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BACK | | The Lunar Men who shaped the future
Matthew Boulton defends his factory |
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DESCRIPTION Flintlock Musket
MANUFACTURER Robert Wheeler, Birmingham, Britain
DATE c.1790
MATERIAL Steel, wood, flint
DIMENSIONS 235x340x85
PROVENANCE Transferred from Birmingham City Library in 1990
LOCATION Thinktank
CAT. NO 1990.S.04181.00286 | |
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Flintlock musket | © Thinktank Trust | Come and see it in the Making Things gallery at Thinktank
This is one of flintlock muskets bought by Matthew Boulton to defend his Soho Factory from possible attack by rioters on the 14th -18th July 1791. This was the second anniversary of the start of the French Revolution. With the slogan ‘For Church and King and No Philosophers’, an excited mob attacked the homes of Birmingham supporters of the French Revolution. Although the Soho factory did not suffer, many other ‘Lunar Men’ were attacked. Their reputation as philosophers and free-thinkers put them in danger.
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