The Soho Manufactory became a must-see stop on the itinerary of well-heeled early industrial tourists, who were fascinated by the sight and noise of its machines and its hundreds of employees at work. So popular was it that Boulton had a tea-house built in the grounds, where visitors could take refreshments after their factory tour.

Matthew Boulton’s notebooks show that he was insatiably curious. His interests ranged exuberantly over astronomy, meteorology, chemistry, electricity, medicine, the fine arts, classics, music, and the new fashion for landscape gardening. Largely self-educated in these subjects, he counted as friends such people as Benjamin Franklin, Mrs Elizabeth Montagu, Sir Joseph Banks, Sir William Herschel, and Sarah Siddons.

In 1766 Boulton became one of the founders of the Lunar Society. Their meetings (at full moon) were delightfully described by Erasmus Darwin as ‘a little philosophical laughing’. They gave this small but influential group of ‘natural philosophers’ the opportunity to share their sometimes ground-breaking scientific ideas, enlivening the discussions with the occasional experiment.