Isaac Perrins
Encyclopedia
Isaac Perrins was an English bareknuckle prizefighter
and 18th-century engineer. A man reputed to possess prodigious strength but a mild manner, he fought and lost one of the most notorious boxing matches of the era, a physically mismatched contest against the English Champion Tom Johnson. Such was the mismatch that Perrins was described as Hercules
fighting a boy.
During the period when he was prizefighting Perrins worked for Boulton and Watt
, manufacturers of steam engines, based at their Soho Foundry
, Birmingham
, but also travelled around the country and at times acted as an informant on people who were thought to have breached his employer's patent
s. In the later years of his life he also ran a public house
in Manchester
and undertook engineering work on his own account. He was appointed to lead the Manchester fire brigade in 1799, and died a little over 12 months later in the performance of his duties.
s in the West Midlands
until his death in 1780. In that year Isaac junior was offered work in Cornwall
by the business but turned it down. He subsequently accepted a Birmingham-based job with the firm in 1782.
and Duke of Kent.
Prizefighting in early 18th-century England took many forms rather than just pugilism, which was referred to by noted swordsman and then boxing champion James Figg
as "the noble science of defence". By the middle of the century the term was generally used to denote boxing fights only. The appeal of prizefighting at that time has been compared to that of duelling, with historian Adrian Harvey saying that
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham reported that although pugilism was long practised in the area the first local records it could find were of a prizefight on 7 October 1782 at Coleshill
between Isaac Perrins, "the knock-kneed hammerman from Soho", and a professional called Jemmy Sargent. The fighters received 100 guineas each. Perrins won in around six minutes, after knocking Sargent down thirteen times. Perrins' friends apparently won £1,500 with their betting. This record is an exception to the rule: the records of fights are not detailed for this period and particularly so in the case of those which did not involve men from London. Unless a death or some other remarkable incident occurred, the information is scarce.
London was the premier centre for boxing because the aristocratic supporters of the sport dispersed to their country estates during the summer months but tended to congregate in the city for the winter period. Birmingham was often portrayed as second only to London for the sport and in 1789 there were a series of challenges issued by fighters from the Birmingham area to opponents based around London. The challenges were intended to demonstrate the level of organisation and confidence among the Birmingham boxers and their supporters. Three of these challenges were accepted, including that from Perrins to Tom Johnson. Perrins had already issued a general challenge, offering to fight any man in England for a prize of 500 guineas, having beaten all challengers in the counties around Birmingham.
The Perrins – Johnson fight took place at Banbury
on 22 October 1789 and was billed as a battle between Birmingham and London as well as for the English Championship. The venue had been intended to be Newmarket during a race meeting but permission could not be obtained. The two men were around the same age but physically very different. Perrins stood 6' 2" (1.88 m) tall and weighed 238 pounds (108 kg), while Johnson was 5' 10" (1.78 m) and weighed 196 pounds (88.9 kg). It was claimed that Perrins had lifted 896 pounds (406.4 kg) of iron with ease, and he was "universally allowed to possess much skill and excellent bottom". That is, it was acknowledged that he was skillful and courageous. The physical mismatch was later described as a fight between Hercules, in the form of Perrins, and a boy.
The first five minutes of competition saw neither man strike a blow and then when Perrins tried to make contact Johnson dodged and felled Perrins in return. Although Perrins recovered to hold the upper hand in the first few rounds, Johnson then began to dance around the ring, forcing Perrins to follow in order to make a fight of it. This "shifting" confused Perrins because the custom at the time was for the fighters to stand still and hit each other, but the rules for this particular fight did not prevent it. Nor did they specify what should happen if a contestant fell to the ground, which is what Johnson did in order to avoid being hit – this action was thought by the spectators to be unsporting but was permitted by the two umpires. Before long both fighters showed signs of their opponent's attacks, with first Perrins and then Johnson suffering cut eyes and then further damage to their faces. By the fight's end Perrins' head "had scarcely the traces left of a human being", according to Pierce Egan
in his history of boxing. The contest lasted 62 rounds, which took a total of 75 minutes to complete, until Perrins became totally exhausted. Tony Gee has said that A celebrated champion, Jack Broughton
, and his supporters had gone some way to codifying some rules in 1743, based on work by an earlier champion called James Figg
, but by Johnson's time they were still very loose in interpretation and implementation.
Perrins' supporters had gambled heavily on him because of his reputation and his advantage in size. In the event it was a major supporter of Johnson, a Thomas Bullock, who gained; he won £20,000 (equivalent to £220,000 in 2010) from his bets in favour of Johnson and gifted the victor £1,000.
The event was recorded in The Gentleman's Magazine
of that month
The contestants received 250 guineas each, with Johnson also receiving two-thirds of the entrance takings (after costs) and Perrins receiving the other third. The net takings were £800, with the number of spectators variously stated as being 3,000 or 5,000. Johnson called on Perrins and left him a guinea to buy himself a drink before leaving Banbury. The fight had proved to be "one of the hardest, cleanest and most brilliant encounters that ever took place".
Copper
medals were struck to commemorate each of the contestants. The obverse side of these contained a picture of the respective fighter; the reverse had the Latin inscription Bella! Horrida bella! (a quotation from Virgil
which can be translated as wars, horrible wars) and the words Strength and magnanimity in the case of Perrins, and Science and intrepidity for that of Johnson. Chaloner has speculated that these may have been produced by his employers and says that they bear similarities with the work of a French die
maker called Ponthon who was supplying the firm with industrial items from at least 1791. The National Portrait Gallery holds two pictures of the Banbury fight, one being an etching
published by George Smeeton in 1812, and the other by Joseph Grozer
in 1789.
It is possible that his last fight was an 85 minute contest at Shrewsbury
in July 1790. This was widely reported in the London press and that of provincial cities but was subsequently denied by newspapers more local to the event. There were unsuccessful attempts after that date to match him against Ben Bryan
(sometimes known as Ben Brian, Ben Brain or Ben Bryant), who had by that time defeated Johnson. Indeed, these attempts, conducted by Daniel Mendoza
, did not help the cause of his employment with Boulton and Watt as the firm thought that they were a distraction and expressed concern regarding his commitment to his work.
Despite the brutal nature of prizefighting, it was the opinion of boxing historian Henry Downes Miles, in his book Pugilistica, that Perrins was of a "lamb-like disposition" and an intelligent, modest, discerning, and well-liked man. He was also jolly, full of anecdotes, and ever ready to sing a tune, all of which stood him in good stead when he became a publican
. Nonetheless, he was "an erratic histrionic genius, whose reckless riot ruined and extinguished his higher gifts".
which might possibly have infringed a patent held by his employers, although Watt was disparaging of the device and its creator. He installed the first Boulton and Watt stationary steam engine in Manchester, at Drinkwater's Mill in 1789. He was there again by June 1791, when he spotted a copy of a Boulton and Watt product in Deansgate, one of many examples which infringed the firm's patents. An engine had been built by Joshua Wrigley and used a "smokeless fire-place" similar to one patented by Boulton and Watt, although in this instance the matter was not pursued any further by them.
His position in the firm was sufficiently elevated that he received business correspondence at the factory; for example, a letter to Perrins survives from October 1791, when a John Stratford sought his advice. Perrins was educated and literate by the standards of his time, although economic historian Eric Robinson has said that all engine-erectors needed to be literate to understand fitting instructions sent to their work site by their employers.
Perrins eventually moved to Manchester permanently in 1793, to run a public house. This was not an unusual thing for retired prizefighters then: they often received the proceeds of a financial collection by their supporters in order to enable them to buy a license to operate such premises and "today's fighter was merely tomorrow's publican in waiting". In a 1901 review of sporting prints titled The old and new pugilism, which lamented the passing of the style and the discipline of prize-fighting, "the goal of the successful pugilist was a sporting public house ... they were generally in side or back streets, where the house did not command a transient trade. Most of these sporting "pubs" had a large room at the back or upstairs, which was open one night a week (preferably Saturday), for public sparring, which was always conducted by a pugilist of some note."
As well as running his public house, Perrins continued to do work for Boulton and Watt, and was an accredited engine-erector for them. In 1794 he was dismissed from employment by them due to his drunkenness. He had also been arguing with another of the firm's engineers, James Lawson, had upset customers with his manner and was accused of failing to maintain the engines in the Manchester area to a satisfactory standard. He tried to rebuff the last charge in particular, on the grounds that the firm did not pay him a retainer for the maintenance work
Even after this setback he still did some work for the firm. He tracked down and informed the firm of pirated copies of their engines in Leeds
between 1795–1796 and probably also did the same thing subsequently in Lancashire
.
Scholes's Manchester and Salford Directory for 1797 shows Perrins as a "victualler and engineer", living at the Fire Engine public house, 24 Leigh Street. (The street is listed as being off George Street, which was in turn off Great Ancoats Street. It is now called George Leigh Street.) His entry in the directory is one of the first references to the term "engineer" found in Mancunian
documents, the job description at that time being a relatively new one. It has been stated that at the time of his death he was running another public house, the Neptune, but historian W. H. Chaloner believes the source of the statement to be unreliable.
In 1800 he was still doing engineering work for his former employers, who were beset with manufacturing problems and a shortage of engine-erectors. He was also running his own business engaged in general millwright
ing and was still called upon by various Manchester engine owners who preferred to use his services for their machine erection and maintenance needs than those of Boulton and Watt. He had moved to New Street, Hanover Street and in December 1799 was appointed to the position of conductor of firemen and inspector of engines by the Manchester police commissioners, positions which effectively put him in charge of the fire brigade. One source – the one considered unreliable by Chaloner – has stated that he had held the position for 20 years prior to his death.
, which noted him as being an "engine-worker". The Register said that However, this announcement of his demise was premature as in fact he died on 6 January 1801 after contracting a fever because of his exertions during the rescue, which had occurred during a huge fire that burned all through the night of 10 December. The fire may be that described in The Annals of Manchester: "warehouses in Hodson Square were burnt down December 10, caused damages to the extent of £50,000, exclusive of the buildings". On 29 December 1800 he had been awarded £20 per annum by the commissioners for "meritorious services".
A memorial to Perrins and his wife, Mary (who had predeceased him by a few months), was placed at St John's Church, Byrom Street, Manchester.
in so far as they relate to Isaac Perrins.
Prizefighter
A prizefighter is a boxer.Prizefighter may also refer to:*Don King Presents: Prizefighter, a video game by 2k Sports released in 2008*Prize Fighter, a video game by Digital Pictures released in 1994 for the Sega CD...
and 18th-century engineer. A man reputed to possess prodigious strength but a mild manner, he fought and lost one of the most notorious boxing matches of the era, a physically mismatched contest against the English Champion Tom Johnson. Such was the mismatch that Perrins was described as Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
fighting a boy.
During the period when he was prizefighting Perrins worked for Boulton and Watt
Boulton and Watt
The firm of Boulton & Watt was initially a partnership between Matthew Boulton and James Watt.-The engine partnership:The partnership was formed in 1775 to exploit Watt's patent for a steam engine with a separate condenser. This made much more efficient use of its fuel than the older Newcomen engine...
, manufacturers of steam engines, based at their Soho Foundry
Soho Foundry
Soho Foundry was a factory created in 1795 by Matthew Boulton and James Watt at Smethwick, West Midlands, England , for the manufacture of steam engines.-History:...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, but also travelled around the country and at times acted as an informant on people who were thought to have breached his employer's patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s. In the later years of his life he also ran a public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
and undertook engineering work on his own account. He was appointed to lead the Manchester fire brigade in 1799, and died a little over 12 months later in the performance of his duties.
Early life
There is little information regarding Issac Perrins' early life, but he was probably born in about 1751. His father, also called Isaac, worked for Boulton and Watt erecting stationary steam engineStationary steam engine
Stationary steam engines are fixed steam engines used for pumping or driving mills and factories, and for power generation. They are distinct from locomotive engines used on railways, traction engines for heavy steam haulage on roads, steam cars , agricultural engines used for ploughing or...
s in the West Midlands
West Midlands (region)
The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
until his death in 1780. In that year Isaac junior was offered work in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
by the business but turned it down. He subsequently accepted a Birmingham-based job with the firm in 1782.
Prizefighting
Bareknuckle fighting was "particularly popular" in Birmingham during Perrins' lifetime. From a legal standpoint such fights ran the risk of being classified as disorderly assemblies but in practice the authorities were concerned mainly about the number of criminals congregating there. The patronage of the aristocracy – including royal princes and dukes – and other wealthy people ensured that any legal scrutiny was generally benign, in particular because fights could take place on private estates. There was increased support for the sport from around 1786 because of the interest shown in it by the Prince of Wales (later King George IV) and his brothers, the future King William IVWilliam IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
and Duke of Kent.
Prizefighting in early 18th-century England took many forms rather than just pugilism, which was referred to by noted swordsman and then boxing champion James Figg
James Figg
James Figg was an English bare-knuckle boxer. He is universally recognized the first English bare-knuckle boxing champion, reigning from 1719 to 1730 or 1734. Many of the bouts at the time consisted of boxing, wrestling and fencing with sharp swords. Figg was also a great fencer that engaged in...
as "the noble science of defence". By the middle of the century the term was generally used to denote boxing fights only. The appeal of prizefighting at that time has been compared to that of duelling, with historian Adrian Harvey saying that
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham reported that although pugilism was long practised in the area the first local records it could find were of a prizefight on 7 October 1782 at Coleshill
Coleshill, Warwickshire
Coleshill is a market town in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England, taking its name from the River Cole. It has a population of 6,343 and is situated east of Birmingham.-Location:...
between Isaac Perrins, "the knock-kneed hammerman from Soho", and a professional called Jemmy Sargent. The fighters received 100 guineas each. Perrins won in around six minutes, after knocking Sargent down thirteen times. Perrins' friends apparently won £1,500 with their betting. This record is an exception to the rule: the records of fights are not detailed for this period and particularly so in the case of those which did not involve men from London. Unless a death or some other remarkable incident occurred, the information is scarce.
London was the premier centre for boxing because the aristocratic supporters of the sport dispersed to their country estates during the summer months but tended to congregate in the city for the winter period. Birmingham was often portrayed as second only to London for the sport and in 1789 there were a series of challenges issued by fighters from the Birmingham area to opponents based around London. The challenges were intended to demonstrate the level of organisation and confidence among the Birmingham boxers and their supporters. Three of these challenges were accepted, including that from Perrins to Tom Johnson. Perrins had already issued a general challenge, offering to fight any man in England for a prize of 500 guineas, having beaten all challengers in the counties around Birmingham.
The Perrins – Johnson fight took place at Banbury
Banbury
Banbury is a market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in the Cherwell District of Oxfordshire. It is northwest of London, southeast of Birmingham, south of Coventry and north northwest of the county town of Oxford...
on 22 October 1789 and was billed as a battle between Birmingham and London as well as for the English Championship. The venue had been intended to be Newmarket during a race meeting but permission could not be obtained. The two men were around the same age but physically very different. Perrins stood 6' 2" (1.88 m) tall and weighed 238 pounds (108 kg), while Johnson was 5' 10" (1.78 m) and weighed 196 pounds (88.9 kg). It was claimed that Perrins had lifted 896 pounds (406.4 kg) of iron with ease, and he was "universally allowed to possess much skill and excellent bottom". That is, it was acknowledged that he was skillful and courageous. The physical mismatch was later described as a fight between Hercules, in the form of Perrins, and a boy.
The first five minutes of competition saw neither man strike a blow and then when Perrins tried to make contact Johnson dodged and felled Perrins in return. Although Perrins recovered to hold the upper hand in the first few rounds, Johnson then began to dance around the ring, forcing Perrins to follow in order to make a fight of it. This "shifting" confused Perrins because the custom at the time was for the fighters to stand still and hit each other, but the rules for this particular fight did not prevent it. Nor did they specify what should happen if a contestant fell to the ground, which is what Johnson did in order to avoid being hit – this action was thought by the spectators to be unsporting but was permitted by the two umpires. Before long both fighters showed signs of their opponent's attacks, with first Perrins and then Johnson suffering cut eyes and then further damage to their faces. By the fight's end Perrins' head "had scarcely the traces left of a human being", according to Pierce Egan
Pierce Egan
Pierce Egan was an early British journalist, sportswriter, and writer on popular culture.Egan was born in the London suburbs, where he spent his life. By 1812 he had established himself as the country's leading 'reporter of sporting events', which at the time meant mainly prize-fights and...
in his history of boxing. The contest lasted 62 rounds, which took a total of 75 minutes to complete, until Perrins became totally exhausted. Tony Gee has said that A celebrated champion, Jack Broughton
Jack Broughton
John "Jack" Broughton was an English bare-knuckle fighter. He was the first person to ever codify a set of rules to be used in such contests; prior to this the "rules" that existed were very loosely defined and tended to vary from contest to contest...
, and his supporters had gone some way to codifying some rules in 1743, based on work by an earlier champion called James Figg
James Figg
James Figg was an English bare-knuckle boxer. He is universally recognized the first English bare-knuckle boxing champion, reigning from 1719 to 1730 or 1734. Many of the bouts at the time consisted of boxing, wrestling and fencing with sharp swords. Figg was also a great fencer that engaged in...
, but by Johnson's time they were still very loose in interpretation and implementation.
Perrins' supporters had gambled heavily on him because of his reputation and his advantage in size. In the event it was a major supporter of Johnson, a Thomas Bullock, who gained; he won £20,000 (equivalent to £220,000 in 2010) from his bets in favour of Johnson and gifted the victor £1,000.
The event was recorded in The Gentleman's Magazine
The Gentleman's Magazine
The Gentleman's Magazine was founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term "magazine" for a periodical...
of that month
The contestants received 250 guineas each, with Johnson also receiving two-thirds of the entrance takings (after costs) and Perrins receiving the other third. The net takings were £800, with the number of spectators variously stated as being 3,000 or 5,000. Johnson called on Perrins and left him a guinea to buy himself a drink before leaving Banbury. The fight had proved to be "one of the hardest, cleanest and most brilliant encounters that ever took place".
Copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
medals were struck to commemorate each of the contestants. The obverse side of these contained a picture of the respective fighter; the reverse had the Latin inscription Bella! Horrida bella! (a quotation from Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
which can be translated as wars, horrible wars) and the words Strength and magnanimity in the case of Perrins, and Science and intrepidity for that of Johnson. Chaloner has speculated that these may have been produced by his employers and says that they bear similarities with the work of a French die
Die (manufacturing)
A die is a specialized tool used in manufacturing industries to cut or shape material using a press. Like molds, dies are generally customized to the item they are used to create...
maker called Ponthon who was supplying the firm with industrial items from at least 1791. The National Portrait Gallery holds two pictures of the Banbury fight, one being an etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
published by George Smeeton in 1812, and the other by Joseph Grozer
Joseph Grozer
Joseph Grozer was an English artist and printmaker.The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco has a mezzotint by Grozer titled lists six works by Grozer sold at auction since 1997.-References:...
in 1789.
It is possible that his last fight was an 85 minute contest at Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
in July 1790. This was widely reported in the London press and that of provincial cities but was subsequently denied by newspapers more local to the event. There were unsuccessful attempts after that date to match him against Ben Bryan
Benjamin Brain
Benjamin Brain was a bareknuckle prizefighter. A collier by trade, he was a valiant fighter whose career spanned twenty years...
(sometimes known as Ben Brian, Ben Brain or Ben Bryant), who had by that time defeated Johnson. Indeed, these attempts, conducted by Daniel Mendoza
Daniel Mendoza
Daniel Mendoza was an English prizefighter, who was boxing champion of England 1792–95.-Success:...
, did not help the cause of his employment with Boulton and Watt as the firm thought that they were a distraction and expressed concern regarding his commitment to his work.
Despite the brutal nature of prizefighting, it was the opinion of boxing historian Henry Downes Miles, in his book Pugilistica, that Perrins was of a "lamb-like disposition" and an intelligent, modest, discerning, and well-liked man. He was also jolly, full of anecdotes, and ever ready to sing a tune, all of which stood him in good stead when he became a publican
Publican
In antiquity, publicans were public contractors, in which role they often supplied the Roman legions and military, managed the collection of port duties, and oversaw public building projects...
. Nonetheless, he was "an erratic histrionic genius, whose reckless riot ruined and extinguished his higher gifts".
Work
Employed as a foreman by Boulton and Watt in Birmingham, Perrins was sent around the country by the firm. In 1787 he visited Scotland, from where he reported on an invention by the SymingtonsWilliam Symington
William Symington was a Scottish engineer and inventor, and the builder of the first practical steamboat, the Charlotte Dundas.-Early life:...
which might possibly have infringed a patent held by his employers, although Watt was disparaging of the device and its creator. He installed the first Boulton and Watt stationary steam engine in Manchester, at Drinkwater's Mill in 1789. He was there again by June 1791, when he spotted a copy of a Boulton and Watt product in Deansgate, one of many examples which infringed the firm's patents. An engine had been built by Joshua Wrigley and used a "smokeless fire-place" similar to one patented by Boulton and Watt, although in this instance the matter was not pursued any further by them.
His position in the firm was sufficiently elevated that he received business correspondence at the factory; for example, a letter to Perrins survives from October 1791, when a John Stratford sought his advice. Perrins was educated and literate by the standards of his time, although economic historian Eric Robinson has said that all engine-erectors needed to be literate to understand fitting instructions sent to their work site by their employers.
Perrins eventually moved to Manchester permanently in 1793, to run a public house. This was not an unusual thing for retired prizefighters then: they often received the proceeds of a financial collection by their supporters in order to enable them to buy a license to operate such premises and "today's fighter was merely tomorrow's publican in waiting". In a 1901 review of sporting prints titled The old and new pugilism, which lamented the passing of the style and the discipline of prize-fighting, "the goal of the successful pugilist was a sporting public house ... they were generally in side or back streets, where the house did not command a transient trade. Most of these sporting "pubs" had a large room at the back or upstairs, which was open one night a week (preferably Saturday), for public sparring, which was always conducted by a pugilist of some note."
As well as running his public house, Perrins continued to do work for Boulton and Watt, and was an accredited engine-erector for them. In 1794 he was dismissed from employment by them due to his drunkenness. He had also been arguing with another of the firm's engineers, James Lawson, had upset customers with his manner and was accused of failing to maintain the engines in the Manchester area to a satisfactory standard. He tried to rebuff the last charge in particular, on the grounds that the firm did not pay him a retainer for the maintenance work
Even after this setback he still did some work for the firm. He tracked down and informed the firm of pirated copies of their engines in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
between 1795–1796 and probably also did the same thing subsequently in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
.
Scholes's Manchester and Salford Directory for 1797 shows Perrins as a "victualler and engineer", living at the Fire Engine public house, 24 Leigh Street. (The street is listed as being off George Street, which was in turn off Great Ancoats Street. It is now called George Leigh Street.) His entry in the directory is one of the first references to the term "engineer" found in Mancunian
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
documents, the job description at that time being a relatively new one. It has been stated that at the time of his death he was running another public house, the Neptune, but historian W. H. Chaloner believes the source of the statement to be unreliable.
In 1800 he was still doing engineering work for his former employers, who were beset with manufacturing problems and a shortage of engine-erectors. He was also running his own business engaged in general millwright
Millwright
A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman engaged with the construction and maintenance of machinery.Early millwrights were specialist carpenters who erected machines used in agriculture, food processing and processing lumber and paper...
ing and was still called upon by various Manchester engine owners who preferred to use his services for their machine erection and maintenance needs than those of Boulton and Watt. He had moved to New Street, Hanover Street and in December 1799 was appointed to the position of conductor of firemen and inspector of engines by the Manchester police commissioners, positions which effectively put him in charge of the fire brigade. One source – the one considered unreliable by Chaloner – has stated that he had held the position for 20 years prior to his death.
Death
Perrins' death at the age of 50 was announced on 10 December 1800 in the Annual RegisterAnnual Register
The Annual Register is a long-established reference work, written and published each year, which records and analyses the year’s major events, developments and trends throughout the world...
, which noted him as being an "engine-worker". The Register said that However, this announcement of his demise was premature as in fact he died on 6 January 1801 after contracting a fever because of his exertions during the rescue, which had occurred during a huge fire that burned all through the night of 10 December. The fire may be that described in The Annals of Manchester: "warehouses in Hodson Square were burnt down December 10, caused damages to the extent of £50,000, exclusive of the buildings". On 29 December 1800 he had been awarded £20 per annum by the commissioners for "meritorious services".
A memorial to Perrins and his wife, Mary (who had predeceased him by a few months), was placed at St John's Church, Byrom Street, Manchester.
Further reading
The following are a selection from the catalogue of the Boulton and Watt Collection held at Birmingham Central LibraryBirmingham Central Library
Birmingham Central Library is the main public library in Birmingham, England, and the largest non-national library in Europe. It is managed by Birmingham City Council...
in so far as they relate to Isaac Perrins.