Royal Mail celebrates the men who invented the machines and built the roads, railways and canals that put the United Kingdom at the vanguard of the Industrial Revolution.

Pioneers of the Industrial Revolution will be issued on 10 March across eight stamps in se-tenant pairs, and also available in a Presentation Pack written by TV science expert Adam Hart-Davis, who looks at how the Industrial Revolution changed the United Kingdom.

Designers Webb and Webb selected portraits of eight pioneers together with an example of their contribution to the Industrial Revolution.

Manufacturer Matthew Boulton (1st Class) is paired with his partner in steam engine manufacture James Watt, while the 50p stamps feature textile manufacturer Richard Arkwright and potter Josiah Wedgwood.

Railway pioneer George Stephenson and machine maker Henry Maudslay come together on the 56p stamps and the issue is completed with two geniuses who transformed transport, canal engineer James Brindley and road building giant, John McAdam on the 72p stamps.

This issue marks the 250th anniversary of Josiah Wedgwood setting up his own pottery works in Burslem, Staffordshire; the bicentenary of Matthew Boulton’s death, and the 250th anniversary of James Brindley commencing the historic Bridgewater Canal from Worsley to Manchester.

Julietta Edgar, Head of Special Stamps at Royal Mail said: “The individuals celebrated on these stamps had a profound effect on the UK and across the globe; making a huge contribution to manufacturing and creating the infrastructure that brought products to their markets.”
“I hope this issue reminds collectors and the public that the collective genius of the individuals featured was crucial to earning the United Kingdom the accolade of ‘the Workshop of the World’.”

1st Class – Matthew Boulton – Manufacturing

(1728-1809) A Birmingham factory owner and engineer whose Soho works and capital facilitated the manufacture of James Watt’s steam engines. Boulton and Watt’s engines had all manner of applications, from powering manufacturing machinery to keeping mines drained.

1st Class – James Watt – Steam Engineering

(1736-1819) Probably the strongest contender for the title of father of the steam age because of his years of hard work in improving the Newcomen design by getting the steam to condense in a separate chamber to the piston.

50p – Richard Arkwright – Textiles

(1732-1792) Generally credited with having invented the ‘water frame and sometimes known as the ‘father of the industrial revolution’. The water frame was capable of producing long lengths of cotton thread strong enough for the warp in cloth, and Arkwright opened the world’s first water-powered cotton mill in Derbyshire.

50p – Josiah Wedgwood – Ceramics

(1730-1795) Wedgwood not only pioneered the industrial production of ceramics, he was an archetypical industrialist of the age: religious dissenter, anti-slavery campaigner and member of the Lunar Society.

56p – George Stephenson – Railways

(1781-1848) Stephenson invented or developed several aspects of rail transport which are still with us to this day, including flanged wheels, and the standard gauge. Aside from building the Rocket, he worked very hard to improve the quality of the cast iron for the rails to ensure they did not snap.

56p – Henry Maudslay – Machine Making

(1771-1831). Maudslay saw that the new age of machines would require metal to be worked with precision. He pioneered the making of the high-precision machines – lathes, drills etc, which were in turn used in many industries during the revolution.

72p – James Brindley – Canal Engineering

(1716-1772) One of the most important engineers of the eighteenth century and a maker of canals, most notably the Bridgewater, started in 1759, which set the template for later canals. Brindley also pioneered many of the techniques that were later used in railway building.

72p – John McAdam – Road Building

(1756-1836). While Thomas Telford is usually the major celebrity of Industrial Revolution transport infrastructure, it was McAdam’s designs and building techniques that created Britain’s first decent all-weather roads.

Email: khollingsworth@aawazltd.com