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.
[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.
[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.