Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.
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Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead. |
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Baronet. Operated a number of working boats based at Braunston in the 1950's.
Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Michael le Fanu, former Commander-in-Chief Middle East was Chief of the Defence Staff from October 1970. He was Vice-President of the Inland Waterways Association in 1970. .
A subscriber to the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal and a promoter of the Thames & Severn. Great-uncle of Sir Edward John Littleton.
Also known as 3rd Baron Hatherton
Chairman of the Staffs & Worcs canal commitee from 1888 until his death. Grandson of Sir Edward John Littleton.
Also known as 1st Baron Hatherton
Called Walhouse until 1812 when he took the name Littleton after his great uncle Sir Edward Littleton died. Subscriber of the Wilts & Berks canal and interests in others. Great-nephew of Sir Edward Littleton.
A Birmingham man who owned a forge and warehouses at Burton. Partner in the Burton Boat Co. Also a founder of the concern that was to become Lloyds Bank.
Burton Boat Company 1762 - Partner in the Company at the time it leased the Trent, between Burton and Nottingham, from the Earl of Uxbridge.
A scot who attended Edinburgh University and practiced as a barrister before becoming the agent of the Marquess of Stafford in 1813. Was on the boards of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway and the Birmingham & Liverpool Junction Canal.
Builder of a short canal from the river Neath to his Melyn works in about 1700.
A wealthy landowner responsible for the improvements to the rivers Tone and Parrett around 1638.
Director of Canals at the Ministry of Transport from 1941
Manager of the River Don Company. Was advised by James Brindley.
Scottish poet who wrote of a Forth & Clyde canal passenger boat "For here a cabin in each end is found,/That doth with all conveniences abound,/One in the head, for ladies nine or ten,/Another at the stern, for gentlemen,/With fires and tables, seats to sit at ease;/They may regale themselves with what they please./For all utensils here are at command,/To eat and drink whate'er they have at hand."
Interest in various Irish waterways and Chairman of the Grand canal from 1894 until his death.
A canal carrier and one of the founders of Fellows Morton & Clayton
Managing Director of Maid Line Cruisers, leading Inland Waterways Association figure and author of "The Thames. An Eating, Drinking and Cruising Guide".
From 1958 to 1970 he was IWA Chairman and 1970 he was in addition made a Vice-president a postion he retained into 1971. In 1972 he dropped this role to become Chairman again, a post he handed over to John Heap the following year.
A barrister, MP and owner of the Newdigate canals.
1761 | Acted as Counsel in connetion with theBridgewater Canal extension to the Mersey. | |
After 1765 | Built canals on his Arbury estate near Nuneaton, expanding an earlier system of "boatways" used to carry coal from the family mines. |
Born in Hampstead, London, he studied at Clare College, Cambridge, then at Calderon's School of animal painting, at the Slade and at the London School of Art.
In 1923 Newton began producing architectural views of London, the work for which he is best known. These paintings are notable for the precision with which they are painted and for the unnatural stillness they evoke, a quality emphasised by them being almost always night scenes. His paintings include The Regent's Canal, Paddington painted in (1930), Canal Scene, Maida Vale (1947) and other waterscapes.
In 1947 he became a Vice Pesident of the Inland Waterways Association a position he held for the rest of his life.
Chairman of the Gloucester & Berkeley Canal Company and afterwards a commissioner of the Poor Law and Chairman of BCN.
Son of the founder of the Nurser Boatyard at Braunston and from 1928 the joint owner of the business following his brother's (William the younger) retirement in 1927.
Son of the founder of the Nurser Boatyard at Braunston and from 1928 the joint owner of the business following his brother's (William the younger) retirement in 1927.
Founder of the Nurser Boatyard at Braunston
Son of the founder of the Nurser Boatyard at Braunston and owner after his fathers death, until, due to illness, he gave up the business in 1927.
He was Vice-Chairman of the Inland Waterways Association from 1969 - 1970 and Vice-President in 1980.
Owners of the River Kennet Navigation and carriers.
Owners of the River Kennet Navigation and carriers.
Owners of the River Kennet Navigation and carriers.
A coal and land owner who promoted the Trent Navigation in 1699. Predessor of Earl of Uxbridge Uxbridge.
1699 | The main promoter in obtaining an Act to make the river navigable and to take a 3d a ton toll. The Act forbade the building of any wharf or warehouse between Nottingham Bridge and Burton without Lord Paget's permission. | |
After 1699 | Built locks at King's Mills and Burton Mills and made cuts and basins. He then leased the navigation to a man called Hayne. |
A Labour MP educated at Marlborough and St John's College, Oxford. Father of the House of Commons from 1979 to 1983. Vice-President of the Inland Waterways Association from 1975.
An Anglo-indian who returned home in 1781 shortly after his uncle left him the Lower Avon. Supported the Stratford Canal. Nephew of George, senior Perrott.
Born in Yorkshire, practiced law in London and purchased the lower Avon in 1763. Built a house in Bridge Street, Pershore. Uncle of George, junior Perrott.
Canal promoter.
Mid 1766 | Appointed Treasurer. | |
19 March 1766 | With a group of supporters decides to promote a Bill for the canal. |
An Essex suveyor and builder and author of A General History of Inland Navigation.
Canal contractor. Brother of James Pinkerton.
1792 | Became contractor to the canal. |
Lady Ponsonby of Shulbrede retired as Waterways Ombudsman in 1997. She served as Inland Waterways Association Vice-President from 1997 to 2000.
A director of the Great Western Railway (chairman 1863 - 1865) and purchaser of shares in the Thames & Severn canal with a view to turning it into a railway.
A member of the Truro banking family of Praed & Co. In 1801 or 1802 he started a bank in London. Chairman of the Grand Junction Canal.
Author of Navigable Rivers and Canals (1831)
Leeds & Liverpool Canal Accountant and Clerk of Works then Superintendent. His monument is in Bradford Cathedral.
Responsible for building the Huddersfield Broad Canal.
Member of the Shropshire Canal commitee and partner of the banking firm of Reynolds, Charlton & Shakeshaft of Wellington.
Promoter of a tub-boat canal at Torrington, Devon.
Also known as Tom
He was trained as an engineer and worked as both an agricultural and motor engineer before he married in 1939. Before his wedding he bought the narrow boat Cressy and fitted it out as a floating home on which to cruise the inland waterways. He planned to make his living as an author but the Second World War soon disrupted this course.
His account of his voyage before the war was published in 1944 in the book Narrow Boat and generated tremendous interest in the country's much neglected canal network. Robert Aickman read the book and wrote a letter to him suggesting the formation of a society to campaign for a new waterways world, an idea that had not occurred to Rolt who was by nature a private man. However he enthusiastically embraced the proposal and at the inaugural meeting of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) in 1946 he was appointed Honorary Secretary. Soon a comfortable friendship was established not only between Tom and Robert but also included their wives Angela and Ray, a relationship that involved cruising on Cressy together and staying at the Aickman's Gower Street flat.
As time progressed Tom became less satisfied with the demands placed on him by Robert's ambitious programme of campaign cruising and lobbying for the IWA. He felt that the time demanded of him was difficult to balance with the need to earn his living as an author he also felt that Robert was taking insufficient account of his views. Tom had the idea of holding the first IWA Rally of Boats at Market Harborough in 1950. Robert took up the idea and went further making it into a Festival of Boats and organised many land based activities. Before the festival was held in August the break between the two men occurred. The final straw had been a disagreement over the IWA policy of fighting for every mile. Tom had aligned himself with a group who proposed prioritising IWA efforts or as Robert saw it "keeping some waterways and letting others go".
On 11 October 1950 the matter came to a head in a meeting at the Imperial Hotel in Birmingham where Tom and the other "heretics" were defeated. Tom and many others left the IWA over this policy split. For Tom it was a particularly sad time as his twelve year marriage to Angela also ended. She went to join Billy Smart's Circus as assistant ring master and Tom went on to run the Talyllyn Railway Preservation Society.
Sonia South was an actress who had joined the the band of women working narrowboats during the Second World War. After the war she remained on the canals and married a working boatman named George Smith. They worked the pair of boats Cairo and Warwick. She was an early member of the Inland Waterways Association and latter married L T C Rolt. Elected Vice-President of the Inland Waterways Association in 1993.
A Manchester canal carrier and from 1801 to 1817 superintendent of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. Was assisted by John Booth.
October 1801 | Was assisted by John Rooth in tunnelling at Standedge. |
Also known as 4th Earl
Promotor of drainage of the Fens. Father of the 5th Earl (William) who became the first Duke of Bedford.
He was born in London, the only child of Antarctic explorer Sir Robert Falcon Scott. Famous as an ornithologist and painter who made frequent television appearences. He was educated at Oundle and Cambridge University, graduating from Trinity College in 1931. Like his mother, Kathleen, he a talented artist and had his first exhibition in London in 1933. From his father he may have inherited his love of water, representing his country in sailing at the 1936 Olympic Games and serving in the navy during World War II. In 1942 he married his first wife Elizabeth Jane Howard. They divorced in 1951. In 1947 he became the first Vice-President of the Inland Waterways Association, a position he held to the end of his life. He was also active in the inland waterways cause cruising extensively on his narrowboat Beatrice including a pioneering trip across the Mersey. In 1948, he founded the organisation with which he was ever afterwards closely associated, the Severn Wildfowl Trust (now the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust) with its headquarters at Slimbridge by the Gloucester & Sharpness Canal. He wrote and ilustrated several books on the subject, including his autobiography, The Eye of the Wind (1961).
Owner of a Limestone Quarry at Caldon Low in 1775.
Navigation from the Trent to the Mersey 1775 - Owner of a Limestone Quarry at Caldon Low who contracted to supply Limestone to the company.
Promoter of the Soar navigation in 1634.
Chairman of the Inland Waterways Association from 1995 to 1998. Awarded the OBE in 1999 and elected Vice-President of the IWA in 2001.
Shareholder in the General Warde's canals (inherited from his father) Son of John Smith.
1797 | Inherited this canal in joint ownership with his brother Henry. | |
1801 | Sold his interests in this canal, together with his brother Henry, to Major-General Warde. |
Assistant to the Superintendent of the Duke of Bridgewater's Trust from 1837.
Shareholder in the General Warde's canals (inherited from his father) Son of John Smith.
Of Llansamlet. Shareholder of General Warde's (Yspitty) and the Dafen Canal. Father of Charles Smith and son-in-law of Chauncey Townsend.
1786 | Deed granting him lands including "navigable cut or canal through the common called DoleVawr y Bynie, in the hamlet of Berwick ... for the carrying of coals from part of the said lands to be shipped at the river Burry. He now proposed to open a new colliery near Dafen Bridge and intended to make a new improved shipping place at Yspitty, he was authorised by this deed to enlarge his existing canal and extend westwards. |
Lessee of the Don in 1751 Joint lessee with Joseph Broadbent.
1751 | Became a lessee of the river, with Joseph Broadbent and Joseph Atkinson, at £3,500 a year plus 6.25% interest on new capital expenditure that they requested. |
A Litchfield man on the committee of the Trent & Mersey Canal.
Mid 1766 | On the committee of the canal company. |
Manager of works for the Duke of Bridgewater from 1782 to 1803, when the Duke died, then principal agent and inspector of the navigation until 1826. Father of James Sothern.
Superintendent of the Duke of Bridgewater's navigation from 1834 to 1837. Son of Benjamin Sothern.
A Newcastle solicitor and the first clerk of the Trent and Mersey Canal
3 May 1766 | Appointed Clerk at £100 p.a. |
An owner of estates near his birth place of Cople near Bedford. In 1618 granted Letters Patent to improve the Great Ouse between St Neots and St Ives.
Also known as 3rd Earl
Fellow of the Royal Society at 19. Proposed a tub-boat canal at Bude Bay. Promoter of the Regents Canal.
From a family connected with the River Wey, as barge owners and lock keepers, for about 150 years, buting the navigation in about 1900. Harry passed the river to the National Trust in 1963.
Chairman of the Inland Waterways Association from 1989 to 1994.
A director of the Thames & Medway Canal.
Promoter of the Tennant Canal. His father was a Wigan solicitor. He purchased the Rhyddings estate near Neath.
Inherited the Trent navigation from Lord Paget in 1713. Became Earl in 1714. Heir of Lord Paget William Paget.
Vice-President of the Inland Waterways Association from 1993 to 1997, when he resigned the position as Customer Sevices Manager with British Waterways. He retired from this post at the end of March 2003 and was made an honorary life member of the Association. In July 2004 he was made Vice President of the IWA for the second time.
Elected Vice-President of the Inland Waterways Association in 1993.
In 1801 became the principal shareholder in the canals to be known as General Warde's Canals canals
The famous potter born at Burslam, died at Etruria. Promoter of the Trent & Mersey Canal.
Early March 1765 | He meets with James Brindley and they discusses a navigation to Stoke-on-Trent based on Brindley's 1758 plan. | |
3 May 1766 | Appointed Treasurer |
Also known as 4th Earl
Supporter of the Dearne & Dove and Sheffield Canal.
Honourary treasurer of the Inland Waterways Association from 1983 to 1985. He joined the IWA in 1972 soon becoming an active member of the Guildford & Reading Branch. He held other positions in the organisation including being a member of the Council. - .
Landowner of Sutton, Surrey started improvements to the River Wey.
Owner of a Limestone Quarry at Caldon Low.
Navigation from the Trent to the Mersey - Owner of a Limestone Quarry at Caldon Low who contracted to supply Limestone to the company.
She was born Irene Jones, educated at Somerville College, Oxford and married in 1948. Was given a life peerage becoming Baroness White of Rhymney in 1970. She was Labour MP for Flintshire East from 1950 to 1970 and held the following posts: Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Colonial Office (1964-66), Minister of State, Foreign Office (1966-67), Minister of State, Welsh Office (1967-70), Deputy Speaker House of Lords (1979-89). She became Vice-President of the Inland Waterways Association in 1993.
Of Batchacre Grange. MP for Stafford and High Sheriff of the county. Wrote the pamphlet "The Advantages of Inland Navigation" in around 1765.
Mid 1766 | On the committee of the canal company. |
Ironmaster and early user of an iron boat on a private canal in Lancashire.
Irish author and ship owner with interests in Irish iInland navigation
Leese Lessee with Joseph 1 Atkinson.
1750 | Leesed the Aire Navigation for £4,400 a year, jointly with Joseph Atkinson |
Owner of a Limestone Quarry at Caldon Low.
Navigation from the Trent to the Mersey - Owner of a Limestone Quarry at Caldon Low who contracted to supply Limestone to the company.
Text and photographs copyright of Jim Shead.