What is Matthew Boulton?
{{Infobox person | name = Matthew Boulton | image = Matthew Boulton_-_Carl Frederik von Breda.jpg | image_size = frameless | caption = 1792 portrait of Matthew Boulton | birth_date = {{birth date|1728|9|3|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Birmingham]], England | death_date = {{death date and age|1809|8|17|1728|9|3|df=y}} | death_place = [[Birmingham]] | occupation = Manufacturer | awards = [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] (1785), High Sheriff of [[Staffordshire]] (1794) }} [[File:Old bess steam engine 1777.jpg|thumb|right|230px]] [[File:Soho House blue plaque, Handsworth, Birmingham, England-10May2010.jpg|thumb|right|230px]] '''Matthew Boulton''' [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]] (3 September 1728&nbsp;– 17 August 1809) was an English manufacturer and the business partner of Scottish engineer [[James Watt]]. In the last quarter of the 18th century, the partnership installed hundreds of [[Boulton and Watt|Boulton & Watt]] [[steam engine]]s. A great advance on the state of the art, they made possible the mechanisation of [[factories]] and [[mill]]s. Boulton applied modern techniques to the minting of coins, striking millions of pieces for Britain and other countries, and supplying the [[Royal Mint]] with up-to-date equipment. Born in [[Birmingham]] in 1728, Boulton was the son of a Birmingham manufacturer of small metal products who died when Boulton was 31. By then Boulton had managed the business for several years, and he expanded it considerably at the [[Soho Manufactory]], built by him near Birmingham.<ref>Jim, Andrew 2009. The Soho steam engine business. In Mason, Shena (ed) ''Matthew Boulton: selling what all the world desires''. New Haven: Yale University Press, pp. 63–70. {{ISBN|978-0-300-14358-4}}</ref> When Watt's business partner, John Roebuck was unable to pay a debt to Boulton, he accepted Roebuck's share of Watt's patent as settlement. He then successfully lobbied [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] to extend Watt's patent for an additional 17 years. This enabled the