All cities have statues and memorials to famous people that have been regarded as pivotal to the development of the community. Explorers, politicians, academics are often revered in recognition of their place in history. Birmingham is the cradle of the industrial revolution and has its own heroes. In the central city are located statues of famous people:
• James Watt
• Matthew Boulton
• Joseph Priestley
• William Murdoch
Watt was a dour, hypochondriac, Scottish engineer whose methodical approach led him to make significant improvements to the earlier Newcomen steam engine. Boulton was the outgoing entrepreneur who secured copyright, political and financial backing, and pushed the project along with a sense of haste. In many ways, these two men needed one another for the invention to realise. The new design was much more efficient, and royalties were paid as one-third of the cost savings of coal for factories.
Joseph Priestley was credited with the discovery of ‘airs’ such as oxygen. One of his famous experiments involved observing how a mouse could live much longer while breathing what Priestley called ‘dephlogisticated air’. He also went on to discover carbon dioxide, which when bubbled through water, made the first fizzy drinks that within a few years spawned an industry begun by Johann Schweppe, who sold bottles of his new product to … Matthew Boulton. Priestley’s home was burned by a mob opposed to his views of the French Revolution, and he fled to America with his family. Today, in recognition of his achievements, the American Chemical Society’s highest honour is the Priestley medal.
The invention of the steam engine spawned the industrial revolution, during which this city’s population increased five-fold in sixty years. Birmingham owes much to the contributions of these influential men, helping create this, the world’s first manufacturing town.
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