family concern. Schneider made his company into one of the most innovative in Europe. He encouraged Francois Bourdon (d 1865) in the development of the steam hammer in the late 1830s, and a 1300-tonne steam

of Annonay in south-eastern France. His background there was rich in technology. His father Marc François Séguin founded a company to manufacture textiles; his mother Thérèse-Augustine de Montgolfier was