Samuel Garbett

Samuel Garbett (1717– 5 December 1803[1]) was a prominent citizen of Birmingham England, during the industrial revolution, and a friend of Matthew Boulton. Historian Carl Chinn argues[2] that he:

stood alongside Boulton as one of the key figures responsible for Birmingham's rapid expansion into one of the world's leading industrial towns.

Garbett's education extended:

[no] further than writing and accounts; but he was a man of great acuteness of genius and extent of understanding.[3]

Garbett was employed by a London merchant named Hollis, as his agent for purchasing goods in Birmingham.[2] In that role, he came:

into notice and rank among his townsmen; and the more he was known, the more he was esteemed.[3]

He married Anne Clay (d. 1772) of Aston in August 1735.[1]

He then made his fortune as a merchant in his own right, before entering partnership with Dr John Roebuck to set up a laboratory in Steelhouse Lane where precious metals were refined and assayed; a manufacturing centre for sulphuric acid in Prestonpans in 1749; and, with William Cadell and John Roebuck, founded the Carron Iron Works, in Scotland, in 1759,[2] in which the two Birmingham men each held a 25% share.[1] He also chaired, from January 1788, a Birmingham committee against the slave trade.[2]

His eldest child and only daughter Mary married Charles Gascoigne in 1759, and in 1765 Gascoigne became a partner in the Carron works, having been manager of Garbett's nearby turpentine factory, Garbett & Co., since 1763.

Garbett was involved in the creation of Birmingham Assay Office in 1773,[2] and was the first chairman of Birmingham's Commercial Committee, forerunner of successive Birmingham Chambers of Commerce,[2] as was a member of the committee that raised funds to create Birmingham General Hospital.[2]

He was declared bankrupt in 1782.[2] Boulton encouraged him to re-establish his business in Birmingham, which he did successfully.[2]

At his death in 1803, his estate was over £12,000, albeit with some creditors not discharged.[2] He was buried at St Philip's Church (later Birmingham's cathedral), where he had been a church warden.[2] Matthew Boulton wrote of him:

I have always found his principles unfailingly just, honourable and liberal.[4]

Throughout his life, Garbett played a prominent part in local politics and affairs, including police proposals and the development of Birmingham's canals.[5] During the Birmingham riots of 1791, it was at his house in Newhall Street that the town and country gentry held their emergency meetings.[6] His political lobbying in general, and correspondence with Shelburne in particular, make him a significant figure in national politics.[7]