Industrialist, Engineer. Matthew Boulton will be remembered for his many achievements in industry before the break of the British industrial revolution. Born the oldest son of Matthew Boulton, a manufacturer of metal articles, such as toys, snuff boxes, and belt buckles, he stepped into his father's business after finishing school, first managing a hardware store, and later inheriting the business from his father in 1759. Around the same time, his first wife died without an heir but leaving him her inheritance from her wealthy father; when he remarried, he chose his first wife's younger sister. Employing thousands of workers, not only did he build workshops, but built housing for his employees. His Soho Manufactory was completed in 1766 and considered British's first factory. Establishing a strong reputation as a craftsman, he undertook the reproduction of oil paint by a mechanical process as well as the manufacture of artistic metal objects. After designing the coins, he produced coins for the East India Company, European countries including Russia and lastly, the Royal Mint . His penny remained in circulation until 1971. After obtaining in 1769 half of the shares of a steam-engine patent in payment from an unpaid debt of nearly $1,500 from James Watt's partner, he and Watt became business partners. They greatly improved the steam-engine. In 1775, he petitioned Parliament to give them a 25-year extension on the 8-year patent. Being able to fund this project, his factory produced over 500 powerful steam-engines, which greatly impacted the mining industry and the breweries in England. Meeting regularly near the full moon, Boulton was a charter member of the Lunar Society where intellectual discussions would be held between his close colleagues, Dr. Eramus Darwin, Josiah Wedgewood of the beautiful blue Wedgewood china, his partner James Watt and other scientists, writers and industrialists, on subjects such as commerce, radical politics, literature and the arts. Publicly, the group was against the slave trade. In 1785 h e became a fellow of the Royal Academy and established a theatre in Birmingham in 1807. With a long history of kidney stones, he died of renal failure. When Watt died ten years later, he was interred beside Boulton in St. Mary's Church. His Soho home became a museum.