Samuel Garbett (1717– 5 December 1803R. H. Campbell, ‘Garbett, Samuel (1717–1803)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 29 July 2012
/ref>) was a prominent citizen of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

England, during the

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, and a friend of

Matthew Boulton Matthew Boulton (; 3 September 172817 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engine ...

. Historian

Carl Chinn Carl Steven Alfred Chinn, MBE (born 6 September 1956) is an English historian, writer and broadcaster whose working life has been devoted to the study and popularisation of the city of Birmingham. He broadcast a programme on the BBC from the mid ...

argues that he: Garbett's education extended: Garbett was employed by a London merchant named Hollis, as his agent for purchasing goods in Birmingham. In that role, he came: He married Anne Clay (d. 1772) of

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

in August 1735. He then made his fortune as a merchant in his own right, before entering partnership with Dr

John Roebuck John Roebuck of Kinneil FRS FRSE (1718 – 17 July 1794) was an English inventor and industrialist who played an important role in the Industrial Revolution and who is known for developing the industrial-scale manufacture of sulphuric ac ...

to set up a laboratory in Steelhouse Lane where

precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high economic value. Chemically, the precious metals tend to be less reactive than most elements (see noble metal). They are usually ductile and have a high lustre. ...

s were refined and

assay An assay is an investigative (analytic) procedure in laboratory medicine, mining, pharmacology, environmental biology and molecular biology for qualitatively assessing or quantitatively measuring the presence, amount, or functional activity of a ...

ed; a manufacturing centre for

sulphuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid ( Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen, with the molecular formu ...

Prestonpans Prestonpans ( gd, Baile an t-Sagairt, Scots: ''The Pans'') is a small mining town, situated approximately eight miles east of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the Council area of East Lothian. The population as of is. It is near the site of the 1745 ...

in 1749; and, with others, the

Carron Iron Works The Carron Company was an ironworks established in 1759 on the banks of the River Carron near Falkirk, in Stirlingshire, Scotland. After initial problems, the company was at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom. Th ...

, in Scotland, in 1760, in which the two Birmingham men each held a 25% share. He also chaired, from January 1788, a Birmingham committee against the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. His eldest child and only daughter Mary married

Charles Gascoigne Charles Gascoigne (1738–1806) was a British industrialist at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. He was a partner and manager of the Carron Company ironworks in its early years, but left in 1786, before the company's success became ob ...

in 1759, and in 1765 Gascoigne became a partner in the Carron works, having been manager of Garbett's nearby

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a special ...

factory, Garbett & Co., since 1763. Garbett was involved in the creation of

Birmingham Assay Office The Birmingham Assay Office, one of the four assay offices in the United Kingdom, is located in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham. The development of a silver industry in 18th century Birmingham was hampered by t ...

in 1773, and was the first chairman of Birmingham's Commercial Committee, forerunner of successive Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, as was a member of the committee that raised funds to create

Birmingham General Hospital Birmingham General Hospital was a teaching hospital in Birmingham, England, founded in 1779 and closed in the mid-1990s. History Summer Lane In 1765, a committee for a proposed hospital, formed by John Ash and supported by Sir Lister ...

. He was declared

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debt ...

in 1782. Boulton encouraged him to re-establish his business in Birmingham, which he did successfully. At his death in 1803, his estate was over £12,000, albeit with some creditors not discharged. He was buried at

St Philip's Church ''Riceyman Steps'' is a novel by British novelist Arnold Bennett, first published in 1923 and winner of that year's James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. It follows a year in the life of Henry Earlforward, a miserly second-hand bookshop ow ...

(later Birmingham's cathedral), where he had been a

church warden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

. Matthew Boulton wrote of him: Throughout his life, Garbett played a prominent part in local politics and affairs, including police proposals and the development of Birmingham's canals. During the Birmingham riots of 1791, it was at his house in

Newhall Street Newhall Street is a street located in Birmingham, England. Newhall Street stretches from Colmore Row in the city centre by St Phillip's Cathedral in a north-westerly direction towards the Jewellery Quarter. Originally the road was the drivew ...

that the town and country gentry held their emergency meetings. His political lobbying in general, and correspondence with Shelburne in particular, make him a significant figure in national politics.John Money, ''op.cit.''; John Norris, ''Shelburne and reform'' (London, 1963); T M Norris, "Samuel Garbett and the early development of industrial lobbying in Great Britain," ''The Economic History Review'', 10(3) (1958), 450-460.

References

External links

Half-penny trade token featuring Garbett's portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garbett, Samuel 1717 births 1803 deaths 18th century in England People from Birmingham, West Midlands English industrialists People of the Industrial Revolution