ABSTRACT
Matthew Boulton succeeded in gaining an Act of Parliament for the establishment of an assay office in Birmingham in May 1773, overcoming in the process, powerful objections from the Worshipful Company of Gold smiths and the London trade. The largest assay office in the world, The Birmingham Assay Office is the sole surviving enterprise in which Boulton had a hand, and it serves as a tangible example of his legacy in Birmingham and beyond. The story of Boulton and The Birmingham Assay Office, however, is worth re-telling for what it reveals about the wider cultural context of the late eighteenth century. In 1936, Arthur Westwood, who served as Junior Assay Master at Birmingham from 1893-1911 and as Assay Master from 1911-51, published the most focused and comprehensive commentary to date. Furthermore, the vigour with which they opposed the petitions from Sheffield and Birmingham, is confirmation of their continuing active presence in the cultural process.
