conclusion 20 Chapter 2: Enlightenment and the concept of Improvement- a contextual analysis 22-44 2.1 Introduction 22 2.2 Background to Enlightenment study 22 2.2.1 Ideals of Enlightenment 25 2.2.2 Debate over duration 27 2.2.3 Boundaries of Enlightenment 29 2.2.4 ‘National context’ 31 2.3 The concept of ‘improvement’ 34 2.4 Conclusion 43 Chapter 3: The pursuit of improvement: Infrastructure development in Shropshire, 1750-1840 45-96 3.1 Introduction 45 3.2 Shropshire rail ways 46 3.3 The East Shropshire canal system 54 3.4 Case study: Pontcysyllte and the Ellesmere Canal 71 3.4.1 The case for the Ellesmere Canal 71 3.4.2 ‘Improvement’ and the Ellesmere Canal 78 3.4.3 The Ellesmere intellectual community 88 3.4.4 Conclusion 94 Chapter 4: The industrial dimension of intellectual activity 97-154 4.1 Introduction 97 4.2 Shropshire industrialists and technological advance 99 4.3 Practical manifestations of an urban science culture 116 4.4 Acquisition and diffusion of ‘Useful Knowledge’ by Shropshire industrialists 120 4.5 Case study: Charles Bage (1751-1822) and Ditherington Flax Mill 130 4.5.1 The role of Charles Wooley Bage 131 4.5.2 Charles Bage and William Strutt 135 4.6 Conclusion 150 Chapter 5: Agricultural improvement 155-213 5.1 Introduction 155 5.2 Agents of improvement 159 5.3 Knowledge dissemination 177 5.4 Agricultural improvement in Shropshire (1750-1840) 189 5.4.1 Enclosure and drainage 190 5.4.2 New methods of husbandry 194 5.5 Case study: James Loch and agricultural improvement200 5.5.1 Character and ethos 201 5.5.2 Estate improvements 204 5.5.3 Knowledge dissemination 208 5.6 Conclusion 212 Chapter 6: Improvement and the cultural expression of the Enlightenment impulse in Shropshire 214-283 6.1 Introduction 214 6.2 The influence of public science upon cultural paradigms 217 6.3 The dissemination of scientific knowledge 225 6.3.1 Itinerant science lecturers 226 6.3.2 The adoption of public science 239 6.3.3 Adult education 243 6.4 Geology and mineralogy 247 6.5 Natural history and botany 252 6.6 Case study: The Ladies of science 255 6.6.1 Katherine Plymley 262 6.6.2 Frances Stackhouse Acton 269 6.6.3 Lady Henrietta Clive 272 6.6.4 Louisa Charlotte Kenyon 274 6.7 The Plymley dining table 276 6.8 Conclusion: a fascination with natural fascination 281 Chapter 7: A Shropshire Enlightenment? 284-307 7.1 Introduction 284 7.2 The study outcomes 285 7.2.1 Innovation and adaptation 286 7.2.2 Acquisition and dissemination of knowledge 289 7.2.2.1 Intellectual communities and networks 290 7.2.2.2 Printed influences, instruction and emulation 296 7.3 Social imperatives 299 7.4 Further research 301 7.5 Improvement or Enlightenment? 303 Appendices List of references List of Illustrations 1/1 The County of Shropshire Facing Page 1 3/1 Extract from plans for the construction of ‘corves’ 51 3/2 Bradshaw’s Map of the Canals ...in the Midland Counties 55 3/3 Pontcysyllte Aqueduct 71 3/4 Map of the planned route of the Ellesmere Canal 73 3/5 Spandrels on the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct 86 3/6 Portrait of Thomas Telford by Samuel Lane 89 3/7 Etching of Aqueduct by Robert Fulton 94 4/1 Ditherington Flax Mill 130 4/2 Internal Columns in Ditherington Flax Mill 140 4/3 Experiment in the strength of roof trusses 146 5/1 Painting of John Cotes by Wm Ward after Thomas Weaver 166 5/2 Samuel Morton’s ‘Revolving Brake Harrow’ 199 6/1 Franklin’s Eiduraneon 229 6/2 John Warltire’s Analysis of a course of lectures 231 6/3 Adam Walker at Covent Garden 233 6/4 Death’s Head Moth and Caterpillar by Katherine Plymley 255 6/5 Dark Tussock Moth by Katherine Plymley 264 6/6 Extract from Réaumur’s Memoire 266 6/7 Acton Scott Hall from the south by Frances Stackhouse Acton 271 6/8 Archaeological drawing by Frances Stackhouse Acton 273 List of figures 3/1 West Midland canal constructions, 1770/1780s 58 4/1 Estate maps and surveys conducted by Slater and Bage 133 6/1 Shrewsbury Mechanics Institution- Summary of Subscribers 245 6/2 Female members of the Shropshire and North Wales Natural History Society- 1835/6 260 List of Appendices 3/1 Subscribers to the Shrewsbury Canal 3/2 Promoters of the Ellesmere Canal 4/1 Chronological sequence of letters from Charles Bage to William Strutt 5/1 Shifnal Agricultural Society list of subscribers 5/2 The Marquis of Stafford’s Associated Tenantry 5/3 Transcript of a letter from James Loch to Capt. Bradshaw 6/1 Transcript of a letter from John Warltire to James Watt re firing of airs 6/2 Transcript of an advertisement for Thomas Yeomans 6/3 Transcript of an advertisement for John Warltire 6/4 Transcript of an advertisement for Adam Walker 6/5 Analysis of list of members of SNWNHS 1835/6 ABBREVIATIONS MP Member of Parliament RCAHMW Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales SDUK Society for the Dissemination of Useful Knowledge SNWNHS Shropshire and North Wales Natural History Society Image 1/1- The County of Shropshire The County of Shropshire from An atlas of the English Counties divided into Hundreds, etc. (London, 1830). Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Introduction The pursuit of ‘improvement’ through the acquisition and application of knowledge conditioned many aspects of eighteenth and early nineteenth-century life. It became fashionable and it fired the dreams of the aspirational. For those with progressive convictions, it afforded the means to address and improve social, economic, agrarian and cultural dimensions of society. The period was encapsulated by the philosopher David Hume (1711- 1776): ‘The spirit of the age affects all the arts; and the minds of men, being once roused from their lethargy and put into a fermentation, turn themselves on all sides, and carry improvements into every art and science.’1 ‘Improvement’ as a cultural form is identifiable from the sixteenth-century onwards and it is this notion and the modern idea of an Enlightenment that provided the framework through which this study explores intellectual activity.