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 LIBRARY 
 
SIR HUGH MYDDELTON, 
 
 [Front ispiea 
 
LIVES OF THE 
 
 ENGINEERS 
 
 VERM U YD E-Nt-t M Y : D I Jig lyj (pty— PERRY— 
 JAMES" : BRINi5L : E*Y 
 
 EARLY ENGINEERING 
 
 ''Bid Harbours open. Public Ways extend; 
 Rid Temples, worthier of God, ascend : 
 Bid the broad Arch the dang'rous flood contain. 
 The Mole projected break the roaring main, 
 Back to his bounds their subject sua command, 
 And roll obedient rivers through the land. 
 These honours, l'eacc to happy Britain brings ; 
 These are imperial works, and worthy kings." 
 
 NEW YORK 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 153-157 FIFTH AVENUE 
 I0o 5 
 
 BY*" SA : M-U : Etl"- 'SlVl I1.ES 
 
 AUTHOR "OF 'ClIA-IVACTCK,' /.SELWiEJ.!',- 1 ETC.:. 
 
 POPULAR EDITION 
 
 Ail rights reserved 
 
PRINTED BY 
 WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 
 LONDON AND BECCLES. 
 
 33 410,9? 
 
 c v. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Lord Bacon hath truly said that there are three 
 things which make a nation great and prosperous, 
 —a fertile soil, busy workshops, and easy con- 
 veyance for men and commodities from one place 
 to another. 
 
 The soil of England is sufficiently fertile ; but 
 it has been made so principally by the industry 
 of its people. A large portion of it, and that the 
 most fertile, has been reclaimed and embanked 
 from the sea. The two thousand square miles of 
 land in Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, forming 
 the Great Level of the Fens, would, but for human 
 skill and industry, be lying under water, the haunt 
 of wild birds. 
 
 Who does not know of the business of our 
 Workshops? — of the employment they give to 
 large numbers of the population ; of the tools they 
 fabricate; of the articles of commerce the} - pro- 
 duce; of the demands they supply for consumers 
 in all parts of the world. 
 
 Then, with respect to Lord Bacon's " easy con- 
 veyance for men and commodities from one place 
 to another : " have we not our Roads, our Canals, 
 and our Railways ; and has not England also been 
 the originator of the Steam engine, the Steamboat, 
 and the Screw ship ? 
 
iv 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Although the inventions of British engineers 
 now exercise so great an influence all over the 
 world, it may possibly excite some surprise to find 
 how very recently England has taken up her 
 present position in regard to Engineering. In- 
 deed, skilled Industry may be said to form the 
 youngest outgrowth of our national life. 
 
 Most of the continental nations had a long start 
 of us in art, in science, in mechanics, in naviga- 
 tion, and in engineering. In former times we were 
 more given to fighting than working. The wars 
 between England and France— between England 
 and Scotland — between England and Ireland — de- 
 terred our people from engaging in the pursuits 
 of industry and commerce. The only article we 
 exported was wool. We seem to have been unable 
 to make our own clothing; for a large part of the 
 exported wool was returned to England as cloth, 
 for sale in the English markets. We grew wool 
 for Flanders, as America grows cotton for England 
 now. Even the small quantity of cloth manufac- 
 tured at home was sent to the Low Countries to 
 be dyed. 
 
 Many branches of industry have been estab- 
 lished in England by foreigners. The Flemings 
 introduced cloth-making, stuff-making, and linen- 
 weaving. The brothers Elers, Dutchmen, began 
 the pottery manufacture. Spillman, a German, 
 established the first paper-mill at Dartford ; and 
 Bromen, another Dutchman, brought the first coach 
 into England. Towards the end of the seventeenth 
 century, a large number of Huguenot manufac- 
 turers established various branches of- industry in 
 England and Ireland which, until then, had for the 
 most part been conducted abroad. 
 
INTRODUCTION' V 
 
 We owe the first working of our mines to the 
 Germans; who brought with them nearly all the 
 mining terms still in use among us. Elizabeth 
 invited skilled miners from Germany to settle in 
 different parts of England, for the purpose of teach- 
 ing our people the best methods of working the 
 ores. Two of these, Hochstetter and Thurland, of 
 Augsburg, established copper-works at Keswick,, 
 which were worked to such advantage that the 
 Queen said she had left more brass than she had 
 found iron ordnance in England. 
 
 Not many centuries since, Italy, Spain, France, 
 and Holland, looked down contemptuously on the 
 poor but proud islanders, contending with nature 
 for a sustenance amidst their fogs and their mists. 
 Though surrounded by the sea, we had scarcely 
 any Royal navy until within the last three hundred 
 years. An old writer, in his eulogium of Henry VI I., 
 said: "He built a chapel; he built a ship." But 
 we had no Commercial navy. The carrying trade 
 of the world was then performed by the Dutch, the 
 Genoese, the Venetians, and the Portuguese. 
 
 When we wanted any skilled work done, we 
 almost invariably sent abroad for foreigners to do 
 it. Our first ships were built by Danes, Venetians, 
 and Genoese. When the royal ship, the 'Mary 
 Rose,' sank at Spithead in 1545, a company of 
 Venetians was hired to raise her. On that occasion 
 Peetcr de Andreas was employed, assisted by his 
 ship carpenters and sailors, with "sixty English 
 maryners to attend upon them." 
 
 Our first lessons in mechanical and civil engi- 
 neering were principally obtained from the Flemings 
 and Dutchmen, who supplied us with our first 
 wind-mills, water-mills, and fulling-mills. When an 
 L b 
 
VI 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 engine was required to pumpwater from the Thames, 
 Peter Moricc, the Dutchman, was employed to 
 erect it. The first iron cannons were cast at 
 Buxted, in Sussex, by Peter Baude, a Frenchman ; 
 and the first mortar pieces by Peter Van Collet, 
 a Flemish gunsmith. 
 
 Holland even sent us the necessary engineers 
 and labourers to execute our first great works of 
 drainage. The Great Level of the Fens was drained 
 by Vermuyden, a native of Zealand. Another 
 Dutchman, Freestone, was employed to reclaim the 
 marsh, near Wells, in Norfolk. Canney Island, 
 near the mouth of the Thames, was embanked by 
 Joas Croppenburgh and his company of Dutch 
 workmen. 
 
 When a new haven was required at Yarmouth, 
 Joas Johnson, the Dutch engineer, was employed 
 to plan and construct the works. When Dover 
 harbour was threatened with ruin in the reign of 
 Henry VIII., Ferdinand Poins, a Fleming, was in- 
 vited to come over to plan a new quay for the 
 purpose of preserving the haven. Matthew Hake, 
 of Gravelines, in Flanders, was also sent for about 
 the same time, for the purpose of repairing a serious 
 breach which had been made in the banks of the 
 river Witham, at Boston ; and he brought with 
 him not only the mechanics but the manufactured 
 iron required for the work. 
 
 Indeed very little Fnglish iron was then used. 
 Almost the only iron in England was imported by 
 the Foreign Merchants of the Steelyard Company. 
 The Spaniards prided themselves upon the supe- 
 riority of their armour, and regarded the scarcity 
 of iron in England as an important element of 
 success in their invasion of this country by the 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 Vll 
 
 great Armada. Down to the end of last century, 
 England was principally indebted for its iron to 
 Sweden, Germany, Spain, and Russia. 
 
 Yet, a very long time ago, there must have been 
 great architects as well as great builders in England. 
 This is sufficiently proved by the magnificent cathe- 
 drals, abbeys, and ancient bridges which still exist. 
 It is not improbable that these old architects and 
 builders were Frenchmen, the western part of 
 France being for many hundred years subject to the 
 English crown. However that may be, the English 
 architects and builders must have greatly fallen off 
 by the time of Elizabeth. Thus, when Sir Thomas 
 Gresham built the Royal Exchange in 1566, he 
 brought from Flanders the requisite masons and 
 carpenters to execute it under the direction of 
 Henryke, their master builder. The foreigners 
 also brought with them all necessary materials — 
 the wainscot, the glass, the slates, the iron, and 
 even much of the stone for the building. In 
 short, as Holinshed relates, Gresham " bargained 
 for the whole mould and substance of his work- 
 manship in Flanders." The only Englishmen em- 
 ployed upon the work, were the labourers who 
 carried the lime and stone required for the building. 
 
 Bridge building also must have greatly fallen 
 off. Little more than a hundred years ago, there 
 were few architects or masons able to build a bridge 
 of any extent ; and when a second bridge had to 
 be erected over the Thames at London, the French 
 engineer Labelye, a native of Switzerland, was sent 
 for to build it; though the original Westminster 
 Bridge is already destroyed, and replaced by a new 
 structure. 
 
 In short, we depended for our engineering, even 
 
 b 2 
 
VU1 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 more than we did for our pictures or our music, 
 upon foreigners. At a time when Holland had 
 completed its magnificent system of water com- 
 munication, and when France, Germany, and even 
 Russia, had opened up important lines of inland 
 communication, England had not cut a single canal, 
 while our roads were about the worst in Europe. 
 
 The first English canal was made by a workman 
 taken from the lowest rank of society. He could 
 not write his own name. But he was a persevering 
 ingenious man, possessed of a shrewd mother 
 wit. Brindley would have become great in his own 
 trade — that of a millwright ; but having succeeded 
 in accomplishing several important works which 
 he had undertaken, he attracted the attention of 
 the Duke of Bridgewater, who employed him to 
 make the first English canal between Worsley and 
 Manchester. 
 
 Water was the great difficulty of the early Engi- 
 neer. First he had to dam it out or bale it out, like 
 Vermuyden. Or he erected a lighthouse upon a 
 rock in the ocean, to withstand its power, like 
 Smeaton. Or he founded piers, bridges, and docks, 
 in the midst of it, like Rennie. The Engineer had 
 also to make water serve his purposes. He led it 
 into a mill-stream, and made it grind his corn and 
 work his machinery. Or he collected it into reser- 
 voirs to supply a large city with water, like Myd- 
 delton ; or, like Brindley, he made it fill long canals, 
 extending between one town and another, and thus 
 made a great water road to convey coal, and 
 minerals, and merchandise. Thus, in the hands 
 of the Engineer, water, instead of being a tyrant, 
 became a servant ; instead of being a destroyer, it 
 became a useful labourer and a general civiliser. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 ix 
 
 Richard Cobden has said, that "the opening up 
 of" the internal communications of a country, is 
 undoubtedly the first and most important element 
 of its growth in commerce and civilisation. Hence 
 our canals were regarded by Baron Dupin as the 
 primary material agents of the wealth of Great 
 Britain." Roads, however, are more important 
 than canals ; and at the time when the first canals 
 were made, the roads of England still remained in 
 a deplorable condition. 
 
 Down to the middle of the last century, it was 
 almost impossible to travel with speed or comfort 
 in any direction. Everything was carried on horse- 
 back, and sometimes on bullock-back. Corn, coal, 
 wool, iron, and such like articles, were carried 
 through the country on pack-horses. The roads 
 were not roads so much as tracks ; and when the 
 old tracks became dangerous through depth of mud, 
 new tracks were struck out across the adjoining 
 fields. Guides were employed to keep travellers 
 out of the mud ; for it was often thick and slab. 
 During the civil war, some eight hundred horse 
 were taken prisoners while sticking in the mud in 
 Buckinghamshire. 
 
 When all merchandise was carried by pack- 
 horses over bad roads, domestic commerce was 
 simply impossible. Hence the commerce of London 
 was mostly Foreign. We bought cloth from Bel- 
 gium, silk from France, cutler}' from Italy, hats 
 from Flanders, Delftware from Holland, and iron 
 from Spain, Sweden, and Russia. It cost so much 
 less to bring goods from Hamburg, Amsterdam, or 
 Havre by sea, than from Norwich, Birmingham, or 
 Manchester by land. 
 
 The English highroads were also a good deal 
 
X 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 beset by highwaymen. The traveller often passed 
 along bridle ways through fields, where frequent 
 gibbets warned him of his perils. ' 
 
 When the roads were attempted to be made 
 suitable for carts, waggons, and carriages, they 
 were very little improved. The stone or metal was 
 put on, and the roads were simply left to manage 
 themselves. They soon became mere slumpers of 
 stones and mud. If they were mended at all, it 
 was only by throwing big stones into the biggest 
 holes. Arthur Young when travelling in the northern 
 counties of England, in 1768, measured the depth 
 of the tracks he travelled through. Between "proud 
 Preston" and Wigan, he says, " I actually measured 
 ruts of four feet deep, floating with mud only from 
 a wet summer; and between the towns I actually 
 passed three carts broken down in those eighteen 
 miles of execrable memory." 
 
 In another place, he says, "You will form a 
 clear idea of these roads, if you suppose them to 
 represent the roofs of houses, and the roads to 
 run across them." In winter, he says, it would 
 have cost no more money to make the roads navi- 
 gable, than to make them hard. Even near London, 
 the roads were often impassable gulfs of mud. It 
 then took a longer time for a carriage to reach 
 twenty miles out of London, than it now does to 
 reach York or Manchester. 
 
 An Act was passed in 1663, authorising the first 
 turn-pike roads to be made, with the usual toll- 
 gates ; but the people would not bear the tolls, and 
 the gates were pulled down wherever erected. As 
 late as 1753, a general raid was made upon the toll- 
 gates in Yorkshire. About a dozen were destroyed 
 weekly. The soldiers were at length sent to protect 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XI 
 
 the turnpikes; and on their apprehending a score 
 of the rioters to convey them to York, the people 
 attempted a rescue, when the soldiers fired, and 
 killed and wounded a considerable number. 
 
 Nevertheless, considerable progress was made 
 in the improvement of the roads, especially after 
 the last Highland rebellion. Between 1760 and 1780, 
 about six hundred Acts were passed, authorising 
 the construction of new roads and bridges ; and 
 by the end of the century, the main roads were in 
 a very fair condition. 
 
 The early roads of Scotland and Wales were 
 even worse, if possible, than those of England, 
 Sometimes they lay along the bed of a river. At 
 other times they crossed a barren mountain. In 
 the lower grounds, bogs were always in the way. 
 The Life of Telford will show what that able engi- 
 neer did towards opening up Scotland and Wales, 
 and making the roads passable, for pleasure or for 
 business, at all times of the year. 
 
 The construction of the Highland roads had 
 also an important moral influence. The roads 
 stimulated industry amongst a people who had 
 hitherto been unused to it. In constructing them, 
 the people learnt to work, to use tools, and to 
 apply themselves to continuous labour. Telford 
 himself regarded the Highland roads in the light 
 of a Working Academy, which annually turned out 
 about eight hundred improved workmen. 
 
 Down to about the middle of last century, the 
 Highlanders were among the most turbulent of 
 subjects. When not lifting cattle from the Low- 
 landers, they were engaged in arms against the 
 Government. They levied black -mail all round 
 the Highland frontier as late as 174;. Mr. Grant, 
 
Xll 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 of Corrymorry, a Highland chief, used to insist 
 that "a rising- in the Highlands was absolutely 
 necessary to give employment to the numerous 
 bands of lawless and idle young men who infested 
 every property." * 
 
 During the rebellion of 1745, there was a com- 
 pany of men in one of Prince Charles's regiments, 
 called " The Balmoral Farquharsons." These men 
 fought to the best of their power against her 
 Majesty's forefathers. They were raised from the 
 estate on which the Queen now resides ; and per- 
 haps she has not more peaceable nor affectionate 
 subjects than the Balmoral men, nor than the High- 
 landers generally, in all her dominions. 
 
 After the turnpike roads had been completed — 
 after the hills had been cut down and the valleys 
 raised, so as to level the roads in all directions — 
 after the mails were able to travel at ten miles an 
 hour from London almost to John O'Groat's— and 
 when all complaints as to the quickness of travel- 
 ling seemed to be removed, — lo ! the Locomotive 
 was invented, and all that Telford had done was, 
 to a certain extent, undone by the Stephensons. 
 
 One of the last works of Telford was the im- 
 provement of the high road between London and 
 Birmingham, so as to enable the coach-road to com- 
 pete with the rail-road. He was levelling the top 
 of the hill at Weedon, near Daventry, while the rail- 
 way excavators were working underneath. Near 
 that point, three remarkable things are to be seen, 
 — the remains of Watling Street, the original Roman 
 road,— Telford's last turnpike road, — and the first 
 great rail-road between London and the north. 
 
 It will thus be seen, that notwithstanding our 
 
 * Anderson's ' Highlands and Islands of Scotland,' p. 434. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XI! I 
 
 delays in opening up our internal communications, 
 we have at last effectually made up our long arrears. 
 We have no longer to send for foreign engineers 
 to execute our necessary works in Embankments 
 and Bridge building. Our native engineers can 
 make docks and harbours without extraneous as- 
 sistance. We can make our own iron, and our own 
 tools. In fact, instead of borrowing engineers from 
 abroad, we now send them to all parts of the world. 
 British built ships ply on ever} - sea. We export 
 machinery to all countries, and supply Holland itself 
 with pumping engines. 
 
 During the last hundred years, our native engi- 
 neers have completed a magnificent system of 
 canals, turnpike roads, bridges, and railways, by 
 means of which the internal communications of 
 the country have been completely opened up. The}* 
 have built lighthouses — finger-posts of the sea — 
 round our coasts, by which ships freighted with 
 the produce of all lands are safely lighted to their 
 destined havens. They have hewn out and built 
 docks and harbours for the accommodation of a 
 gigantic commerce ; whilst their inventive genius 
 has rendered iron, fire, and water, the most untir- 
 ing workers in all branches of industry, and the 
 most effective agents in locomotion by land and 
 sea. 
 
 The remarkable thing is, that nearly all this 
 has been accomplished during the last hundred 
 years, and much of it within the life of the present 
 generation. 
 
 Smeaton did not erect and light up the first 
 stone lighthouse in Britain, until the year 1759. 
 
 Brindley made the first canal for the Duke of 
 Bridgewater in 1761. 
 
XIV 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Although Watt had been engaged for about ten 
 years in inventing his condensing steam-engine, it 
 was not until 1776 that he erected and sold his first 
 engine. It was patented in 1769, the same year in 
 which Arkwright patented his machine for spinning 
 by rollers. 
 
 It was not until the end of last century that 
 England was able to dispense with the supply of 
 the greater part of its iron from abroad ; for Henry 
 Cort did not invent his puddling process, which so 
 enormously increased the production of iron, until 
 the years 1783 and 1784. 
 
 The first mail coach, on Palmer's system, did 
 not begin to run between London and Bristol until 
 the year 1784. 
 
 There were no public Docks in London until 
 the beginning of the present century. The first 
 were constructed by Jessop and Rennie. 
 
 The first public exhibition of gas-lighting was 
 made in 1802, when Murdock lit up the front of the 
 Soho manufactory with gas, in celebration of the 
 Peace of Amiens. 
 
 Trevithick used his first high-pressure locomo- 
 tive in 1802, when he ran it as a road locomotive 
 along the streets of his native town. 
 
 1802 was an eventful year, for it was then that 
 Symington employed his first successful steamboat 
 on the Forth and Clyde canal. 
 
 Fulton's steamboat, with Watt's engine as the 
 motive power, made its first voyage on the Hudson 
 in 1807; and Henry Bell's 'Comet' made its first 
 voyage on the Clyde in 1812; but a considerable 
 time elapsed before steam was generally introduced 
 into either the Commercial or the Royal navy. 
 
 In 1 S 19, the 'Savannah' steamboat, of 350 tons, 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XV 
 
 made the voyage from New York to Liverpool in 
 twenty-six days; and in 1838, the 'Great Western' 
 arrived at New York from Bristol in eighteen days. 
 Since then the Atlantic Ocean has been covered 
 with screw steam-ships; and the direct line between 
 Liverpool and New York has become so crowded, 
 that steam-ships must keep a course so definite that 
 the expression of "steam lanes" has become a matter 
 of ordinary maritime parlance. 
 
 George Stephenson invented his Killingworth 
 locomotive for drawing coals in 1814; and his 
 passenger locomotive for the Liverpool and Man- 
 chester Railway in 1829. 
 
 The first telegraph line was erected on the Great 
 Western Railway, between Paddington and West 
 Drayton, in 1841 ; and the submarine telegraph was 
 first laid between Dover and Calais in 185 1. Since 
 then the telegraph has really " put a girdle round 
 the earth." 
 
 The following comprehensive thought occurs in 
 one of Sir Isaac Newton's Reflections : — 
 
 " It is clearly apparent that the inhabitants of the 
 world are of a short date, seeing that all arts, as 
 letters, ships, printing, the needle, and such like, 
 have been discovered within the memory of history." 
 
 The discoveries of Newton himself were among 
 the greatest of the age he lived in; but since his 
 time various others have been made which strikingly 
 illustrate the truth of his observation. 
 
 Only thirty years after his death, Harrison in- 
 vented the Chronometer, by means of which the 
 navigator can determine his longitude at sea, — 
 an invention almost equal to that of the Mariner's 
 Compass itself. 
 
 The science of Chemistry has been discovered, 
 
XV] 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 — dating from the days of Black, Priestley, and 
 Lavoisier; and Natural Philosophy, if not dis- 
 covered, has at least been greatly developed since 
 Newton's time ; while both have been the subject 
 of many inventions of the greatest importance. 
 
 Thus the inventions of the steam-engine, the 
 locomotive, and the electric telegraph, have already 
 wonderfully affected the civilised world ; and are 
 probably destined to accomplish still more extra- 
 ordinary changes in the generations that are to 
 come. 
 
 One of the most remarkable things about En- 
 gineering in England is, that its principal achieve- 
 ments have been accomplished, not by natural 
 philosophers nor by mathematicians, but by men 
 of humble station, for the most part self-educated. 
 
 The educated classes of the last century re- 
 garded with contempt mechanical subjects. Dean 
 Swift spoke of "that fellow Newton over the way 
 — a glass grinder, and a maker of spectacles." 
 Smeaton was taken to task by his friends of the 
 Royal Society, for having undertaken the "navvy" 
 work of making a road across the valley of the 
 Trent, between Markham and Newark. 
 
 At a time when the Court, the Camp, and the 
 Church, formed the principal occupations of the 
 higher classes, engineering was thought unscientific 
 and ungenteel. Hence, when any public work of 
 importance had to be done — some great level of 
 the Fens to be drained, or some harbour to be con- 
 structed — a foreign engineer was usually employed 
 to do it. 
 
 Nor did any of the great mechanics, who have 
 since invented tools, engines, and machines, at all 
 belong to the educated classes. They received no 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XVI 1 
 
 college education. Some of them could scarcely 
 write their own names. But where learning failed, 
 natural genius triumphed. These men gathered 
 their practical knowledge in the workshop, or ac- 
 quired it in manual labour. They rose to celebrity, 
 mostly by their habits of observation, their powers 
 of discrimination, their constant self-improvement, 
 and their patient industry. 
 
 The greatest stimulus to English engineering 
 has been Trade — the increase of our commerce at 
 home, and the extending of it abroad. England 
 was nothing, compared with continental nations, 
 until she had become commercial. She fought 
 wonderfully, and boasted of many victories; but 
 she was gradually becoming less powerful as a 
 State, until about the middle of last century, when 
 a number of ingenious and inventive men, without 
 apparent relation to each other, arose in various 
 parts of the kingdom, and succeeded in giving an 
 immense impulse to all the branches of the national 
 industry ; the result of which has been a harvest of 
 wealth and prosperity, perhaps without a parallel 
 in the history of the world. 
 
 Before that time, our commerce had grown very 
 slowly. Spain and Portugal had immense foreign 
 possessions and commerce, when England had 
 none. A small company of English merchants 
 began to trade with India about the beginning of 
 the seventeenth century. The northern colonies 
 of America were founded about the same time ; 
 but the government of England afterwards threw 
 them off. Admiral Penn took Jamaica from the 
 Spaniards in 1655; but the other principal islands 
 and possessions in the West Indies were only 
 ceded to England during the wars of the French 
 
XV111 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Revolution. We obtained possession of the Cape 
 of Good Hope in 1815. New South Wales colony 
 began to be planted in 1788, South Australia in 1836, 
 and Victoria in 1837. The New Zealand Company 
 was only established in 1839. 
 
 With the increase of her commerce, about the 
 end of last century, England became more "quick" 
 than she had been before. Intercourse between 
 town and town became more frequent, for the 
 purposes of trade. Then the roads became im- 
 proved ; canals were made ; bridges were built ; 
 docks and harbours were constructed ; and, above 
 all, the steam-engine was invented. Within a few 
 years, Watt's invention created a large number of 
 new industries, and gave employment to immense 
 numbers of people. The engine was perfected 
 while England was engaged in the Revolutionary 
 war with France ; and it not only kept our armies 
 in the field, paid the interest upon our debt, but 
 left the nation more powerful than ever it had been 
 before. 
 
 At a meeting held in London in 1824, for the 
 purpose of erecting a monument to James Watt, — 
 the greatest of engineers,— Mr. Huskisson used 
 these remarkable words : 
 
 "His invention has contributed not only to 
 ad vance personal comfort and public wealth, by 
 affording to industrious millions the faculty of 
 providing for their industrial wants, by means 
 which directly conduce to the general power and 
 greatness of the state, but also to the general 
 diffusion of a spirit of improvement, a thirst for 
 instruction, and an emulation to apply it to the 
 purposes of practical utility, even in the humblest 
 classes of the community. . . . Looking back, 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XIX 
 
 however, to the demands which were made upon 
 the resources of the country during the late war, 
 perhaps it is not too much to say, at least it is 
 my opinion, that these resources might have failed 
 us before that war was brought to a safe and 
 glorious conclusion, but for the creations of Mr. 
 Watt, and of others moving in the same career, by 
 whose discoveries those resources were so greatly 
 multiplied and increased. It is perhaps not too 
 much to say, that but for the vast accession thus 
 imperceptibly made to the general wealth of the 
 empire, we might have been driven to sue for 
 peace, before, in the march and progress of events, 
 Nelson had put forth the last energies of his naval 
 genius at Trafalgar, or, at any rate, before Welling- 
 ton had put the final seal to the security of Europe 
 at Waterloo." 
 
 Watt, however, did far more than assist in the 
 conquests of Trafalgar and Waterloo. He dis- 
 covered an immense amount of Latent Labour. 
 He yoked his steam-engine to machinery of almost 
 infinite variety, and employed it to create materials 
 of vast importance for the comfort of mankind. 
 The steam-plough and the steam-press are alike 
 its issue. It impels ships, drives locomotives, 
 hammers iron, excavates docks, and, in a word, is 
 the greatest and most indefatigable worker in the 
 world. Even the steam-engine itself was never 
 complete until it could make itself — that is, manu- 
 facture the self-acting tools which could never go 
 wrong in the process of constructing it. 
 
 One of the circumstances that has particularly 
 attracted the attention of foreigners has been, that 
 almost the whole of our great engineering works 
 have been the spontaneous outgrowths of private 
 
XX 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 and individual industry and genius. Even Watt 
 was a mere tradesman, trying for ten years to work 
 out his great invention ; and, but for the noble and 
 generous help of Matthew Boulton, he might never 
 have perfected it. 
 
 Government has done next to nothing to pro- 
 mote engineering works. These have been the 
 result of the liberality, public spirit, and commercial 
 enterprise of merchants, traders, and manufacturers. 
 Baron Dupin, in his review of the engineering 
 works of England, observes that " fewer years 
 sufficed for a few individuals to execute and con- 
 struct, at their private expense, the docks of 
 England, which receive the trading fleets of the two 
 hemispheres, than it required for the triumphant 
 government of France to erect some of the quays 
 of the Seine. These are truly the prodigies of the 
 seas." * 
 
 Canova is said to have wondered, while in 
 England, that the trumpery Chinese Bridge, then 
 in St. James's Park, should have been the produc- 
 tion of the Government, while Waterloo Bridge 
 was the enterprise of a private company. Baron 
 Dupin, speaking of Rennie's masterpiece, uses these 
 words : — 
 
 " If, from the incalculable effect of the Revolu- 
 tions to which empires are subject, the people of 
 the earth should one day inquire, ' Which was 
 formerly the New Phoenicia and the Western Tyre, 
 which covered the ocean with her vessels?' — The 
 greater part of her edifices, consumed by a destruc- 
 tive climate, will no longer stand to answer with 
 the dumb language of monuments ; but Waterloo 
 Bridge will ever exist to repeat to the most remote 
 * ' Memoires sur la Marine.' 1S19. 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XXI 
 
 generations, 'Here stood a rich, industrious, and 
 powerful city!' The traveller at this sight will 
 imagine that some great prince sought to signalise 
 the end of his reign by many years of labour, and 
 to immortalise the glory of his actions by this 
 imposing structure. Hut if tradition tell him that 
 six years sufficed to begin and complete this work 
 — if he learn that a mere company of merchants 
 built this mass, worthy of Sesostris and the 
 Caesars — he will the more admire the nation where 
 similar enterprises could be the fruit of the efforts 
 of merchants and private individuals. And if he 
 should then reflect on the causes of the prosperity 
 of empires, he will understand that such a nation 
 must have possessed wise laws, powerful institu- 
 tions, and a well-protected liberty ; for these are 
 stamped in the grandeur and utility of the works 
 completed by her citizens."* 
 
 The incidents connected with the Lives of the 
 Engineers themselves are of much interest. In the 
 first place, the early engineers thoroughly repre- 
 sented the national character. Baron Dupin took 
 this view. He said we could not understand the 
 astounding successes of English commerce and the 
 sustained skill and enterprise of English engineers, 
 without taking into consideration that perseverance 
 in all undertakings and that constancy of character 
 on which their successes mainly depended. 
 
 There is a promptitude about the Engineer that 
 we do not find in the Architect. The late Prince 
 Consort is reported to have said : " If we want any 
 work done of an unusual character, and send for an 
 architect, he hesitates, debates, trifles : we send for 
 
 * Baron Dupin, 'On the Commercial Power of Great Britain,' 
 Vol. i. p. 360. 1S25. 
 
 I C 
 
-Nxii 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 an engineer, and he docs it." Hence the Prince 
 usually relied on Engineers for carrying out the 
 important works with which he was connected. 
 
 The greater number of the early engineers were 
 the offspring of necessity. Some great work re- 
 quired to be done, and forthwith a skilled worker 
 (for there were no so-called engineers in those 
 days) was called upon to do it. The work which 
 he had undertaken to accomplish often presented 
 great difficulties, and his efforts to overcome them 
 amounted to a succession of individual struggles, 
 sometimes rising almost to the heroic. In one 
 case we find the self-born engineer to be a London 
 goldsmith, like Myddelton ; in another, a retired 
 sea-captain, like Perry ; a wheelwright, like Brind- 
 ley ; an attorney's clerk, like Smeaton ; a mathe- 
 matical instrument maker, like Watt ; a millwright, 
 like Rennie ; a working mason, like Telford; a 
 slater, like Clement ; or an engine brakesman, like 
 Stephenson. 
 
 These men were strong-minded, resolute, and 
 ingenious, and were impelled to their special pur- 
 suits by the force of their constructive instincts. 
 In most cases they had to make for themselves a 
 way ; for there were none to point out the road, 
 which, until they entered upon their undertakings, 
 had for the most part been untravelled. To our 
 mind, there is almost a dramatic interest in their 
 noble efforts, their defeats, their triumphs; and 
 their constant rise, in spite of manifold obstruc- 
 tions and difficulties, from obscurity to fame. 
 
 It will scarcely be supposed that men so un- 
 educated as these, had anything to do with the 
 making of the history of England. History is 
 principally monopolised by the deeds and misdeeds 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 xxiii 
 
 of kings, warriors, and statesmen ; and there is 
 little room left for the engineer or the mechanic. 
 But Peace has its battles and its victories as well 
 as War; the results being much more beneficent 
 in one case than they are in the other. 
 
 Our engineers may be regarded in some measure 
 as the makers of modern civilisation. The problems 
 of political history cannot properly be interpreted 
 without reference to the people themselves — how 
 they lived and how they worked, and what they 
 did to promote the civilisation of the nation to 
 which they belonged. Hence English engineers 
 are not unworthy to be considered in the history of 
 their country. For what were England without 
 its roads, its bridges, its canals, its docks, and 
 its harbours. What were it without its tools, its 
 machinery, its steam-engine, its steam-ships, and 
 its locomotive. Are not the men who have made 
 the motive power of the country, and immensely 
 increased its productive strength, the men above 
 all others who have tended to make the country 
 what it is ? 
 
 The last letter that the author received from 
 Mr. Cobden, contained the following passage : — 
 
 " I venture the prediction that not only an en- 
 during but an increasing renown will attach to the 
 memories of those ' Captains of Industry' whose 
 biographies you have recorded ; for it cannot be 
 doubted that each succeeding generation will hold 
 in higher estimation those discoveries in physical 
 science to which mankind must attribute hence- 
 forth so largely its progress and improvement." 
 
 The object of this work is, to give an account of 
 some of the principal men by whom this nation has 
 been made so great and prosperous as it is — the 
 
 C 2 
 
xxiv 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 men by whose skill and industry large tracts of 
 fertile land have been won from the sea, the bog, 
 and the fen, and made available for human habita- 
 tion and sustenance ; who, by their industry, skill, 
 and genius, have made England the busiest of work- 
 shops ; who have rendered the country accessible 
 in all directions by roads, bridges, canals, and 
 railways ; and who have built lighthouses, break- 
 waters, docks, and harbours, for the protection 
 and accommodation of our vast home and foreign 
 commerce. 
 
 When the author first contemplated writing 
 these memoirs, he was dissuaded rather than en- 
 couraged. Robert Stephenson did not think that 
 there was anything in his father's Life to attract 
 the attention of the reading public. " The subject," 
 he said, " possessed no literary interest. What do 
 people care about the building of bridges, the ex- 
 cavation of tunnels, and the making of roads and 
 railways ? And then there was the ' Life of Telford,' 
 which had been published at a great expense, and 
 had fallen still-born from the press." 
 
 The author, however, entertained a different 
 opinion. He had lived amongst engineering men 
 for many years. He had himself known George 
 Stephenson, and had heard many interesting things 
 about him from his professional associates ; and he 
 eventually resolved, with the assistance of Robert 
 Stephenson, to proceed with the preparation of his 
 Life. It was published in 1857, and was received 
 by the public with much favour. 
 
 The other lives were proceeded with subse- 
 quently ; according as time and opportunity per- 
 mitted. The original work was published at a high 
 price, in consequence of the great expense of the 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 XXV 
 
 illustrations. But as the edition is now exhausted, 
 the author has been induced to republish the work 
 in a complete form at a reduced price, in the hope 
 that it may thus obtain a more general circulation. 
 In some respects it has been considerably enlarged, 
 and in others compressed ; but no essential feature 
 of the original narrative will be found omitted. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Labour and skill have made modern England — Early settlement of 
 Britain — Early works of embankment and draining — Reclama- 
 tion of Romney Marsh — Early embankments of the Thames- 
 Great Level of the Fens — Laws for preserving the reclaimed 
 lands— Destructive floods — James I. encourages drainage works 
 — Cornelius Vermuyden, the Dutch Engineer, employed by King 
 James — England's dependence upon foreigners in former times 
 — England's progress in engineering and manufacturing skill 
 
 Page 1-2 i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SIR CORNELIUS VERMUYDEN — DRAINAGE OF THE FENS. 
 
 Yermuyden's embankment and drainage works at Dagenham and 
 W indsor — The Isle of Axholme — Reclamation of Hatfield Chase 
 — The works carried out by foreign capital and foreign labour — 
 Opposition of the native population — The embankments broken 
 by the Parliamentarians — Vermuyden undertakes the drainage 
 of the Great Fen Level — Francis Earl of Bedford becomes chief 
 undertaker — Opposition of the Fen men and of the town popu- 
 lation — Satirical songs and ballads against the Fen-drainers — 
 "The Poute's Complaint" — Oliver Cromwell heads an agitation 
 against the Fen-drainers — The Fen-men destroy the works and 
 property at Lindsey Level and other Fen districts — Yermuyden's 
 "discourse" on the drainage of the Fens, 1649 — \Vorks com- 
 pleted, 1652 — Public thanksgiving — Yermuyden's labours, per- 
 sonal sacrifices, and death — Progressive improvements in the 
 Fen district — Salubrity of the Fens .. .. .. 22-57 
 
XXVIII 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SIR HUGH MYDDELTON — CUTTING OF THE NEW RIVER. 
 
 Old London, its water supply by streams and conduits — Defective 
 supply in London and in other towns — Water- works at Hull and 
 Tiverton — Plymouth leet constructed by Sir Francis Drake — The 
 Myddelton family — Hugh entered an apprentice Goldsmith — 
 London in the 16th century — Myddelton as Goldsmith, Mer- 
 chant Adventurer and Cloth-maker — His marriage — Is first 
 alderman of Denbigh — Appointed afterwards recorder and M.P. 
 — Appointed a member of committees on water supply of 
 London — Difficulty in finding an engineer — Myddelton under- 
 takes the work — The New River — Hostility of owners of pro- 
 perty — King James assists Myddelton in the completion of the 
 work — Public ceremony on the opening of the New River — 
 Benefits of the increased water supply — The water carriers — 
 Formation of the New River Company .. .. Page 58-99 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 SIR HUGH MYDDELTON (continued) — HIS OTHER ENGINEER- 
 ING AND MINING WORKS — HIS DEATH. 
 
 Brading Haven — Its reclamation undertaken by Myddelton — Myd- 
 delton arranges with King James — Takes out patent for draining 
 land — Sir John Oglander's account of the circumstances con- 
 nected with the reclamation — Failure of the works — Hugh and 
 Thomas Myddelton as Members of Parliament — Hugh's connec- 
 tion with Wales — Mines Royal Company of Cardiganshire — 
 Their mines unsuccessfully worked — Myddelton farms the mines 
 — Is made a baronet by King James — The king confirms the 
 lease of the mines and waives claim to royalty — Myddelton's 
 mining works — Their valuable produce — Myddelton's residence 
 at Lodge Park — Invited to execute reclamation works at Gwydir 
 — Letter to Sir John Wynn — Sir Hugh's death — His will — His 
 character .. .. .. .. .. .. 100-123 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 XXIX 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CAPTAIN PERRY — STOPPAGE OF DAGENHAM BREACH. 
 
 Breaches in the Thames embankments between London and Green- 
 wich — between Plumstead and Erith — Inundations on the north 
 shore — Great breach at Dagenham — Futile attempts to stem the 
 breach — Navigation of the river obstructed — Boswell, a con- 
 tractor, attempts to stop the breach, and fails — Captain John 
 Perry — His early career as a sailor — Employed by the Czar 
 Peter of Russia to superintend a canal from St. Petersburg to 
 the Caspian Sea — Perry is appointed comptroller of Russian 
 maritime works — Surveys canal route from St. Petersburg to 
 the Volga — Quits Russia without pay or reward for his services — 
 Undertakes the stoppage of Dagenham breach on the Thames 
 — Description of his process — Opposition of Boswell — Confi- 
 dence of the Parliamentary Committee — The works continued 
 by Perry ; their completion — Gigantic traffic of the Thames — 
 Extent of the embankments — Perry a loser by his contract — 
 His employment as surveyor of harbours and in directing works 
 of reclamation and drainage — His death .. Page 124-142 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE BEGINNING OF CANAL NAVIGATION. 
 
 Insignificant trade of England in the last century —Defective state 
 of road and river communication — Modes and cost of inland 
 carriage — Natural advantages for communication by rivers and 
 canals — England behind Holland, France, and Russia — Isolated 
 efforts — John Trew's Canal at Exeter — Francis -Matthew's project 
 of a canal from London to Bristol — Andrew Varranton's schemes 
 — Want of money for great engineering works — Aire and Calder 
 Navigation — The Mersey and Irwell, the Weaver, Douglas, and 
 Sankey Navigations in Lancashire and Cheshire — Beginning of 
 artificial Canals in England .. .. .. .. 143-152 
 
XXX 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 LIFE OF JAMES BRINDLEY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 brindley's early years. 
 
 James Brindley — His Birth and Birthplace — Macclesfield, its trade 
 — Flash and Broken Cross— Brindley's Croft — His Parentage — 
 Boyhood— Apprenticed to a Millwright — Importance of a Mill- 
 wright's position and craft — Brindley, though neglected, suc- 
 cessfully repairs a silk-mill — His excellent work — Brindley suc- 
 cessfully erects machinery for a paper-mill — Takes charge of his 
 Master's business — Begins business for himself at Leek 
 
 Page 155-167 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 brindley as master wheelwright and millwright. 
 
 Various nature of Brindley's employment — His ingenuity gets him 
 the name of " The Schemer " — His memoranda books — His em- 
 ployment by Earl Gower at Trentham — Flint introduced in 
 Pottery manufacture — Brindley makes improved flint-mills — Em- 
 ployed by the brothers Wedgwood — John E. Heathcote, of Clifton 
 Colliery, employs Brindley to drain his drowned mines — Brindley 
 succeeds where others failed — Low remuneration for skilled 
 labour — Brindley employed in fitting up a silk-mill at Congleton — 
 His habits of observation and fertility of resources — His improve- 
 ments in machinery for silk manufacture — Employed on mills, 
 machines, and pumps at the Potteries — His original contrivances 
 — Improved mill for Wedgwood, at Burslem — Suggests flint 
 grinding in water — Success of the process — Improves the steam- 
 engine — Erects an engine at Fenton Vivian — Its working and 
 cost — His engine patent — Erects steam-engine successfully at 
 Walker Colliery, Newcastle .. 168-185 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 XXXI 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER — BRINDLEV EMPLOYED AS 
 ENGINEER OF HIS CANAL. 
 
 Attempts at improved inland navigation in Lancashire, Cheshire, 
 and Yorkshire — Acts passed in 1737 and 1755 — Worsley Brook 
 to the Invell, Sankey Brook to the Mersey — The Sankey 
 Canal — Canal from the Trent to the Mersey — Brindlcy 
 makes survey for Earl Gower — Engaged by the Duke of 
 Bridgewater for the Worsley Canal — The Duke's birth and 
 parentage — Neglected in his early years — He travels abroad 
 accompanied by Mr. Robert Wood — Return to England and 
 sporting career — The young Duke's love affair with Miss Gunning 
 — His disappointment and retirement to Worsley — Manchester 
 and Liverpool in the last century, their extent, trade, and 
 manufactures — State of the roads about Manchester and 
 elsewhere — Scarcity of food from the badness of the roads — Bad 
 roads and dear coals — The Mersey and Invell, bad naviga- 
 tion — The Duke of Bridgewater's project to make a water road 
 from his collieries at Worsley to Manchester — Act obtained in 
 1759 — John and Thomas Gilbert — Brindlcy introduced to the 
 Duke — Brindley's new survey and plans — Execution of the Canal 
 — The Barton Aqueduct pronounced "a castle in the air" — De- 
 scription of the Aqueduct and other works — Trafford Moss — 
 Subterraneous Canal at Worsley — Brindley's mechanical and 
 other contrivances — The range and fertility of his genius — 
 Valuable uses of the Canal when finished ... Page 186-222 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EXTENSION OF THE DUKE'S CANAL TO THE MERSEY. 
 
 Brindley's survey from Stretford to the Mersey — Importance of 
 communication between Manchester and Liverpool — Growth of 
 Liverpool — Decay of Chester — Liverpool coaches, 1726 to 1750 
 — The Duke's project of a Manchester and Liverpool Canal — 
 Brindley's survey — Extract from diary — Brindley in London — 
 
XXX11 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 "At the play" — Opposition to the Duke's project — Brindley as 
 witness for the Bill — His model and explanation of " puddling" 
 — Canal lock described — Brindley's powers with chalk — The 
 Manchester and Liverpool Canal authorised -Brindley's capital 
 idea of long level reaches and concentration of locks — Continued 
 but bootless opposition of the Old Quay Navigation and the 
 landowners — Importance of the Duke's scheme — Sketch of 
 the works, and Brindley's contrivances — Sale Moor Moss — 
 Steam engine and pump at Dunham — "The Duke's folly" — 
 Brindley's floating workshops — Provision against outbursts of the 
 banks — Attention to details — Rate of wages paid to workmen — 
 Entries in diary — Brindley's training of workmen — Their trade 
 secrets — Lawrence Earnshaw — Number of men employed on the 
 Canal — Brindley's bold idea of a bridge across the tideway of 
 the Mersey — The Duke's Dock at Liverpool ... Page 223-262 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE DUKE'S DIFFICULTIES — COMPLETION OF THE CANAL — 
 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER. 
 
 The Duke's straits for money — Great extent and cost of the under- 
 taking — His bravery and perseverance — Worsley Old Hall — His 
 shifts to pay the workmen on Saturday nights — Alleged to be 
 "drowned in debt" — Anecdote of the Duke, Brindley, and 
 Gilbert in committee on ways and means — Gilbert and the high- 
 wayman — The Duke obtains loans from Child and Co., Bankers, 
 London — The level portion of Canal finished 1767, and the 
 Runcorn Locks 1773 — Extensive coal workings at Worsley — 
 Cost of the Canal from Worsley to Manchester, and from Long- 
 ford Bridge to Runcorn — Cost of water-carriage reduced one-half 
 — Brindley's insignificant remuneration — Disputes between the 
 Duke and Brindley — The Duke's personal interest in his canals, 
 coal-mines, and mills — Personal traits and anecdotes of the 
 Duke — His business habits — Care for his work-people — Visits to 
 Trentham — Fondness for Worsley — Visit of Fulton — Resolved 
 to have steam-boats for his canals — His manners and habits — - 
 The Bridgewater Gallery — His death, character, 'and public 
 services — Benefits of his Canal to Manchester and Liverpool 
 and the district — Extraordinary growth of Manchester 263-299 
 
CONTEXTS 
 
 xxxni 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BRINDLEY CONSTRUCTS THE GRAND TRUNK CANAL 
 
 Canal to connect the Mersey with the Trent — Brindley employed 
 as engineer—Survey of Staffordshire Canal— Earl Govver and the 
 Earl of Stamford promoters of canals— Desire of the manufac- 
 turers for water-communication — The earthenware and salt 
 manufactures— Expense of land-carriage by pack-horses— Sketch 
 of the potteries district and population— Josiah Wedgwood— His 
 energy and enterprise in manufactures— Promotes improved 
 means of communication— Supports Brindley's Grand Trunk 
 Canal— Public support— The opposition to the scheme— Timidity 
 of promoters— Vested interests preserved— Sketch of the route 
 of the Grand Trunk— The Act obtained— First sod cut by Josiah 
 Wedgwood — Great rejoicings — Wedgw-ood's works at Etruria — 
 Extent of the Grand Trunk— Dimensions, aqueducts, Harecastle 
 Tunnel — Difficulties conquered, and tunnel finished— Descrip- 
 tion of Brindley and his works— Benefits conferred by the Canal 
 — New branches of industry opened up — Moral and social 
 influences of Canals — Wesley's testimony ... Page 300-330 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BRINDLEV'S LAST CANAL — HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 
 
 Brindley's idea of the use of rivers — His ideas of the Grand Trunk 
 realised — The Wolverhampton, the Coventry, the Birmingham, 
 the Droitwich, and the Oxford Canals — Brindley's plans the 
 ground-work for future measures — The Birmingham Canal — 
 Matthew Boulton and Josiah Wedgwood its promoters — 
 Brindley's level lengths— Canal between Chesterfield and the 
 Trent— Extent of Canals laid out by Brindley — His educational 
 disadvantages — His work not duly appreciated in his own day — 
 Other Canal projects on which Brindley was, consulted — The 
 Leeds and Liverpool, its great extent and importance— Brindley's 
 survey of the Thames— Consulted as to drainage in Lincolnshire 
 — His pupils — Wide range of Brindley's employments and engi- 
 neering skill — His private life — His strange courtship and mar- 
 riage — His home at Turnhurst— Colliery at ('.olden Hill— Illness 
 and death — Characteristics — Mechanical genius — His studies in 
 
XXXIV 
 
 CONTEXTS 
 
 bed — His private character — Influence of Brindley's Canals on 
 the enterprise and speculation of the time — Extent of the Canal 
 system in Great Britain and Ireland — Canal traffic — Canals and 
 Railways Page 331-360 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 PIERRE-PAUL RIQUET, CONSTRUCTOR OF THE GRAND CANAL 
 OF LANGUEDOC. 
 
 The Canal du Midi — Its importance as uniting the Atlantic with 
 the Mediterranean — Riquet de Bonrepos, its constructor, originally 
 a common exciseman, not an engineer — His amateur surveys in 
 the district — Miniature Canal works — Lays his plans of the 
 Canal before Colbert and Lewis XIV'. — A Royal Commission 
 appointed, and report favourably as to Riquet's design — A patent 
 issued authorising the construction of the Canal — Riquet becomes 
 undertaker of works — Money fails, and he incurs heavy debts — 
 Anecdote of the use made by him of Colbert's influence — Obtains 
 assistance from the farmers-general of the province — Canal 
 completed from Toulouse to Trebes — Riquet's difficulties,bravery, 
 and perseverance — Progress of the works — Quarrels between 
 the King's Commissioners and the States as to inspection — 
 Financial troubles and appeals to Colbert — The work nearly 
 completed when Riquet dies — Cost of the Canal ... 361-372 
 
 Ixdex 
 
 373 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 FULL-PAGE PLATES 
 
 Portrait of Sir Hugh Myddelton Frontispiece 
 
 Locks Mill (at Spalding) in the Fen Country .. to face page 48 
 
 The New River „ So 
 
 „ „ Another View „ 96 
 
 The Oak Room at the New River Company Offices 112 
 
 Portrait of James Brindley „ 153 
 
 LINE ILLUSTRATION'S. 
 
 Romney Marsh ... .5 
 Map of the Thames (Western 
 
 part) S 
 
 Map of the Thames (Eastern 
 
 part) 9 
 
 Map of the Fens as Drowned . 10 
 
 Map of Hatfield Chase . . . 2S 
 
 Map of the Fens as Drained, 1S30 37 
 
 Ancient Conduit in Westcheap . 59 
 
 Myddelton's House, Galcfa Hill 70 
 
 Myddelton Brass, Whitchurch . 71 
 
 Whitchurch, Denbigh ... 78 
 
 The Boarded River, Bush Hill . 83 
 Brick Arch, New River, Bush 
 
 inn 84 
 
 Map of the New River ... 85 
 Water Carrier—" New River 
 
 Water " 95 
 
 Monumental Pedestal to Sir 
 
 Hugh Myddelton at Chadwell 99 
 View of Blading Haven . . . 101 
 Map of Brading Haven . . . 102 
 Entrance to Brading Haven. . 105 
 Chart of Mines, North Wales . 110 
 Plan of Mines at Cwmsymlog , 115 
 Perry's Plan of Dagenham Breach 135 
 
 Dagenham Lake 137 
 
 The Thames from Dagenham 
 
 Bank 1 39 
 
 Brindley's Native District . .154 
 Brindley's Croft 156 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Potteries District . . .171 
 Portrait of Duke of Bridgewatcr 193 
 View of Manchester in 1740 . 196 
 Mapof the Dukc'sCanal (Western 
 
 part) 204 
 
 Mapof the I >uke's Canal (Eastern 
 
 part) 205 
 
 Barton Aqueduct 212 
 
 Worsley Basin 217 
 
 Liverpool in 1650 .... 228 
 Fac-simile of Brindley's Hand- 
 writing 233 
 
 Plan and Section of Canal Lock 239 
 Brindley's Ballast-boats . . . 248 
 
 Longford Bridge 255 
 
 The Duke's Dock, Liverpool . 261 
 Worsley Old Hall . . . .265 
 The Locks at Runcorn . . . 270 
 Portrait of the Duke of Bridge- 
 water 285 
 
 Plan of Manchester .... 292 
 Bridgewater Halfpenny Token . 299 
 Wedgwood's First Pottery, 
 
 Burslem 30S 
 
 Portrait of Josiah Wedgwood . 31 1 
 Map of the Grand Trunk Canal. 318 
 Northern Entrance to Ilarecastle 
 
 Tunnels 323 
 
 Brindley's House at Turnhurst . 345 
 Brindley's Burial-place at New 
 Chapel 360 
 
JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 AND 
 
 THE EARLY ENGINEERS. 
 
 CHAPTER [. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 It has taken the labour and the skill of many 
 generations of men to make England the country 
 that it now is ; to reclaim and subdue its lands 
 for purposes of agriculture, to build its towns 
 and supply them with water, to render it easily 
 accessible by means of roads, bridges, canals, 
 and railways, and to construct lighthouses, break- 
 waters, docks, and harbours for the protection 
 and accommodation of its commerce. Those great 
 works have been the result of the continuous 
 industry of the nation, and the men who have 
 designed and executed them are entitled to be 
 regarded in a great measure as the founders of 
 modern England. 
 
 Engineering, like architecture, strikingly marks 
 the several stages which have occurred in the 
 development of society, and throws much curious 
 light upon history. The ancient British encamp- 
 ment, of which many specimens are still to be 
 found on the summits of hills, with occasional 
 
 I- 13 
 
2 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENT OF BRITAIN [CHAP I 
 
 indications of human dwellings within them in 
 the circular hollows or pits over which huts once 
 stood, — the feudal castle perched upon its all 
 but inaccessible rock, provided with drawbridge 
 and portcullis to secure its occupants against 
 sudden assault, — then the moated dwelling, situated 
 in the midst of the champaign country, indicating 
 a growing, though as yet but half-hearted con- 
 fidence in the loyalty of neighbours, — and, lastly, 
 the modern mansion, with its drawing-room win- 
 dows opening level with the sward of the ad- 
 jacent country, — all these are not more striking 
 indications of social progress at the different 
 stages in our history, than the reclamation and 
 cultivation of lands won from the sea, the making 
 of roads and building of bridges, the supplying 
 of towns with water, and the construction of 
 canals and railroads for the ready conveyance of 
 persons and merchandise throughout the empire. 
 
 In England, as in all countries, men began 
 with making provision for food and shelter. The 
 valleys and low-lying grounds being mostly covered 
 with dense forests, the naturally cleared high lands, 
 where timber would not grow, were doubtless 
 occupied by the first settlers. Tillage was not 
 as yet understood nor practised ; the people sub- 
 sisted by hunting, or upon their herds of cattle, 
 which found ample grazing among the hills of 
 Dartmoor, and on the grassy downs of Wiltshire 
 and Sussex. Numerous remains or traces of 
 ancient dwellings have been found in those dis- 
 tricts, as at Bowhill in Sussex, along the skirts 
 of Dartmoor where the hills slope down to the 
 watercourses, and on the Wiltshire downs, where 
 Old Sarum, Stonehenge and Avebury, mark the 
 
CHAP i] EARLY SETTLEMENT OF BRITAIN 3 
 
 earliest and most flourishing of the British settle- 
 ments. 
 
 The art of reclaiming, embanking, and draining 
 land, is supposed to have been introduced by men 
 from Belgium and Friesland, who early landed 
 in great numbers along the south-eastern coasts, 
 and made good their footing by the power of 
 numbers, as well as probably by their superior 
 civilisation. The lands from which they came had 
 been won by skill and industry from the sea and 
 from the fen ; and when they swarmed over into 
 England, they brought their arts with them. The 
 early settlement of Britain by the races which at 
 present occupy it, is usually spoken of as a series 
 of invasions and conquests ; but it is probable 
 that it was for the most part effected by a system 
 of colonisation, such as is going forward at this 
 day in America, Australia, and New Zealand; 
 and that the immigrants from Friesland, Belgium, 
 and Jutland, secured their settlement by the spade 
 far more than by the sword. Wherever the new 
 men came, they settled themselves down on their 
 several bits of land, which became their holdings ; 
 and they bent their backs over the stubborn soil, 
 watering it with their sweat; and delved, and 
 drained, and cultivated it, until it became fruitful. 
 They also spread themselves over the richer 
 arable lands of the interior, the older population 
 receding before them to the hunting and pastoral 
 grounds of the north and west. Thus the men 
 of Teutonic race gradually occupied the whole 
 of the reclaimable land, and became dominant, 
 as is shown by the domi nancy of their language, 
 until they were stopped by the hills of Cumber- 
 land, of Wales, and of Cornwall. The same process 
 
 b 2 
 
4 
 
 RECLAMATION OF ROMNEY MARSH [CHAP I 
 
 seems to have gone on in the arable districts of 
 Scotland, into which a swarm of colonists from 
 Northumberland poured in the reign of David I., 
 and quietly settled upon the soil, which they pro- 
 ceeded to cultivate. It is a remarkable confirma- 
 tion of this view of the early settlement of the 
 country by its present races, that the modern 
 English language extends over the whole of the 
 arable land of England and Scotland, and the Celtic 
 tongue only begins where the plough ends. 
 
 One of the most extensive districts along the 
 English coast, lying the nearest to the country 
 from which the continental immigrants first landed, 
 was the tract of Romney Marsh, containing about 
 60,000 acres of land along the south coast of Kent. 
 The reclamation of this tract is supposed to be 
 due to the Frisians. English history does not 
 reach so far back as the period at which Romney 
 Marsh was first reclaimed, but doubtless the work 
 is one of great antiquity. The district is about 
 fourteen miles long and eight broad, divided into 
 Romney Marsh, Wallend Marsh, Denge Marsh, 
 and Guildford Marsh. The tract is a dead, uniform 
 level, extending from Hythe, in Kent, westward 
 to Winchelsea, in Sussex; and it is to this day 
 held from the sea by a continuous wall or bank, 
 on the solidity of which the preservation of the 
 district depends, the surface of the marsh being 
 under the level of the sea at the highest tides. 
 The following descriptive view of the marsh, 
 taken from the high ground above the ancient 
 Roman fortress of Portus Limanis, near the more 
 modern but still ancient castle of Lymne, will give 
 an idea of the extent and geographical relations 
 of the district. 
 
CHAP l] DESCRIPTIVE VIEW OF ROMNEY MARSH 5 
 
 The tract is so isolated, that the marshmen 
 say the world is divided into Europe, Asia, Africa, 
 America, and Romney Marsh. It contains few or 
 no trees, its principal divisions being formed by 
 dykes and watercourses. It is thinly peopled, but 
 abounds in cattle and sheep of a peculiarly hardy 
 breed, which are a source of considerable wealth 
 
 Descriptive View of Romney Marsh, from Lymne Castle. 
 
 to the marshmen ; and it affords sufficient grazing 
 for more than half a million of sheep, besides 
 numerous herds of cattle. 
 
 The first portion of the district reclaimed was 
 an island, on which the town of Old Romney now 
 stands ; and embankments were extended south- 
 ward as far as New Romney, where an accumula- 
 tion of beach took place, forming a natural barrier 
 
6 
 
 RECLAMATION OF ROMNEY MARSH [CHAP I 
 
 against further encroachments of the sea at that 
 point. The old town of Lvdd originally stood 
 upon another island, as did Ivychurch, Old Win- 
 chelsea, and Guildford ; the sea sweeping round 
 them and rising far inland at every tide. Bur- 
 marsh, and the districts thereabout, were reclaimed 
 at a more recent period ; and by degrees the 
 islands disappeared, the sea was shut out, and 
 the whole became firm land. Large additions 
 were made to it from time to time by the deposits 
 of shingle along the coast, which left several 
 towns, formerly important seaports, stranded upon 
 the beach far inland. Thus the ancient Roman 
 port at Lymne, past which the Limen or Rother 
 is supposed originally to have flowed, is left high 
 and dry more than three miles from the sea, and 
 sheep now graze where formerly the galleys of 
 the Romans rode. West Hythe, one of the Cinque 
 Ports, originally the port for Boulogne, is silted 
 up by the wide extent of shingle used by the 
 modern School of Musketry as their practising- 
 ground. Old Romney, past which the Rother 
 afterwards flowed, was one of the ancient ports 
 of the district, but it is now about two miles 
 from the sea. The marshmen followed up the 
 receding waters, and founded the town of New 
 Romney, which also became a Cinque Port ; but 
 a storm that occurred in the reign of Edward I. 
 so blocked up the Rother with shingle, at the 
 same time breaching the wall, that the river took 
 a new course, and flowed thenceforward by Rye 
 into the sea ; and the port of New Romney became 
 lost. The point of Dungeness, running almost 
 due south, gains accumulations of 'shingle so 
 rapidly from the sea, that it is said to have 
 
CHAP i] EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES / 
 
 extended more than a mile seaward within the 
 memory of persons living. Rye was founded on 
 the ruins of the Romneys, and also became a 
 Cinque Port ; but notwithstanding the advantage 
 of the river Rother flowing past it, that port also 
 has become nearly silted up, and now stands 
 about two miles from the sea. New Winchelsea, 
 the Portsmouth and Spithead of its day, is left 
 stranded like the rest of the Old Cinque Ports, 
 and is now but a village surrounded by the re- 
 mains of its ancient grandeur. All this ruin, 
 however, wrought by the invasions of the shingle 
 upon the seacoast towns, has only served to in- 
 crease the area of the rich grazing ground of the 
 marsh, which continues year by year to extend 
 itself seaward. 
 
 Another highly important work of the same 
 class was the embankment of the Thames, now 
 the watery highway between the capital of Great 
 Britain and the world. Before human industry had 
 confined the river within its present channel, it 
 was a broad estuary, in many parts between London 
 and Gravesend several miles wide. The higher 
 tides covered Plumstead and Erith Marshes on the 
 south, and Plaistow, East Ham, and Barking Levels 
 on the north ; the river meandering in man}' devious 
 channels at low water, leaving on either side vast 
 expanses of rich mud and ooze. Opposite the City 
 of London, the tides washed over the ground now 
 covered by Southwark and Lambeth ; the district 
 called Marsh still reminding us of its former state, 
 as Bankside informs us of the mode by which it 
 was reclaimed by the banking out of the tidal waters. 
 
 A British settlement is supposed to have been 
 formed at an early period on the high ground on 
 
8 
 
 EMBANKMENT OF THE THAMES 
 
 [chap I 
 
 which St. Paul's Cathedral stands, by reason of its 
 natural defences, being bounded on the south by 
 the Thames, on the west by the Fleet, and on the 
 north and east by morasses, Moorfields Marsh 
 
 Valley of the Thames (Western Part). [From the Ordnance Survey.] 
 
 having only been reclaimed within a comparatively 
 recent period. The natural advantages of the situa- 
 tion were great, and the City seems to have acquired 
 considerable importance even before the Roman 
 period. The embanking of the river has been attri- 
 buted to that indefatigable people; but on this 
 point no evidence exists. The numerous ancient 
 British camps found in all parts of the kingdom 
 afford sufficient proof that the early inhabitants of 
 the country possessed a knowledge of the art of 
 earthwork ; and it is not improbable that the same 
 Belgian tribes who reclaimed Romney Marsh were 
 equally quick to detect the value for agricultural 
 purposes of the rich alluvial lands along the valley 
 of the Thames, and proceeded accordingly to em- 
 bank them after the practice of the country from 
 which they had come. The work was carried on 
 from one generation to another, as necessity re-" 
 quired, until the Thames was confined ■ within its 
 present limits, the process of embanking serving to 
 
CHAP i] THE GREAT LEVEL OE THE EENS O 
 
 deepen the river and improve it for purposes of 
 navigation, while large tracts of fertile land were at 
 the same time added to the food-producing capacity 
 of the country. 
 
 .Map of the Valley of the Thames (Eastern Part). 
 X.Il. — The dotted line represents the embankments raised along the banks of the river. 
 
 Another of the districts won from the sea, in 
 which a struggle of skill and industry against the 
 power of water, both fresh and salt, has been per- 
 sistently maintained for centuries, is the extensive 
 low-lying tract of country, situated at the junction 
 of the counties of Lincoln, Huntingdon, Cambridge, 
 and Norfolk, commonly known as the Great Level 
 of the Fens. The area of this district presents 
 almost the dimensions of a province, being from 
 sixty to seventy miles from north to south, and 
 from twenty to thirty miles broad, the high lands 
 of the interior bounding it somewhat in the form of 
 a horse-shoe. It contains about 680,000 acres of 
 the richest land in Lngland, and is as much the 
 product of art as the kingdom of Holland, opposite 
 to which it lies. 
 
 Not many centuries ago, this vast tract of about 
 two thousand square miles of land was entirely 
 abandoned to the waters, forming an immense 
 estuary of the Wash, into which the rivers Witham 
 
10 THE GREAT LEVEL OF THE FENS [CHAP I 
 
 Welland, Glen, Nene, and Ouse discharged the 
 rainfall of the central counties of England. It was 
 an inland sea in winter, and a noxious swamp in 
 summer, the waters expanding in many places 
 into settled seas or meres, swarming with fish and 
 screaming with wild-fowl. The more elevated parts 
 
 Map of the Fens as they lay drowned. (After Dugdale.) 
 
 were overgrown with tall reeds, which appeared at 
 a distance like fields of waving corn; and they were 
 haunted by immense flocks of starlings, which, 
 when disturbed, would rise in such numbers as 
 almost to darken the air. Into this great dismal 
 swamp the floods descending from the interior 
 
CHAP l] 
 
 RECLAMATION OF THE FENS 
 
 I 
 
 were carried, their waters mingling and winding 
 by many devious channels before they reached 
 the sea. They were laden with silt, which became 
 deposited in the basin of the Fens. Thus the river- 
 beds were from time to time choked up, and the 
 intercepted waters forced new channels through 
 the ooze, meandering across the level, and often 
 winding back upon themselves, until at length the 
 surplus waters, through many openings, drained 
 away into the Wash. Hence the numerous aban- 
 doned beds of old rivers still traceable amidst the 
 Great Level of the Fens— the old Nene, the old 
 Ouse, and the old Welland. The Ouse, which in 
 past times flowed into the Wash at Wisbeach (or 
 Ouse Beach), now enters at King's Lynn, near 
 which there is another old Ouse. But the pro- 
 bability is that all the rivers flowed into a lake, 
 which existed on the tract known as the Great 
 Bedford Level, from thence finding their way, by 
 numerous and frequently shifting channels, into 
 the sea. 
 
 Along the shores of the Wash, where the fresh 
 and salt w r aters met, the tendency to the deposit of 
 silt was the greatest ; and in the course of ages, the 
 land at the outlets of the inland waters became 
 raised above the level of the interior. Accordingly, 
 the first land reclaimed in the district was the rich 
 fringe of deposited silt lying along the shores of 
 the Wash, now known as Marshland and South 
 Holland. This was effected by the Romans, a hard- 
 working, energetic, and skilful people ; of whom 
 the Britons are said to have complained * that they 
 wore out and consumed their hands and bodies 
 in clearing the woods and banking the fens. The 
 * Tacitus, 1 Life of Agricola.' 
 
12 
 
 RECLAMATION' OF THE FENS 
 
 [CHAP I 
 
 bulwarks or causeways which they raised to keep 
 out the sea are still traceable at Po-Dyke in Marsh- 
 land, and at various points near the old coast-line. 
 On the inland side of the Fens the Romans are sup- 
 posed to have constructed another great work of 
 drainage, still known as Carr Dyke, extending from 
 the Nene to the Witham. It means Fen Dyke, the 
 fens being still called Carrs in certain parts of 
 Lincoln. This old drain is about sixty feet wide, 
 with a broad, flat bank on each side ; and origi- 
 nally it must have been at least forty miles in 
 extent, winding along under the eastern side of 
 the high land, which extends in an irregular line 
 up the centre of the district from Stamford to 
 Lincoln. 
 
 The eastern parts of Marshland and Holland 
 were thus the first lands reclaimed in the Level, 
 and they were available for purposes of agriculture 
 long before any attempts had been made to drain 
 the lands of the interior. Indeed, it is not impro- 
 bable that the early embankments thrown up along 
 the coast had the effect of increasing the inunda- 
 tions of the lower-lying lands farther west ; for, 
 whilst they dammed the salt water out, they also 
 held back the fresh, no provision having been made 
 for improving and deepening the outfalls of the 
 rivers flowing through the Level into the Wash. 
 The Fen lands in winter were thus not only 
 flooded by the rainfall of the Fens themselves, 
 and by the upland waters which flowed from the 
 interior, but also by the daily flux of the tides 
 which drove in from the German Ocean, holding 
 back the fresh waters, and even mixing with them 
 far inland. 
 
 The Fens, therefore, continued flooded with 
 
CHAP i] 
 
 ISLE OF ELY 
 
 water down to the period of the Middle Ages, when 
 there was water enough in the Witham to float 
 the ships of the Danish sea rovers as far inland as 
 Lincoln, where ships' ribs and timbers have recently 
 been found deep sunk in the bed of the river. The 
 first reclaimers of the Fen lands seem to have been 
 the religious recluses, who settled upon the islands 
 overgrown with reeds and rushes, which rose up at 
 intervals in the Fen level, and where they formed 
 their solitary settlements. One of the first of the 
 Fen islands thus occupied was the Isle of Fly, or 
 Fely — so called, it is said, because of the abundance 
 and goodness of the eels caught in the neighbour- 
 hood, and in which rents were paid in early times. 
 It stood solitary amid the waste of waters, and was 
 literally an island. Ftheldreda, afterwards known 
 as St. Audrey, the daughter of the King of the 
 East Angles, retired thither, secluding herself from 
 the world and devoting herself to a recluse life. 
 A nunnery was built, then a town, and the place 
 became famous in the religious world. The pagan 
 Danes, however, had no regard for Christian shrines, 
 and a fleet of their pirate ships, sailing across the 
 Fens, attacked the island and burnt the nunnery. 
 It was again rebuilt, and a church sprang up, the 
 fame of which so spread abroad that Canute, the 
 Danish king, determined to visit it. It is related 
 that as his ships sailed towards the island his soul 
 rejoiced greatly, and on hearing the chanting of the 
 monks in the quire wafted across the waters, the 
 king joined in the singing and ceased not until he 
 had come to land. Canute more than once sailed 
 across the Fens with his ships, and the tradi- 
 tion survives that on one occasion, when passing 
 from Ramsey to Peterborough, the waves were so 
 
PRESERVATION OF RECLAIMED LANDS [CHAP I 
 
 boisterous on Whittlesea Mere (now a district of 
 fruitful cornfields), that he ordered a channel to 
 be cut through the body of the Fen westward of 
 Whittlesea to Peterborough, which to this day is 
 called by the name of the " King's Delph." 
 
 The other Fen islands which became the centres 
 of subsequent reclamations were Crowland, Ramsey, 
 Thorney, and Spinney, each the seat of a monastic 
 establishment. The old churchmen, notwithstand- 
 ing their industry, were, however, only able to 
 bring into cultivation a few detached points, and 
 made very little impression upon the drowned 
 lands of the Great Level. It often happened, in- 
 deed, that the steps which they took to drain one 
 spot merely had the effect of sending an increased 
 flood of water upon another, and perhaps diverting 
 in some new direction the water which before had 
 driven a mill, or formed a channel for purposes of 
 navigation. The rivers also were constantly liable 
 to get silted up, and form for themselves new 
 courses ; and sometimes, during a high tide, the 
 sea would burst in, and in a single night undo the 
 tedious industry of centuries. 
 
 Each suffering locality, acting for itself, did what 
 it could to preserve the land which had been won, 
 and to prevent the recurrence of inundations. Dyke- 
 reeves were appointed along the sea-borders, with 
 a force of shore-labourers at their disposal, to see 
 to the security of the embankments ; and fen-wards 
 were constituted inland, over which commissioners 
 were set, for the purpose of keeping open the drains, 
 maintaining the dykes, and preventing destruction 
 of life and property by floods, whether descending 
 into the Fens from the high lands or bursting in 
 upon them from the sea. Where lands became 
 
CHAP i] DISMAL ASPECT OF THE GREAT LEVEL I 5 
 
 suddenly drowned, the Sheriff was authorised to 
 impress diggers and labourers for raising embank- 
 ments ; and commissioners of sewers were after- 
 wards appointed, with full powers of local action, 
 after the law and usage of Romney Marsh. In 
 one district we find a public order made that every 
 man should plant with willows the bank opposite 
 his portion of land towards the fen, "so as to 
 break off the force of the waves in flood times;" 
 and swine were not to be allowed to go upon the 
 banks unless they were ringed, under a penalty of 
 a penny (equal to a shilling in our money) for every 
 hog found unringed. A still more terrible penalty 
 for neglect is mentioned by Harrison, who says, 
 " Such as having walls or banks near unto the 
 sea, and do suffer the same to decay (after con- 
 venient admonition), whereby the water entereth 
 and drowneth up the country, are by a certain 
 ancient custom apprehended, condemned, and 
 staked in the breach, where they remain for ever 
 as parcel of the new wall that is to be made upon 
 them, as I have heard reported." * 
 
 The Great Level of the Fens remained in a 
 comparatively unreclaimed state down even to the 
 end of the sixteenth century ; and constant inunda- 
 tions took place, destroying the value of the little 
 settlements which had by that time been won 
 from the watery waste. It would be difficult to 
 imagine anything more dismal than the aspect 
 which the Great Level then presented. In winter, 
 a sea without waves ; in summer, a dreary mud- 
 swamp. The atmosphere was heavy with pesti- 
 lential vapours, and swarmed with insects. The 
 meres and pools were, however, rich in fish and 
 * Harrison's Preface to HolinshecFs Chronicle, i. 313. 
 
[6 
 
 CAMDEN ON THE FENS 
 
 [CHAP I 
 
 wild-fowl. The Welland was noted for stickle- 
 backs, a little fish about two inches long, which 
 appeared in dense shoals near Spalding every 
 seventh or eighth year, and used to be sold 
 during the season at a halfpenny a bushel, for 
 field manure. Pike was plentiful near Lincoln : 
 hence the proverb, " Witham pike, England hath 
 none like." Fen-nightingales, or frogs, especially 
 abounded. The birds-proper were of all kinds; 
 wild-geese, herons, teal, widgeons, mallards, grebes, 
 coots, godwits, whimbrels, knots, dottrels, yelpers, 
 ruffs, and reeves, some of which have long since 
 disappeared from England. Mallards were so 
 plentiful that 3000 of them, with other birds in 
 addition, have been known to be taken at one 
 draught. Round the borders of the Fens there 
 lived a thin and haggard population of "Fen- 
 slodgers," called "yellow-bellies" in the inland 
 counties, who derived a precarious subsistence 
 from fowling and fishing. They were described 
 by writers of the time as " a rude and almost 
 barbarous sort of lazy and beggarly people." 
 Disease always hung over the district, ready to 
 pounce upon the half-starved fenmen. Camden 
 spoke of the country between Lincoln and Cam- 
 bridge as " a vast morass, inhabited by fenmen, 
 a kind of people, according to the nature of 
 the place where they dwell, who, walking high 
 upon stilts, apply their minds to grazing, fishing, 
 or fowling." The proverb of " Cambridgeshire 
 camels" doubtless originated in this old practice 
 of stilt-walking in the Fens ; the fenmen, like the 
 inhabitants of the Landes, mounting upon high 
 stilts to spy out their flocks across the dead level. 
 But the flocks of the fenmen consisted principally of 
 
chap i] 
 
 DL'GDAI.E ON THE FENS 
 
 geese, which were called the " fenmen's treasure;" 
 the fenman's dowry being "three-score geese and 
 a pelt " or sheep-skin used as an outer garment. 
 The geese throve where nothing else could exist, 
 being equally proof against rheumatism and ague, 
 though lodging with the natives in their sleeping- 
 places. Even of this poor property, however, the 
 slodgers were liable at any time to be stripped by 
 sudden inundations. 
 
 In the oldest reclaimed district of Holland, 
 containing many old village churches, the inhabi- 
 tants, in wet seasons, were under the necessity 
 of rowing to church in their boats. In the other 
 less reclaimed parts of the Fens the inhabitants 
 were much worse off. " In the winter time," said 
 Dugdale, " when the ice is only strong enough 
 to hinder the passage of boats, and yet not able 
 to bear a man, the inhabitants upon the hards and 
 banks within the Fens can have no help of food, 
 nor comfort for body or soul ; no woman aid in 
 her travail, no means to baptize a child or partake 
 of the Communion, nor supply of any necessity 
 saving what these poor desolate places do afford. 
 And what expectation of health can there be to 
 the bodies of men, where there is no element 
 good? the air being for the most part cloudy, 
 gross, and full of rotten harrs ; the water putrid 
 and muddy, yea, full of loathsome vermin ; the 
 earth spungy and boggy, and the fire noisome by 
 the stink of smoaky hassocks." 
 
 The wet character of the soil at Ely may be 
 inferred from the circumstance that the chief crop 
 grown in the neighbourhood was willows ; and it 
 was a common saying there, that " the profit of 
 willows will buy the owner a horse before that 
 i. c 
 
I 8 COMMISSION APPOINTED UNDER JAMES I [CHAP I 
 
 by any other crop he can pay for his saddle." 
 There was so much water constantly lying above 
 Ely, that in olden times the Bishop of Ely was 
 accustomed to go in his boat to Cambridge. When 
 the outfalls of the Ouse became choked up by 
 neglect, the surrounding districts were subject to 
 severe inundations ; and after a heavy fall of rain, 
 or after a thaw in winter, when the river swelled 
 suddenly, the alarm spread abroad, " the bailiff 
 of Bedford is coming!" the Ouse passing by that 
 town. But there was even a more terrible visitor 
 than the bailiff of Bedford ; for when a man was 
 stricken down by the ague, it was said of him, 
 "he is arrested by the bailiff of Marsh-land ;" this 
 disease extensively prevailing all over the district 
 when the poisoned air of the marshes began to 
 work. 
 
 The great perils which constantly threatened 
 the district at length compelled the attention of 
 the legislature. In 1607, shortly after the accession 
 of James I., a series of destructive floods burst in 
 the embankments along the east coast, and swept 
 over farms, homesteads, and villages, drowning 
 large numbers of people and cattle. When the 
 King was informed of the great calamity which 
 had befallen the inhabitants of the Fens, princi- 
 pally through the decay of the old works of 
 drainage and embankment, he is said to have 
 made the right royal declaration, that "for the 
 honour of his kingdom, he would not any longer 
 suffer these countries to be abandoned to the will 
 of the waters, nor to let them lie waste and un- 
 profitable; and that if no one else would under- 
 take their drainage, he himself would become" 
 their undertaker." A Commission was' appointed 
 
CHAP i] 
 
 CORNELIUS VF.RMUYDF.N 
 
 19 
 
 to inquire into the extent of the evil, from which 
 it appeared that there were not less than 317,242 
 acres of land lying outside the then dykes which 
 required drainage and protection. A bill was 
 brought into Parliament to enable rates to be 
 levied for the drainage of this land, but it was 
 summarily rejected. Two years later, a "little 
 bill," for draining 6000 acres in Waldersea County, 
 was passed — the first district Act for Fen drainage 
 that received the sanction of Parliament. The 
 King then called Chief-Justice Popham to his aid, 
 and sent him down to the Fens to undertake a 
 portion of the work ; and he induced a company 
 of Londoners to undertake another portion, the 
 adventurers receiving two-thirds of the reclaimed 
 lands as a recompense. " Popham's Fau," and 
 "The Londoners' Lode," still mark the scene of 
 their operations. The works, however, did not 
 prove very successful, not having been carried 
 out with sufficient practical knowledge on the part 
 of the adventurers, nor after any well-devised plan. 
 There were loud calls for some skilled undertaker 
 or engineer (though the latter word was not then 
 in use) to stay the mischief, reclaim the drowned 
 lands, and save the industrious settlers in the 
 Fens from total ruin. But no English engineer 
 was to be found ready to enter upon so large an 
 undertaking; and in his dilemma the King called 
 to his aid one Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutch 
 engineer, a man well skilled in works of embanking 
 and draining. 
 
 The necessity for employing a foreign engineer 
 to undertake so great a national work is sufficiently 
 explained by the circumstance that England was 
 then very backward in all enterprises of this sort. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 FORMER DEPENDENCE UPON FOREIGNERS [CHAP I 
 
 We had not yet begun that career of industrial 
 skill in which we have since achieved so many 
 triumphs, but were content to rely mainly upon 
 the assistance of foreigners. Holland and Flanders 
 supplied us with our best mechanics and engineers. 
 Not only did Vermuyden prepare the plans and 
 superintend the execution of the Great Level 
 drainage, but the works were principally executed 
 by Flemish workmen. Many other foreign "ad- 
 venturers " as they were called, besides Vermuyden, 
 carried out extensive works of reclamation and 
 embankment of waste lands in England. Thus a 
 Fleming named Freeston reclaimed the extensive 
 marsh near Wells in Norfolk ; Joas Croppenburgh 
 and his company of Dutch workmen reclaimed and 
 embanked Canvey Island near the mouth of the 
 Thames ; Cornelius Vanderwelt, another Dutch- 
 man, enclosed Wapping Marsh by means of a high 
 bank, along which a road was made, called " High 
 Street" to this day; while two Italians, named 
 Acontius and Castilione, reclaimed the Combe and 
 East Greenwich marshes on the south bank of the 
 river. 
 
 We also relied very much on foreigners for 
 our harbour engineering. Thus, when a new 
 haven was required at Yarmouth, Joas Johnson, the 
 Dutchman, was employed to plan and construct it. 
 When a serious breach occurred in the banks of 
 the Witham at Boston, Mathew Hakes was sent for 
 from Gravelines, in Flanders, to repair it; and he 
 brought with him not only the mechanics, but the 
 manufactured iron required for the work. In like 
 manner, any unusual kind of machinery was im- 
 ported from Holland or Flanders ready made. 
 When an engine was needed to pump water from 
 
CHAP ij INFERIORITY OF BRITISH ENGINEERS 
 
 21 
 
 the Thames for the supply of London, Peter Moriee, 
 the Dutchman, brought one from Holland, together 
 with the necessary workmen. 
 
 England was in former times regarded prin- 
 cipally as a magazine for the supply of raw 
 materials, which were carried away in foreign 
 ships, and returned to us worked up by foreign 
 artisans. We grew wool for Flanders, as India, 
 America, and Egypt grow cotton for England now. 
 Even the wool manufactured at home was sent to 
 the Low Countries to be dyed. Our fisheries were 
 so unproductive, that the English markets were 
 supplied by the Dutch, who sold us the herrings 
 caught in our own seas, off our own shores. Our 
 best ships were built for us by Danes and Genoese ; 
 and when any skilled sailors' work was wanted, 
 foreigners were employed. Thus, when the ' Mary 
 Rose' sank at Spithead in 1545, Peter de Andreas, 
 the Venetian, with his ship carpenter and throe 
 Italian sailors, were employed to raise her, sixty 
 English mariners being appointed to attend upon 
 them merely as labourers. 
 
 In short, we depended for our engineering, 
 even more than we did for our pictures and our 
 music, upon foreigners. Nearly all the continental 
 nations had a long start of us in art, in science, in 
 mechanics, in navigation, and in engineering. At 
 a time when Holland had completed its magnificent 
 system of water communication, and when France, 
 Germany, and even Russia had opened up impor- 
 tant lines of inland navigation, England had not 
 cut a single canal, whilst our roads were about the 
 worst in Europe. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 SIR CORNELIUS VERMUYDEN — DRAINAGE OF THE FENS. 
 
 Cornelius Vermuyden, the Dutch engineer, was 
 invited over to England about the year 162 1, to 
 stem a breach in the Thames embankment near 
 Dagenham, which had been burst through by the 
 tide. He was a person of good birth and educa- 
 tion, and was born at St. Martin's Dyke, in the 
 island of Tholen, in Zealand. He had been trained 
 as an engineer, and having been brought up in a 
 district where embanking was studied as a pro- 
 fession, and gave employment to a large number 
 of persons, he was familiar with the most approved 
 methods of protecting land against the encroach- 
 ments of the sea. He was so successful in his 
 operations at Dagenham, that when it was found 
 necessary to drain the Royal park at Windsor, he 
 was employed to conduct the work; and he thus 
 became known to the King, who shortly after em- 
 ployed him in the drainage of Hatfield Level, then 
 a royal chase on the borders of Yorkshire. 
 
 The extensive district of Axholme, of which 
 Hatfield Chase formed only a part, resembled the 
 Great Level of the Fens in many respects, being 
 a large fresh-water bay formed by the confluence 
 of the rivers Don, Went, Ouse, and Trent, which 
 brought down into the Humber almost the entire 
 
CHAP II] ISLE OF AXHOLME— HATFIELD CHASE 23 
 
 rainfall of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottingham, and 
 North Lincoln, and into which the sea also washed. 
 The uplands of Yorkshire bounded this watery tract 
 on the west, and those of Lincolnshire on the east. 
 Rising up about midway between them was a single 
 hill, or rather elevated ground, formerly an island, 
 and still known as the Isle of Axholme. There was 
 a ferry between Sandtoft and that island in times 
 not very remote, and the farmers of Axholme were 
 accustomed to attend market at Doncaster in their 
 boats, though the bottom of the sea over which 
 they then rowed is now amongst the most pro- 
 ductive corn-land in England. The waters extended 
 to Hatfield, which lies along the Yorkshire edge of 
 the level on the west ; and it is recorded in the 
 ecclesiastical history of that place that a company 
 of mourners, with the corpse they carried, were 
 once lost when proceeding by boat from Thorne 
 to Hatfield. When Leland visited the county in 
 1607, he went by boat from Thorne to Tudworth, 
 over what at this day is rich ploughed land. The 
 district was marked by numerous merestones, and 
 many fisheries are still traceable in local history as 
 having existed at places now far inland. 
 
 The Isle of Axholme was in former times a 
 stronghold of the Mowbrays, being unapproach- 
 able save by water. In the reign of Henry II., 
 when Lord Mowbray held it against the King, it 
 was taken by the Lincolnshire men, who attacked 
 it in boats ; and, down to the reign of James I., 
 the only green spot which rose above the wide 
 waste of waters was this solitary isle. Before 
 that monarch's time the south-eastern part of the 
 county of York, from Conisborough Castle to the 
 sea, belonged for the most part to the crown ; but 
 
24 
 
 LAST BATTUE 11^ HATFIELD CHASE [CHAP II 
 
 one estate after another was alienated, until at 
 length, when James succeeded to the throne of 
 England, there only remained the manor of Hat- 
 field, which, watery though it was, continued to 
 be dignified with the appellation of a Royal Chase. 
 There was, however, plenty of deer in the neigh- 
 bourhood, for De la Pryme says that in his time 
 they were as numerous as sheep on a hill, and that 
 venison was as abundant as mutton in a poor man's 
 kitchen.* But the principal sport which Hatfield 
 furnished was in the waters and meres adjacent to 
 the old timber manor-house. Prince Henry, the 
 King's eldest son, on the occasion of a journey to 
 York, rested at Hatfield on his way, and had a day's 
 sport in the Royal Chase, which is thus described 
 by De la Pryme : — " The prince and his retinue all 
 embarked themselves in almost a hundred boats that 
 were provided there ready, and having frightened 
 some five hundred deer out of the woods, grounds, 
 and closes adjoining, which had been drawn there 
 the night before, they all, as they were commonly 
 wont, took to the water, and this little royal navy 
 pursuing them, soon drove them into that lower 
 part of the level, called Thorne Mere, and there, 
 being up to their very necks in water, their horned 
 heads raised themselves so as almost to represent 
 a little wood. Here being encompassed about with 
 the little fleet, some ventured amongst them, and 
 feeling such and such as were fattest, they either 
 immediately cut their throats, or else tying a strong 
 rope to their heads, drew them to land and killed 
 them." 
 
 Such was the last battue in the Royal Chase of 
 Hatfield. Shortly after, King James brought the 
 
 * De la Pryme, ' History of the Level of Hatfield Chase.' 
 
CHAP II] DRAINAGE OF HATFIELD CHASE 25 
 
 subject of the drainage of the tract under the notice 
 of Cornelius Yermuyden, who, on inspecting it, 
 declared the project to be quite practicable. The 
 level of the Chase contained about 70,000 acres, the 
 waters of which, like those of the Fens, found their 
 way to the sea through many changing channels. 
 Various attempts had been made to diminish the 
 flooding of the lands. In the fourteenth century 
 several deep trenches were dug, to let off the 
 water, but they probably admitted as much as 
 they allowed to escape, and the drowning con- 
 tinued. Commissioners were appointed, but they 
 did nothing. The country was too poor, and the 
 people too unskilled, to undertake so expensive and 
 laborious an enterprise as the effectual drainage 
 of so large a tract. 
 
 A local jury was summoned by the King to 
 consider the question, but they broke up, after 
 expressing their opinion of the utter impractica- 
 bility of carrying out any effective plan for the 
 withdrawal of the waters. Yermuyden, however, 
 declared that he would undertake and bind himself 
 to do that which the jury had pronounced to be 
 impossible. The Dutch had certainly been suc- 
 cessful beyond all other nations in projects of the 
 same kind. No people had fought against water 
 so boldly, so perseveringly, and so successfully. 
 They had made their own land out of the mud of 
 the rest of Europe, and, being rich and prosperous, 
 were read} - to enter upon similar enterprises in 
 other countries. On the death of James I., his 
 successor confirmed the preliminary arrangement 
 which had been made with Yermu)"den, with a 
 view to the drainage of Hatfield Manor; and on the 
 24th of Ma)-, 1626, after a good deal of negotiation 
 
26 
 
 FORMATION OF A DUTCH COMPANY [CHAP II 
 
 as to terms, articles were drawn up and signed 
 between the Crown and Vermuyden, by which the 
 latter undertook to reclaim the drowned lands, 
 and make them fit for tillage and pasturage. It 
 was a condition of the contract that Vermuyden 
 and his partners in the adventure were to have 
 granted to them one entire third of the lands so 
 recovered from the waters. 
 
 Vermuyden was a bold and enterprising man, 
 full of energy and resources. He also seems to 
 have possessed the confidence of capitalists in his 
 own country, for we find him shortly after proceed- 
 ing to Amsterdam to raise the requisite money, of 
 which England was then so deficient ; and a com- 
 pany was formed composed almost entirely of 
 Dutchmen, for the purpose of carrying out the 
 necessary works of reclamation. Amongst those 
 early speculators in English drainage we find the 
 names of the Valkenburgh family, the Van Peenens, 
 the Vernatti, Andrew Boccard, and John Corsellis. 
 Of the whole number of shareholders amongst 
 whom the lands were ultimately divided, the only 
 names of English sound are those of Sir James 
 Cambell, Knight, and Sir John Ogle, Knight, who 
 were about the smallest of the participants. 
 
 Several of the Dutch capitalists came over in 
 person to look after their respective interests in 
 the concern, and Vermuyden proceeded to bring 
 together from all quarters a large number of work- 
 men, mostly Dutch and Flemish. It so happened 
 that there were then settled in England numerous 
 foreign labourers — Dutchmen who had been brought 
 from Holland to embank the lands at Dagenham and 
 Canvey Island on the Thames, and others who had 
 been driven from their own countries by religious 
 
CHAP 1 1 J FOR THE DRAINAGE OF HATFIELD CHASE 2J 
 
 persecution — French Protestants from Picardy, and 
 Walloons from Flanders. The countries in which 
 those people had been born and bred resembled 
 in many respects the marsh and fen districts of 
 England, and they were practically familiar with 
 the reclamation of such lands, the digging of drains, 
 the raising of embankments, and the cultivation of 
 marshy ground. Those immigrants had already 
 settled down in large numbers in the eastern 
 counties, and along the borders of the Fens, at 
 Wisbeach, Whittlesea, Thorney, Spalding, and the 
 neighbourhood.* The poor foreigners readily 
 answered Vermuyden's call, and many of them 
 took service under him at Hatfield Chase, where 
 they set to work with such zeal, and laboured 
 with such diligence, that before the end of the 
 second year the work was so far advanced, that a 
 commission was issued for the survey and division 
 amongst the participants of the reclaimed lands. 
 
 The plan of drainage adopted seems to have 
 been, to carry the waters of the Idle by direct 
 channels into the Trent, instead of allowing them 
 to meander at will through the level of the Chase. 
 Deep drains were cut, through which the water 
 was drawn from the large pools standing near 
 Hatfield and Thorne. The Don also was blocked 
 out of the level by embankments, and forced 
 
 * It has been observed that the buildings in many of the old 
 Fen towns to this day have a Flemish appearance, as the names of 
 many of the inhabitants have evidently a foreign origin. Those of 
 Descow, Le Plas, Egar, Bruynne, &c, are said to be still common. 
 Among the settlers in the level of Hatfield was Mathew dc la 
 Pryme, who emigrated from Ypres in Flanders during the persecu- 
 tions of the Duke of Alva. The Prymes of Cambridge are lineally 
 descended from him. Tablets to several of the name are still to be 
 found in Hatfield Church. 
 
28 MAP OF THE LEVEL OF HATFIELD CHASE [CHAP II 
 
 through its northern branch, by Turn-bridge, into 
 the river Aire. But this last attempt proved a 
 mistake, for the northern channel was found in- 
 sufficient for the discharge of the waters, and 
 
 Map of the Level of Hatfield Chase. [Corrected, after Dugdale.] 
 
 floodings of the old lands about Fishlake, Syke- 
 house, and Snaith took place ; to prevent which, - 
 a wide and deep channel, called the Dutch River, 
 was afterwards cut, and the waters of the Don 
 
CHAP II] RIOTS — EXERTIONS 01" VERMUYDEN 
 
 20 
 
 were sent directly into the Ouse, near Goolc. This 
 great and unexpected addition to the cost of the 
 undertaking appears to have had a calamitous 
 effect, and brought distress and ruin on many who 
 had engaged in it. The people who dwelt on tin- 
 northern branch of the Don complained loudly of 
 the adventurers, who were denounced as foreigners 
 and marauders ; and they were not satisfied with, 
 mere outcry, but took the law into their own 
 hands ; broke down the embankments, assaulted 
 the Flemish workmen, and several persons lost 
 their lives in the course of the riots which ensued.* 
 Yermuyden did what he could to satisfy the in- 
 habitants. He emplo3'ed large numbers of native 
 workmen, at considerably higher wages than had 
 before been paid ; and he strenuously exerted him- 
 self to relieve those who had suffered from the 
 changes he. had effected, so far as could be done 
 without incurring a ruinous expense.t Dugdale 
 
 * R. Ansbie writes the Duke of Buckingham from Tickill 
 Castle, under date the 21st August, 1628, as follows : — "What has 
 happened betwixt Mr. Vermuyden's friends and workmen and the 
 people of the Isle of Axholme these inclosed will give a taste. 
 Great riots have been committed by the people, and a man killed 
 by the Dutch party, the killing of whom is conceived to be murder 
 in all who gave direction for them to go armed that day. These 
 outrages will produce good effects. They will procure conformity 
 in the people, and enforce Vermuyden to sue for favour at the 
 Duke's hands, — if not for himself, for divers of his friends, especially 
 for Mr. Satnes, a Dutchman, who has an adventure of 13,000/. in 
 this work. Upon examination of the rest of Vermuyden's people, 
 thinks it will appear that he gave them orders to go armed." — 
 ' State Papers,' vol. cxiii. 38. 
 
 t F. Vernatti, one of the Dutch capitalists who had contributed 
 largely towards the cost of the works, writes to Monsieur St. Gillis, 
 in October, 1628:— "The absence of Mr. Vermuyden, and the 
 great interest the writer takes in the business of embankment at 
 
30 VERMUYDEN SUPPORTED BY THE CROWN [CHAP II 
 
 relates that there could be no question about the 
 great benefits which the execution of the drain- 
 age works conferred upon the labouring popu- 
 lation ; for whereas, before the reclamation, the 
 country round about had been " full of wander- 
 ing beggars," these had now entirely disappeared, 
 and there was abundant employment for all who 
 would work, at good wages. An immense tract 
 of rich land had been completely recovered from 
 the waters, but it could only be made valuable and 
 productive after long and diligent cultivation. 
 
 Vermuyden was throughout well supported by 
 the Crown, and on the 6th of January, 1629, he 
 received the honour of knighthood at the hands of 
 Charles I., in recognition of the skill and energy 
 which he had displayed in adding so large a tract 
 to the cultivable lands of England. In the same 
 year he took a grant from the Crown of the whole 
 of the reclaimed lands in the manor of Hatfield, 
 amounting to about 24,500 acres, agreeing to pay 
 the Crown the sum of 16,080/., an annual rent of 
 193/. 35. Shd., one red rose ancient rent, and an 
 improved rent of 425/. from Christmas, 1630.* 
 Power was also granted him to erect one or more 
 chapels wherein the Dutch and Flemish settlers 
 might worship in their own language. They built 
 houses,, farmsteads, and windmills ; intending to 
 
 Haxey, has led him to engage in it with eye and hand. The 
 mutinous people have not only desisted from their threats, but now 
 give their work to complete the dyke, which they have fifty times 
 destroyed and thrown into the river, A royal proclamation made 
 by a serjeant-at-arms in their village, accompanied by the sheriff 
 and other officials, with fifty horsemen, and an exhortation mingled 
 with threats of fire and vengeance, have produced this result." — 
 ' State Papers,' vol. cxix. 73. 
 
 * 'State Papers,' vol. cxlvii. 21. 
 
CHAP li] 
 
 HOSTILITY OF NATIVES 
 
 31 
 
 settle down peacefully to cultivate the soil which 
 their labours had won. 
 
 It was long, however, before the hostility and 
 jealousy of the native population could be ap- 
 peased. The idea of foreigners settling as colonists 
 upon lands over which, though mere waste and 
 swamp, their forefathers had enjoyed rights of 
 common, was especially distasteful to them, and 
 bred bitterness in many hearts. The dispossessed 
 fenmen had numerous sympathisers among the rest 
 of the population. Thus, on one occasion, we find 
 the Privy Council sending down a warrant to all 
 Postmasters to furnish Sir Cornelius Yermuyden 
 with horses and a guide to enable him to ride post 
 from London to Boston, and from thence to Hat- 
 field.* But at Royston " Edward Whitehead, the 
 constable, in the absence of the postmaster, refused 
 to provide horses, and on being told he should 
 answer for his neglect, replied, ' Tush ! do your 
 worst : you shall have none of my horses in spite 
 of your teeth.' "t Complaints were made to the 
 Council of the injury done to the surrounding 
 districts by the drainage works ; and an inquisition 
 was held on the subject before the Earls of Clare 
 and Newcastle, and Sir Gervase Clifton. Yermuy- 
 den was heard in defence, and a decision was given 
 in his favour; but he seems to have acted with pre- 
 cipitancy in taking out subpoenas against many of 
 the old inhabitants for damage said to have been 
 done to him and his agents. Several persons were 
 apprehended and confined in York gaol, and the 
 
 * Warrant of Council, dated Whitehall, May 12th, 1630. — 
 ' State Papers,' vol. clxvi. 56. 
 
 t Affidavit of George Johnson, servant of Sir Cornelius Ver- 
 muyden — 'State Papers/ vol. clxx. 17. 
 
32 
 
 CUTTING OF THE DUTCH RIVER [CHAP II 
 
 feeling of bitterness between the native population 
 and the Dutch settlers grew more intense from day 
 to day. Lord Wentworth, President of the North, 
 at length interfered ; and after surveying the lands, 
 he ordered that all suits should cease. Vermuyden 
 was also directed to assign to the tenants certain 
 tracts of moor and marsh ground, to be enjoyed 
 by them in common. He attempted to evade the 
 decision, holding it to be unjust ; but the Lord 
 President was too powerful for him, and feeling 
 that further opposition was of little use, he re- 
 solved to withdraw from the undertaking, which 
 he did accordingly ; first conve3 7 ing his lands to 
 trustees, and afterwards disposing of his interest 
 in them altogether.* 
 
 The necessary steps were then taken to relieve 
 the old lands which had been flooded, bv the cut- 
 ting of the Dutch River at a heavy expense. Great 
 difficulty 7 was experienced in raising the requisite 
 funds ; the Dutch capitalists now holding their 
 hand, or transferring their interest to other pro- 
 prietors, at a serious depreciation in the value of 
 their shares. The Dutch River was, however, at 
 
 * The Dutch settlers lived for the most part in single houses, 
 dispersed through the new ly-recovered country. A house built by 
 Vermuyden remains. It was chiefly of timber, and what is called 
 stud-bound. It was built round a quadrangular court. The eastern 
 front was the dwelling-house. The other three sides were stables 
 and barns. Another good house was built by Mathew Yalkenburgh, 
 on the Middle Ing, near the Don, which afterwards became the 
 property of the Boynton family. Sir Philibert Vernatti and the 
 two De Witts erected theirs near the Idle. A chapel for the settlers 
 was also erected at Sandtoft, in which the various ordinances of 
 religion were performed, and the public service was read alternately 
 in the Dutch and French languages. — The Rev. Joseph Hunter's 
 'History and Topography of the Deanery of Dorrcaster,' 1828, 
 vol. i. 165-6. 
 
CHAP II] 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF TIIK DYKES 
 
 33 
 
 length cut, and all reasonable ground of complaint 
 so far as respected the lands along the North Don 
 was removed. For some years the new settlers 
 cultivated their lands in peace; when suddenly 
 they were reduced to the greatest distress, through 
 the troubles arising out of the wars of the 
 Commonweal ih. 
 
 In 1642 a committee sat at Lincoln to watch 
 over the interests of the Parliament in that county. 
 The Yorkshire royalists were very active on the 
 other side of the Don, and the rumour went abroad 
 that Sir Ralph Humby was about to march into the 
 Isle of Axholme with his forces. To prevent this, 
 the committee at Lincoln gave orders to break the 
 dykes, and pull up the flood-gates at Snow-sewer 
 and Millerton-sluice. Thus in one night the results 
 of many years' labour were undone, and the greater 
 part of the level again lay under water. The 
 damage inflicted on the Hatfield settlers in that 
 one night was estimated at not less than 20,000/. 
 The people who broke the dykes were, no doubt, 
 glad to have the opportunity of taking their full 
 revenge upon the foreigners for robbing them of 
 their commons. They levelled the Dutchmen's 
 houses, destroyed their growing corn, and broke 
 down their fences; and, when some of them tried 
 to stop the destruction of the sluices at Snow- 
 sewer, the rioters stood by with loaded guns, and 
 swore they would stay until the whole levels were 
 drowned again, and the foreigners forced to swim 
 away like ducks. 
 
 After the mischief had been done, the com- 
 moners set up their claims as participants in the 
 lands which had not been drowned, from which 
 the foreigners had been driven. In this they 
 
34 
 
 SETTLERS REINSTATED 
 
 [CHAP II 
 
 were countenanced by Colonel Lilburne, who, with 
 a force of Parliamentarians, occupied Sandtoft, 
 driving the Protestant minister out of his house, 
 and stabling their horses in his chapel. A bargain 
 was actually made between the Colonel and the 
 commoners, by which 2000 acres of Epworth 
 Common were to be assigned to him, on condition 
 of their right being established as to the remainder, 
 while he undertook to hold them harmless in re- 
 spect of the cruelties which they had perpetrated 
 on the poor settlers of the level. When the in- 
 jured parties attempted to obtain redress by law, 
 Lilburne, by his influence with the Parliament, the 
 arm}-, and the magistrates, parried their efforts for 
 eleven years.* He was, however, eventually com- 
 pelled to disgorge; and though the original settlers 
 at length got a decree of the Council of State 
 in their favour, and those of them who survived 
 were again permitted to occupy their holdings, the 
 nature of the case rendered it impossible that 
 the}' should receive any adequate redress for their 
 losses and sufferings.! 
 
 In the mean time Sir Cornelius Vermuyden had 
 
 * Colonel Lilburne attempted an ineffectual defence of himself 
 in the tract entitled ' The Case of the Tenants of the Manor of 
 Epworth truly stated by Col. Jno. Lilburne,' Nov. lSth, 165 1. 
 
 t For a long time after this, indeed, the commoners continued 
 at war with the settlers, and both were perpetually resorting to the 
 law — of the courts as well as of the strong hand. One Reading, 
 a counsellor, was engaged to defend the rights of the drainers or 
 participants, but his office proved a very dangerous one. The 
 fen-men regarded him as an enemy, and repeatedly endeavoured 
 to destroy him. Once they had nearly burned him and his family 
 in their beds. Reading died in 1 716, at a hundred years old, fifty 
 of which he had passed in constant clanger of personal violence, 
 having fought " thirty-one set battles " with the fen-men in defence 
 of the drainers' rights. 
 
CHAP II] 
 
 DRAINAGE OF THE FEN LEVEL 
 
 35 
 
 not been idle. He was as eagerly speculative as 
 ever. Before he parted with his interest in the 
 reclaimed lands at Hatfield, he was endeavouring 
 to set on foot his scheme for the reclamation of 
 the drowned lands in the Cambridge Fens ; for we 
 find the Earl of Bedford, in July, 1630, writing to 
 Sir Harry Vane, recommending him to join Sir 
 Cornelius and himself in the enterprise. Before 
 the end of the year Yermuyden entered into a 
 contract with the Crown for the purchase of Mal- 
 vern Chase, in the county of Worcester, for the 
 sum of 5000/., which he forthwith proceeded to 
 reclaim and enclose. Shortly after he took a grant 
 of 4000 acres of waste land on Sedgemoor, with the 
 same object, for which he paid 12,000/. Then in 
 1631 we find him, in conjunction with Sir Robert 
 Heath, taking a lease for thirty years of the Dove- 
 gang lead-mine, near Wirksworth, reckoned the 
 best in the county of Derby. But from this point 
 he seems to have become involved in a series of 
 lawsuits, from which he never altogether shook 
 himself free. His connection with the Hatfield 
 estates got him into legal, if not pecuniary diffi- 
 culties, and he appears for some time to have 
 suffered imprisonment. He was also harassed by 
 the disappointed Dutch capitalists at the Hague 
 and Amsterdam, who had suffered heavy losses 
 by their investments at Hatfield, and took legal 
 proceedings against him. He had no sooner, 
 however, emerged from confinement than we find 
 him fully occupied with his new and grand project 
 for the drainage of the Great Level of the Fens. 
 
 The outfalls of the numerous rivers flowing 
 through the Fen Level having become neglected, 
 the waters were everywhere regaining their old 
 
 d 2 
 
36 
 
 FRANCIS, EARL OF BEDFORD [CHAP II 
 
 dominion. Districts which had been partially re- 
 claimed were again becoming drowned, and even 
 the older settled farms and villages situated upon 
 the islands of the Fens were threatened with like 
 ruin. The Commissioners of Sewers at Hunting- 
 don attempted to raise funds for improving the 
 drainage by levying a tax of six shillings an acre 
 upon all marsh and fen lands, but not a shilling of 
 the tax was collected. This measure having failed, 
 the Commissioners of Sewers of Norfolk, at a 
 session held at King's Lynn, in 1629, determined 
 to call to their aid Sir Cornelius Vermu3'den. At 
 an interview to which he was invited, he offered to 
 find the requisite funds to undertake the drainage 
 of the Level, and to carry out the works after the 
 plans submitted by him, on condition that 95,000 
 acres of the reclaimed lands were granted to him 
 as a recompense. A contract was entered into on 
 those terms ; but so great an outcry was immedi- 
 ately raised against such an arrangement being 
 made with a foreigner, that it was abrogated before 
 many months had passed. 
 
 Then it was that Francis, Earl of Bedford, the 
 owner of many of the old church-lands in the Fens, 
 was induced to take the place of Vermuyden, and 
 become chief undertaker in the drainage of the 
 extensive tract of fen country now so well known 
 as the Great Bedford Level. Several of the ad- 
 joining landowners entered into the project with 
 the Earl, contributing sums towards the work, in 
 return for which a proportionate acreage of the 
 reclaimed lands was to be allotted to them. The 
 new undertakers, however, could not dispense 
 with the services of Vermuyden. He had, after 
 long stud}- of the district, prepared elaborate plans 
 
Map of the Fens as drained in 1830. [After Telford's Plan and the Ordnance Survey.! 
 
33 DRAINAGE OF THE GREAT LEVEL [ciIAP II 
 
 for its drainage, and, besides, had at his command 
 an organised staff of labourers, mostly Flemings, 
 who were well accustomed to this kind of work. 
 Westerdyke, also a Dutchman, prepared and sub- 
 mitted plans, but Vermuyden's were preferred, and 
 he was accordingly authorised to proceed with the 
 enterprise. 
 
 The difficulties encountered in carrying on the 
 works were very great, arising principally from 
 the want of funds. The Earl of Bedford became 
 seriously crippled in his resources ; he raised 
 money upon his other property until he could 
 raise no more, while many of the smaller under- 
 takers were completely ruined. Vermuyden mean- 
 while took energetic measures to provide the 
 requisite means to pay the workmen and prose- 
 cute the drainage; until the undertakers became so 
 largely his debtors that they were under the neces- 
 sity of conveying to him many thousand acres of 
 the reclaimed lands, even before the works were 
 completed, as security for the large sums which 
 he had advanced. 
 
 The most important of the new works executed 
 at this stage were as follows ; — Bedford River (now 
 known as Old Bedford River), extending from 
 Erith on the Ouse to Salter's Lode on the same 
 river: this cut was 70 feet wide and 21 miles long, 
 and its object was to relieve and take off the high 
 floods of the Ouse.* Bevill's Learn was another 
 
 * We insert the map on the preceding page at this place, 
 although it includes the drainage-works subsequently constructed, 
 in order that the reader may be enabled more readily to follow the 
 history of the various cuts and drains executed in the Fen country 
 from about the middle of the sixteenth century down to about the 
 year 1830. 
 
CHAP II] 
 
 DRAINAGE OF THE GREAT LEVEL 
 
 39 
 
 extensive cut, extending from Whittlesea Mere to 
 Guyhirne, 40 feet wide and 10 miles long; Sam's 
 Cut, from Feltwell to the Ouse, 20 feet wide and 
 6 miles long; Sandy's Cut, near Ely, 40 feet wide 
 and 2 miles long; Peakirk Drain, 17 feet wide and 
 10 miles long; with other drains, such as Milden- 
 hall, New South Eau, and Shire Drain. Sluices 
 were also erected at Tydd upon Shire Drain, at 
 Salter's Eode, and at the Horseshoe below Wis- 
 beach, together with a clow,* at Clow's Cross, to 
 keep out the tides ; while a strong fresh-water 
 sluice was also provided at the upper end of the 
 Bedford River. 
 
 These works were not permitted to proceed 
 without great opposition on the part of the Fen- 
 men, who frequently assembled to fill up the cuts 
 which the labourers had dug, and to pull down 
 the banks which they had constructed. They also 
 abused and maltreated the foreigners when the 
 opportunity offered, and sometimes mobbed them 
 while employed upon the drains, so that in several 
 places they had to work under a guard of armed 
 men. Difficult though it was to deal with the 
 unreclaimed bogs, the unreclaimed " fen-slodgcrs " 
 were still more impracticable. Although their 
 condition was very miserable, they nevertheless 
 enjoyed a sort of wild liberty amidst the watery 
 wastes, which they were not disposed to give up. 
 Though they might alternately shiver and burn 
 with ague, and become prematurely bowed and 
 twisted with rheumatism, still the Fens were 
 their " native land," such as it was, and their only 
 
 * A clow is a sluice regulated by being lifted or dropped per- 
 pendicularly, like a portcullis. The other sluices open and shut 
 like gates. 
 
40 
 
 OPPOSITION OF THE FEN-MEN [CHAP II 
 
 source of subsistence, precarious though it might 
 be. The Fens were their commons, on which 
 their geese grazed. They furnished them with 
 food, though the finding thereof was full of ad- 
 venture and hazard. What cared the Fen-men 
 for the drowning of the land? Did not the water 
 bring them fish, and the fish attract wild fowl, 
 which they could snare and shoot ? Thus the 
 proposal to drain the Fens and to convert them 
 into wholesome and fruitful lands, however impor- 
 tant in a national point of view, as enlarging the 
 resources and increasing the wealth of the country, 
 had no attraction whatever in the eyes of the Fen- 
 men. They muttered their discontent, and every- 
 where met the " adventurers," as the reclaimers were 
 called, with angry though ineffectual opposition. 
 But their numbers were too few, and they were 
 two widely scattered, to make any combined effort 
 at resistance. The}* could only retreat to other 
 fens where they thought they might still be safe, 
 carrying their discontent with them, and com- 
 plaining that their commons were taken from them 
 by the rich, and, what was worse, by foreigners — 
 Dutch and Flemings. The jealous John Bull of 
 the towns became alarmed at this idea, and had 
 rather that the water than these foreigners had 
 possession of the land. " What ! " asked one of 
 the objectors, " is the old activitie and abilities of 
 the English nation grown now soe dull and insuffi- 
 cient that wee must pray in ayde of our neighbours 
 to improve our own demaynes? For matter of 
 securitie, shall wee esteem it of small moment to 
 put into the hands of strangers three or four such 
 ports as Linne, Wisbeach, Spalding, and Boston, 
 and permit the countrie within and between them 
 
CHAP II] 
 
 THE POWTE'S COMPLAINT' 
 
 4> 
 
 to be peopled with overthvvart neighbours; or, if 
 the}' quaile themselves, must wee give place to 
 our most auncient and daungerous enemies, who 
 will be readie enough to take advantage of soe 
 manie fair inlets into the bosom of our land, lying 
 soe near together that an army landing in each of 
 them may easily meet and strongly entrench them- 
 selves with walls of water, and drowne the countrie 
 about them at their pleasure ?" * 
 
 Thus a great agitation against the drainage 
 sprang up in the Fen districts, and a wide-spread 
 discontent prevailed, which, as we shall afterwards 
 find, exercised an important influence on the events 
 which culminated in the Great Rebellion of a few 
 years later. Among the other agencies brought 
 to bear against the Fen drainers was the publi- 
 cation of satirical songs and ballads — the only 
 popular press of the time ; and the popular poets 
 doubtless represented accurately enough the then 
 state of public opinion, as their ballads were sung 
 with great applause about the streets of the Fen 
 towns. One of these, entitled, 'The Powte'sf 
 Complaint,' was among the most popular. 
 
 * 'The Drayner Confirmed,' tract, 1629. 
 
 t Powte — the old English word for the sea-lamprey. 
 
 The Powte's Complaint. 
 
 Come, Brethren of the water, and let us all assemble, 
 
 To treat upon this Matter, which makes us quake and tremble ; 
 
 For we shall rue, if it t>e true that Fens be undertaken, 
 
 And where we feed in Fen and Reed, they*]l feed both Beef and Bacon. 
 
 They'll sow both Beans and Oats, where never Man yet thought it ; 
 Where Men did row in Boats, ere Undertakers bought it ; 
 But, Ceres, thou behold us now, let wild Oats be their Venture, 
 Oh, let the Frogs and miry Bogs destroy where they do enter. 
 
 Behold the great Design, whieh they do now determine. 
 Will make our Bodies pine, a prey to Crows and Vermine - 
 
42 
 
 ' THE DRAINING OF THE FENS ' [CHAP II 
 
 In another popular drinking song, entitled 'The 
 Draining of the Fennes,' the Dutchmen are pointed 
 out as the great offenders. The following stanzas 
 may serve as a specimen : — 
 
 "The Dutchman hath a thirsty soul, 
 Our cellars are subject to his call ; 
 Let every man, then, lay hold on his bowl, 
 3 Tis pity the German sea should have all. 
 
 For they do mean all Fens to drain, and Waters overmaster. 
 
 All will be dry, and we must die — 'cause Essex Calves want pasture. 
 
 Away with Boats and Rudder, farcwel both Roots and Skatches. 
 No need of one nor t'other, Men now make better Matches ; 
 Stilt-makers all, and Tanners, shall complain of this Disaster, 
 For they will make each muddy lake for Essex Calves a Pasture. 
 
 The feather'd Fowls have Wings, to fly to other Nations ; 
 
 But we have no such things, to help our Transportations ; 
 
 We must give place, O grevious Case ! to horned Beasts and Cattle 
 
 Except that we can all agree to drive them out by Battel. 
 
 Wherefore let us m treat our anticnt Water-Nurses 
 
 To shew their Power so great as t' help to drain their Purses 
 
 And send us good old Captain Flood to lead us out to Battel, 
 
 Then Two-penny Jack, with Scales on 's Back, will drive out all the Cattle. 
 
 This Noble Captain yet was never known to fail us, 
 But did the conquest get of all that did assail us ; 
 
 His furious Rage none could assuage ; but, to the World's great Wonder 
 He tears down Banks, and breaks their Cranks and Whirligigs assunder. 
 
 God Eolus, we do thee pray that thou wilt not be wanting ; 
 Thou never said'st us nay — now listen to our canting; 
 Do thou deride their Hope and Pride that purpose our Confusion, 
 And send a Blast that they in haste may work no good Conclusion. 
 
 Great Neptune, God of Seas, this Work must needs provoke ye ; 
 
 They mean thee to disease, and with Fen- Water choak thee ; 
 
 But with thy Mace do thou deface, and quite confound this matter, 
 
 And send thy Sands to make dry lands when they shall want fresh Water. 
 
 And eke we pray thee, Moon, that thou wilt be propitious, 
 To see that nought be done to prosper the Malicious ; 
 
 Tho' Summer's Heat hath wrought a Feat, whereby themselves they flatter, 
 Yet be so good as send a Flood, lest Essex Calves want Water. 
 
CHAP II] _ UNSATISFACTORY RF.SFI.T OF DRAINAGE 43 
 
 Then apace, apace drink, drink deep, drink deep, 
 Whilst 'tis to be had lets the liquor ply ; 
 
 The drainers are up, and a coile they keep, 
 And threaten to drain the kingdom dry. 
 
 Why should we stay here, and perish with thirst ; 
 
 To th' new world in the moon away let us goc, 
 For if the Dutch colony yet thither first, 
 
 ' l is a thousand to one but they'll drain that too ! 
 
 Ckorus — Then apace, apace drink, Sec." 
 
 The Fen drainers might, however, have out- 
 lived these attacks, had the works executed b\- 
 them been successful ; but unhappily they failed 
 in many respects. Notwithstanding the numerous 
 deep cuts made across the Fens in all directions 
 at such great cost, the waters still retained their 
 hold upon the land. The Bedford River and the 
 other drains merely acted as so many additional 
 receptacles for the surplus water, without relieving 
 the drowned districts to any appreciable extent. 
 This arose from the engineer confining his atten- 
 tion almost exclusively to the inland draining and 
 embankments, while he neglected to provide any 
 sufficient outfalls for the waters themselves into 
 the sea. Vermuyden committed the error of adopt- 
 ing the Dutch method of drainage, in a district 
 where the circumstances differed in many material 
 respects from those which prevailed in Holland. 
 In Zeeland, for instance, the few rivers passing 
 through it were easily banked up and carried 
 out to sea, whilst the low-lying lands were kept 
 clear of surplus water by pumps driven by wind- 
 mills. There, the main object of the engineer was 
 to build back the river and the ocean ; whereas 
 in the Great Level the problem to be solved was, 
 how to provide a ready outfall to the sea for the vast 
 
44 the kino undertakes reclamation . [chap 11 
 
 body of freshwater falling upon as well as flowing 
 through the Fens themselves. This essential point 
 was unhappily overlooked by the earty drainers ; 
 and it has thus happened that the chief work of 
 modern engineers has been to rectify the errors 
 of Vermuyden and his followers ; more especially 
 by providing efficient outlets for the discharge of 
 the Fen waters, deepening and straightening the 
 rivers, and compressing the streams in their course 
 through the Level, so as to produce a more power- 
 ful current and scour, down to their point of outfall 
 into the sea. 
 
 This important condition of successful drainage 
 having been overlooked, it may readily be under- 
 stood how unsatisfactory was the result of the 
 works first carried out in the Bedford Level. In 
 some districts the lands were no doubt improved 
 by the additional receptacles provided for the 
 surplus waters, but the great extent of fen land 
 still lay for the most part wet, waste, and un- 
 profitable. Hence, in 1634, a Commission of 
 Sewers held at Huntingdon pronounced the drain- 
 age to be defective, and the 400,000 acres of the 
 Great Level to be still subject to inundation, espe- 
 cially in the winter season. The King, Charles I., 
 then resolved himself to undertake the reclama- 
 tion, with the object of converting the Level, 
 if possible, into " winter grounds.'' He took so 
 much personal interest in the work that he even 
 designed a town to be called Charleville, which 
 was to be built in the midst of the Level, for the 
 purpose of commemorating the undertaking. Sir 
 Cornelius Vermuyden was again employed, and 
 he proceeded to carry out the King's design. He 
 had many enemies, but he could not be. dispensed 
 
chap h] 
 
 THE CIVIL WAR 
 
 45 
 
 with; being the only man of recognised ability in 
 works of drainage at that time in England. 
 
 The works constructed in pursuance of this 
 new design were these: — an embankment on the 
 south side of Morton's Leam, from Peterborough 
 to Wisbeach ; a navigable sasse, or sluice, at 
 Standground ; a new river cut between the stone 
 sluice at the Horse-shoe and the sea below Wis- 
 beach, 60 feet broad and 2 miles long, embanked 
 at both sides; and a new sluice in the marshes 
 below Tydd, upon the outfall of Shire Drain. 
 These and other works were in full progress, 
 when the political troubles of the time came to 
 a height, and brought all operations to a stand- 
 still for many years. The discontent caused 
 throughout the Fens by the drainage operations 
 had by no means abated; but, on the contrary, 
 considerably increased. In other parts of the 
 kingdom, the attempts made about the same time 
 by Charles I. to levy taxes without the authority 
 of Parliament gave rise to much agitation. In 
 1637 occurred Hampden's trial, arising out of his 
 resistance to the payment of ship-money : by the 
 end of the same year the King and the Parlia- 
 mentary party were mustering their respective 
 forces, and a collision between them seemed 
 imminent. 
 
 At this juncture the discontent which prevailed 
 throughout the Fen counties was an element of 
 influence not to be neglected. It was adroitly 
 represented that the King's sole object in drain- 
 ing the Fens was merely to fill his impoverished 
 exchequer, and enable him to govern without a 
 Parliament. The discontent became fanned into 
 a fierce flame; on which Oliver Cromwell, the 
 
4 6 
 
 OPPOSITION OF CROMWELL 
 
 [CHAP II 
 
 member for Huntingdon, until then comparatively 
 unknown, availing himself of the opportunity 
 which offered, of increasing the influence of the 
 Parliamentary party in the Fen counties, imme- 
 diately put himself at the head of a vigorous 
 agitation against the further prosecution of the 
 scheme. He was very soon the most popular 
 man in the district ; he was hailed ' Lord of the 
 Fens ' by the Fen-men ; and he went from meet- 
 ing to meeting, stirring up the public discontent, 
 and giving it a suitable direction. " From that 
 instant," says Mr. Forster,* " the scheme became 
 thoroughly hopeless. With such desperate deter- 
 mination he followed up his purpose — so actively 
 traversed the district, and inflamed the people 
 everywhere — so passionately described the greedy 
 claims of royalty, the gross exactions of the com- 
 mission, nay, the questionable character of the 
 improvement itself, even could it have gone on 
 unaccompanied by incidents of tyranny, — to the 
 small proprietors insisting that their poor claims 
 would be merely scorned in the new distribu- 
 tion of the property reclaimed, — to the labouring 
 peasants that all the profit and amusement they 
 had derived from commoning in those extensive 
 wastes were about to be snatched for ever from 
 them, — that, before his almost individual energy, 
 King, commissioners, noblemen-projectors, all were- 
 forced to retire, and the great project, even in the 
 state it then was, fell to the ground." 
 
 The success of the Cambridge Fen-men, in 
 resisting the reclamation of the wastes, encouraged 
 those in the more northern districts to take even 
 
 * Lives of Eminent British Statesmen (Lardner's ' Cabinet 
 Cyclopaedia,' vol. vi. p. 60). 
 
CHAP II] TIIF. LEVEL AGAIN LYING WASTE 
 
 47 
 
 more summary measures to get rid of the drainers, 
 and restore the lands to their former state. The 
 Earl of Lindsey had succeeded at great cost in 
 enclosing and draining about 35,000 acres oi the 
 Lindsey Level, and induced numerous farmers and 
 labourers to settle upon the land. They erected 
 dwellings and farm-buildings, and were busily at 
 work, when the Fen-men suddenly broke in upon 
 them, destroyed their buildings, killed their cattle, 
 and let in the waters again upon the land. So, 
 too, in the West and Wildmore Fen district be- 
 tween Tattershall and Boston in Lincolnshire, 
 where considerable progress had been made by 
 a bod} - of "adventurers" in reclaiming the wastes. 
 After many years' labour and much cost, they had 
 succeeded in draining, enclosing, and cultivating 
 an extensive tract of rich land, and they were 
 peaceably occupied with their farming pursuits, 
 when a mob of Fen-men collected from the sur- 
 rounding districts, and under pretence of playing 
 at football, levelled the enclosures, burnt the corn 
 and the houses, destroyed the cattle, and even 
 killed many of the people who occupied the land. 
 They then proceeded to destroy the drainage 
 works, by cutting across the embankments and 
 damming up the drains, by which the country was 
 again inundated and restored to its original state. 
 
 The greater part of the Level thus again lay 
 waste, and the waters were everywhere extending 
 their dominion over the dry land through the 
 choking up of the drains and river outfalls by the 
 deposit of silt. Matters were becoming even 
 worse than before, but could not be allowed thus 
 to continue. In 1641 the Earl of Bedford and his 
 participants made an application to the Long 
 
48 VERMUYDEN AGAIN UPON THE SCENE [CHAP II 
 
 Parliament, then sitting, for permission to re-enter 
 upon the works; but the civil commotions which 
 still continued prevented any steps being taken, 
 and the Earl himself shortly after died in a state 
 of comparative penury, to which he had reduced 
 himself by his devotion to this great work. 
 Again, however, we find Sir Cornelius Vermuyden 
 upon the scene. Undaunted by adversitj-, and 
 undismayed by the popular outrages committed 
 upon his poor countrymen in Lincolnshire and 
 Yorkshire, he still urged that the common weal 
 of England demanded that the rich lands lying 
 under the waters of the Fens should be reclaimed, 
 and made profitable for human uses. He saw a 
 district almost as large as the whole of the Dutch 
 United Provinces remaining waste and worse than 
 useless, and he gave himself no rest until he had 
 set on foot some efficient measure for its drainage 
 and reclamation. What part he took in the 
 political discussions of the time, we know not; 
 but we find the eldest of his sons, Cornelius, a 
 colonel in the Parliamentary army * stationed in 
 the Fens under Fairfax, shortly before the battle 
 of Naseby. Vermuyden himself was probably too 
 much engrossed by his drainage project to give 
 heed to political affairs; and besides, he could not 
 forget that Charles, and Charles's father, had been 
 his fast friends. 
 
 * " The party under Vermuyden waits the King's army, and is 
 about Deeping ; has a command to join with Sir John Cell, if he 
 commands him." — Cromwell's Letter to Fairfax, 4th June, 1645. 
 This Vermuyden resigned his commission a few days before the 
 battle of Naseby, having, as he alleged, special reasons requiring 
 his presence beyond the seas, whence he docs not seem to have 
 returned until after the Restoration. In 1665 we find him a member 
 of the Corporation of the Bedford Level. 
 
LOCKS MILL (AT SPALDING) IN THE FEN COUNTRY. 
 
 [To/act p.#. 
 
chap n] vermuyden's NEW OPERATIONS 49 
 
 In 1642, while the civil war was still raging, 
 appeared Vermuyden's 'Discourse' on the Drain- 
 age of the Fens, wherein he pointed out the 
 works which still remained to be executed in 
 order effectually to reclaim the 400,000 acres of 
 land capable of growing corn, which formed the 
 area of the Great Level. His suggestions formed 
 the subject of much pamphleteering discussion 
 for several years, during which also numerous 
 petitions were presented to Parliament, urging 
 the necessity for perfecting the drainage. At 
 length, in 1649, authority was granted to William, 
 Earl of Bedford, and other participants, to prose- 
 cute the undertaking which his father had begun, 
 and steps were shortly after taken to recommence 
 the works. Again was Westerdyke, the Dutch 
 engineer, called in to criticise Vermuyden's plans; 
 and again was Yermuyden triumphant over his 
 opponent. He was selected, once more, to direct 
 the drainage, which, looking at the defects of the 
 works previously executed by him, and the diffi- 
 culties in which the first Earl had thereby become 
 involved, must be regarded as a marked proof 
 of the man's force of purpose, as well as of his 
 recognised integrity of character. 
 
 Yermuyden again collected his Dutchmen about 
 him, and vigorously began operations. Hut they 
 had not proceeded far before they were again 
 almost at a standstill for want of funds ; and 
 throughout their entire progress they were ham- 
 pered and hindered by the same great difficulty. 
 Some of the participants sold and alienated their 
 shares in order to get rid of further liabilities; 
 others held on, but became reduced to the lowest 
 ebb. Means were, however, adopted to obtain a 
 
5o 
 
 vermuyden's new operations [chap II 
 
 supply of cheaper labour ; and application was 
 made by the adventurers for a supply of men 
 from amongst the Scotch prisoners who had been 
 taken at the battle of Dunbar. A thousand of 
 them were granted for the purpose, and employed 
 on the works to the north of Bedford River, 
 where they continued to labour until the political 
 arrangements between the two countries enabled 
 them to return home. When the Scotch labourers 
 had left, some difficulty was again experienced in 
 carrying on the works. The local population 
 were still hostile, and occasionally interrupted the 
 labourers employed upon them ; a serious riot at' 
 Swaffham having only been put down by the 
 help of the military. Blake's victory over Van 
 Tromp, in 1652, opportunely supplied the Govern- 
 ment with a large number of Dutch prisoners, five 
 hundred of whom were at once forwarded to the 
 Level, where they proved of essential service as 
 labourers. 
 
 The most important of the new rivers, drains, 
 and sluices included in this further undertaking, 
 were the following: — The New Bedford River, 
 cut from Erith on the Ouse to Salter's Lode on 
 the same river, reducing its course between these 
 points from 40 to 20 miles : this new river was 
 100 feet broad, and ran nearly parallel with the 
 Old Bedford River. A high bank was raised 
 along the south side of the new cut, and an 
 equally high bank along the north side of the old 
 river, a large space of land, of about 5000 acres, 
 being left between them, called the Washes, for 
 the floods to " bed in," as Vermuyden termed it. 
 Then the river Welland was defended by a bank, 
 70 feet broad and 8 feet high, extending from 
 
CHAP II] VERMUYDENS NEW OPERATIONS 5 I 
 
 Peakirk to the Holland bank. The river Nene 
 was also defended by a similar bank, extending 
 from Peterborough to Guyhirne ; and another 
 bank was raised between Standground and Guy- 
 hirne, so as to defend the Middle Level from the 
 overflowing of the Northamptonshire waters. The 
 river Ouse was in like manner restrained by high 
 banks extending from Over to Erith, where a 
 navigable sluice was provided. Smith's Learn 
 was cut, by which the navigation from Wisbeach 
 to Peterborough was opened out. Among the 
 other cuts and drains completed at the same time, 
 were Yermuyden's Eau, or the Forty Feet Drain, 
 extending from Welch's Dam to the river Nene 
 near Ramsey Mere; Hammond's Eau, near Somers- 
 ham, in the county of Huntingdon; Stonea Drain 
 and Moore's Drain, near March, in the Isle of Ely ; 
 Thurlow's Drain, extending from the Forty Feet 
 to Popham's Eau; and Conquest Lode, leading to 
 Whittlesea Mere. And in order to turn the tidal 
 waters into the Hundred Feet River, as well as 
 to prevent the upland floods from passing up the 
 Ten Mile River towards Littleport, Denver Sluice, 
 that great bone of after contention, was constructed. 
 Another important work in the South Level was 
 the cutting of a large river called St. John's, or 
 Downham Eau,* 120 feet wide, and 10 feet deep, 
 from Denver Sluice to Stow Bridge on the Ouse, 
 with sluices at both ends, for the purpose of 
 carrying away with greater facility the flood waters 
 descending from the several rivers of that level. 
 Various new sluices were also fixed at the mouths 
 
 * The St. John's Eau, being a straight cut, is known in the 
 district as "The Poker;" and Marshland Cut, being in the shape 
 of a pair of tongs, is commonly called " Tong Drain.'' 
 
52 
 
 commissioners' inspection 
 
 [chap II 
 
 of the rivers, to prevent the influx of the tides, 
 and most of the old drains and cuts were at the 
 same time scoured out and opened for the more 
 ready flow of the surface waters. 
 
 At length, in March, 1652, the works were de- 
 clared to be complete, and the Lords Commis- 
 sioners of Adjudication appointed under the Act 
 of Parliament proceeded to inspect them. They 
 embarked upon the New River, and sailing over it 
 to Stow Bridge, surveyed the new eaus and sluices 
 executed near that place, after which they returned 
 to Ely. There Sir Cornelius read to those as- 
 sembled a discourse, in which he explained the 
 design he had carried out for the drainage of the 
 district ; in the course of which he stated as one of 
 the results of the undertaking, that in the North 
 and Middle Levels there were already 40,000 acres 
 of land " sown with cole-seed, wheat, and other 
 winter grain, besides innumerable quantities of 
 sheep, cattle, and other stock, where never had 
 been any before. " These works," he added, " have 
 proved themselves sufficient, as well by the great 
 tide about a month since, which overflowed Marsh- 
 land banks, and drowned much ground in Lincoln- 
 shire and other places, and a flood by reason of a 
 great snow, and rain upon it following soon after, 
 and yet never hurt any part of the whole Level ; and 
 the view of them, and the consideration of what hath 
 previously been said, proves a clear draining accord- 
 ing to the Act." He concluded thus, — "I presume to 
 say no more of the work, lest I should be accounted 
 vain-glorious; although I might truly affirm that 
 the present or former age have done nothing like 
 it for the general good of the nation. I humbly 
 desire that God may have the glory, for his blessing 
 
CHAP II] COMPLETION' OF THE UNDERTAKING 
 
 53 
 
 and bringing to perfection my poor endeavours, 
 at the vast charge of the Earl of Bedford and his 
 participants." 
 
 A public thanksgiving took place to celebrate 
 the completion of the undertaking ; and on the 
 27th of March, 1653, the Lords Commissioners of 
 Adjudication of the Reclaimed Lands, accompanied 
 by their officers and suite, — the Company of Ad- 
 venturers, headed by the Earl of Bedford, — the 
 magistrates and leading men of the district, with 
 a vast concourse of other persons, — attended 
 public worship in the cathedral of Ely, when the 
 Rev. Hugh Peters, chaplain to the Lord-General 
 Cromwell, preached a sermon on the occasion. 
 
 Vermuyden's perseverance had thus far tri- 
 umphed. He had stood by his scheme when all 
 others held aloof from it. Amidst the engrossing 
 excitement of the civil war, the one dominating idea 
 which possessed him was the drainage of the Great 
 Level. While the nation was divided into two hos- 
 tile camps, and the deadly struggle was proceeding 
 between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, 
 Vermuyden's sole concern was how to raise 1 the 
 funds wherewith to pay his peaceful army of Dutch 
 labourers in the Pens. To cany on the works he 
 sold every acre of the soil he had reclaimed. He 
 first sold the allotment of land won by him from 
 the Thames at Dagenham in 1621 ; then he sold his 
 interest in his lands at Sedgemoor and Malvern 
 Chase; and in 1654 we find him conveying the 
 remainder of his property in Hatfield Level. He 
 was also under the necessity of selling all the lands 
 apportioned to him in the Bedford Level itself, in 
 order to pay the debts incurred in their drainage. 
 But although he lost all, it appears that the company 
 
54 
 
 vermuyden's losses 
 
 [chap ii 
 
 in the end preferred heavy pecuniary claims 
 against him which he had no means of meeting; 
 and in 1656 we find him appearing before Parlia- 
 ment as a suppliant for redress. Thenceforward 
 he entirely disappears from public sight; and it is 
 supposed that, very shortly after, he went abroad 
 and died, a poor, broken down old man, the exten- 
 sive lands which he had reclaimed and owned 
 having been conveyed to strangers. 
 
 The drainage of the Fens, however, was not yet 
 complete. The district was no longer a boggy 
 wilderness, but much of it in fine seasons was 
 covered with waving crops of corn. As the swamps 
 were drained, farm buildings, villages, and towns 
 gradually sprang up, and the toil of the labourer 
 was repaid by abundant harvests. The anticipation 
 held forth in the original charter granted by 
 Charles I. to the reclaimers of the Bedford Level 
 was more than fulfilled. " In those places which 
 lately presented nothing to the eyes of the be- 
 holders but great waters and a few reeds thinly 
 scattered here and there, under the Divine mercy 
 might be seen pleasant pastures of cattle and kine, 
 and many houses belonging to the inhabitants." 
 But the tenure by which the land continued to be 
 held was unremitting vigilance* and industry; the 
 
 * Since the above passage was written, in 1861, its truth has 
 been amply confirmed by the blowing up of the Middle Level sluice, 
 about three miles above Lynn, by w hich some 10,000 acres of the 
 richest agricultural land in Marshland w ere completely submerged. 
 Great loss was thereby occasioned, and a fertile crop of lawsuits 
 has followed the inundation. The Middle Level Drain was ad- 
 mirably planned by the late James Walker, C.F., and was supposed 
 to have been as admirably executed, at a cost of over 400,000/. 
 For ten years it was a complete success ; but the foundations of 
 the outfall sluice having become undermined by the tidal scour in 
 
CHAP n] STEADY PROGRESS OF IMPROVEMENTS 
 
 difficulties interposed by nature tending to disci- 
 pline the skill, to stimulate the enterprise, and evoke 
 the energy of the people who had rescued the fields 
 from the watery waste. 
 
 Improvements of all kinds went steadily on, 
 until all the rivers flowing through the Level were 
 artificially banked and diverted into new channels, 
 excepting the Nene, which is the only natural river 
 in the Fen district remaining comparatively un- 
 altered. New dykes, causeways, embankments, 
 and sluices were formed ; many droves, learns, 
 eaus, and drains were cut, furnished with gowts 
 or gates at their lower ends, which were from time 
 to time dug, deepened, and widened. Mills were 
 set to work to pump out the water from the low 
 grounds; first windmills, sometimes with double- 
 lifts, as practised in Holland ; and more recently 
 powerful steam-engines. Sluices were also erected 
 to prevent the inland waters from returning ; strong 
 embankments extending in all directions, to keep 
 the rivers and tides within their defined channels. 
 To protect the land from the sea waters as well 
 as the fresh, — to build and lock back the former, 
 and to keep the latter within due limits, — was 
 the work of the engineer ; and by his skill, aided 
 by the industry of his contractors and workmen, 
 water, instead of being the master and tyrant as 
 of old, became man's servant and pliant agent, 
 and was used as an irrigator, a conduit, a mill- 
 stream, or a water-road for extensive districts of 
 country. In short, in no part of the world, except 
 
 the Ouse, the masonry fell in, and the w aters immediately rushed 
 in upon the land and resumed possession. The drainage has since 
 been restored in a very able and efficient manner by M r. Hawkshaw, 
 and Marshland is again under cultivation. 
 
56 
 
 PRESENT STATE OF THE FENS [dlAP II 
 
 in Holland, have more industry and skill been 
 displayed in reclaiming and preserving the soil, 
 than in Lincolnshire and the districts of the Great 
 Bedford Level. Six hundred and eighty thousand 
 acres of the most fertile land in England, or an 
 area equal to that of North and South Holland, 
 have been converted from a dreary waste into 
 a fruitful plain, and fleets of vessels traverse the 
 district itself, freighted with its rich produce. 
 Taking its average annual value at 4/. an acre, the 
 addition to the national wealth and resources ma}- 
 be readilv calculated. 
 
 The prophecies of the decay that would fall 
 upon the country, if " the valuable race of Fen- 
 men " were deprived of their pools for pike, and 
 fish, and wild-fowl, have long since been ex- 
 ploded. The population has grown in numbers, 
 in health, and in comfort, with the progress of 
 drainage and reclamation. The Fens are no longer 
 the lurking places of disease,* but as salubrious 
 as any other parts of England. Dreary swamps 
 are supplanted by pleasant pastures, and the haunts 
 of pike and wild-fowl have become the habitations 
 of industrious farmers and husbandmen. Even 
 Whittlesea Mere and Ramsey Mere, — the only two 
 lakes, as we were told in the geography books 
 
 * When Dr. Whallcy was presented by the liishop of Ely to 
 the rectory of Hagworthingham-in-the-Fens, it was with the singular 
 proviso that he was not to reside in it, as the air was fatal to any 
 but a native. (Journals and Correspondence of T. S. \\ halley, 
 J).D.) Statistics, however, prove that the Fen districts are the 
 exceptional haunts of disease. The Registrar-General, in one 
 of his recent reports, states that, whilst the mortality of Pau 
 in the Pyrenees, a place resorted to by British invalids on 
 account of its salubriousness, is 23 in 1000, that of Ely is only 
 17 in 1000. 
 
CHAP II] PRESENT STATE OF THE FENS 
 
 57 
 
 of our younger days, to be found in the south 
 of England, — have been blotted out of the map, 
 for they have been drained by the engineer, and 
 are now covered with smiling farms and pleasant 
 homesteads. 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SIR HUGH MYDDELTON. — THE CUTTING OF THE NEW 
 RIVER. 
 
 While the engineer has occasionally to contend 
 with all his skill against the powers of water, he 
 has also to deal with it as a useful agent. Though 
 water, like fire, is a bad master, the engineer con- 
 trives to render it docile and tractable. He leads 
 it in artificial channels for the purpose of driving 
 mills and machinery, or he employs it to feed canals 
 along which boats and ships laden with merchandise 
 may be safely floated. 
 
 But water is also an indispensable necessary of 
 life, an abundant supply of it being essential for 
 human health and comfort. Hence nearly all the 
 ancient towns and cities were planted by the banks 
 of rivers, principally because the inhabitants re- 
 quired a plentiful supply of water for their daily 
 uses. Old London had not only the advantage of 
 its pure broad stream flowing along its southern 
 boundary, so useful as a water-road, but it also 
 possessed an abundance of Wells, from which a 
 supply of pure water was obtained, adequate for 
 the requirements of its early population. The river 
 of Wells, or Wallbrook, flowed through the middle 
 of the city ; and there were numerous wells in other 
 
CHAP III] ANCIENT WATER SUPPLY OF LONDON 59 
 
 quarters, the chief of which were Clerke's Well, 
 Clement's Well, and Holy Well, the names of which 
 still survive in the streets built over them. 
 
 As London grew in size and population, these 
 wells were found altogether inadequate for the 
 wants of the inhabitants ; besides, the water drawn 
 from them became tainted by the impurities which 
 
 filter into the soil wherever large numbers are con- 
 gregated. Conduits were then constructed, through 
 which water was led from Paddington, from James's 
 Head, Mewsgate, Tyburn, Highbury and Hamp- 
 stead. There were sixteen of such public conduits 
 about London, and the Conduit Streets which still 
 exist throughout the metropolis mark the sites of 
 
Go ANCIENT WATER SUPPLY OF LONDON [CHAP III 
 
 several of these ancient works.* The copious 
 supply of water by the conduits was all the more 
 necessary at that time, as London was for the most 
 part built of timber, and liable to frequent fires, to 
 extinguish which promptly, every citizen was bound 
 to have a barrel full of water in readiness outside 
 his door. The corporation watched very carefully 
 over their protection, and inflicted severe punish- 
 ments on such as interfered with the flow of water 
 through them. We find a curious instance of this 
 in the City Records, from which it appears that, 
 on the 1 2th November, 1478, one William Campion, 
 resident in Fleet Street, had cunningly tapped the 
 conduit where it passed his door, and conveyed 
 the water into a well in his own house, " thereby 
 occasioning a lack of water to the inhabitants." 
 Campion was immediately had up before the Lord 
 Mayor and Aldermen, and after being confined for 
 a time in the Comptour in Bread Street, the follow- 
 ing further punishment was inflicted on him. He 
 was set upon a horse with a vessel like unto a 
 
 * The conduits used, in former times, to be yearly visited with 
 considerable ceremony. For instance, we find that — " On the 1 8th 
 of September, 1562, the Lord Mayor (Harper), the Aldermen, with 
 many worshipful persons, and divers of the Masters and Wardens 
 of the twelve companies, rode to the Conduit's-head [now the site 
 of Conduit Street, New Bond Street], for to see them after the old 
 custom. And afore dinner they hunted the hare and killed her, 
 and thence to dinner at the head of the Conduit. There was a 
 good number entertained with good cheerc by the Chamberlain, 
 and, after dinner, they hunted the fox. There was a great cry for 
 a mile, and at length the hounds killed him at the end of St. Giles's. 
 Great hallooing at his death, and blowing of homes ; and thence 
 the Lord Mayor, with all his company, rode through London to his 
 place in Lombard Street." Stow's ' Survey of London.' — It would 
 appear that the ladies of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen attended 
 on these jovial occasions, riding in waggons. 
 
CHAP III] ANCIENT WATER SUPPLY OE LONDON 6 1 
 
 conduit placed upon his head, which being filled 
 with water running out of small pipes from the 
 same vessel, he was taken round all the conduits of 
 the city, and the Lord Mayor's proclamation of his 
 offence and the reason for his punishment was then 
 read. When the conduit had run itself empty over 
 the culprit, it was filled again. The places at which 
 the proclamation was read were the following, — at 
 Leadenhall, at the pillory in Cornhill, at the great 
 conduit in Chepe, at the little conduit in the same 
 street, at Ludgate and Fleet Bridge, at the Standard 
 in Fleet Street, at Temple Bar, and at St. Dunstan's 
 Church in Fleet Street; from whence he was finally 
 marched back to the Comptour, there to abide the 
 will of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen.* 
 
 But the springs from which the conduits were 
 supplied in course of time decaj'ed ; perhaps they 
 gradually diminished by reason of the sinking of 
 wells in their neighbourhood for the supply of 
 the increasing suburban population. Hence a de- 
 ficiency of water began to be experienced in the 
 city, which in certain seasons almost amounted 
 to a famine. There were frequent contentions at 
 the conduits for " first turn," and when water was 
 scarce, these sometimes grew into riots. The water 
 carriers came prepared for a fight, and at length 
 the Lord Mayor had to interfere, and issued his 
 proclamation forbidding persons from resorting 
 to the conduits armed with clubs and staves. 
 This, however, did not remedy the deficiency. It 
 is true the Thames, — " that most delicate and ser- 
 viceable river," as Nichols terms it,t was always 
 
 * 'Corporation Records,' Index Xo. I., fo. 1S4 1). 
 t ' Progresses of James I.,' vol. ii., 699. The Corporation 
 records contain numerous references to the preservation of the 
 
62 
 
 PETER MORICE's PUMPING ENGINE [CHAP III 
 
 available ; but an increasing proportion of the in- 
 habitants lived at a distance from the river. Be- 
 sides, the attempt was made by those who occupied 
 the lanes leading towards the Thames to stop the 
 thoroughfare, and allow none to pass without pay- 
 ing a toll. A large number of persons then ob- 
 tained a living as water carriers,* selling the water 
 by the "tankard" of about three gallons; and they 
 seem to have formed a rather unruly portion of the 
 population. 
 
 The difficulty of supplying a sufficient quantity 
 of water to the inhabitants by means of wells, 
 conduits, and water carriers, continued to increase, 
 until the year 1582, when Peter Morice, the Dutch- 
 man, undertook, as the inhabitants could not go to 
 the Thames for their water, to carry the Thames 
 to them. With this object he erected an ingenious 
 pumping engine in the first arch of London Bridge, 
 worked by Water wheels driven by the rise and 
 fall of the tide, which then rushed with great velo- 
 city through the arches. This machine forced the 
 water through leaden pipes, laid into the houses 
 of the citizens. The power with which Morice's 
 
 purity of the water in the river. The Thames also furnished a 
 large portion of the food of the city, and then abounded in salmon 
 and other fish, the London fishermen constituting a large class. 
 We find numerous proclamations issued relative to the netting of 
 the " salmon and porpoises," wide nets and wall nets being especially 
 prohibited. Fleets of swans on the Thames were a picturesque 
 feature of the river down even to the time of James II. 
 
 * The water carrier was commonly called a " Cob," and Ben 
 Jonson seems to have given a sort of celebrity to the character 
 by his delineation of "Cob" in his 'Every Man in his Humour.' 
 Gifford, in a note on the play, pointed out that there is an avenue 
 still called "Cob's Court," in Broadway, Blackfriars ; not improbably 
 (he adds) from its having formerly been inhabited principally by 
 the class of water carriers. 
 
CHAP III] PUMPING MACHINERY INADEQUATE 
 
 63 
 
 forcing pumps worked was such, that he was en- 
 abled to throw the water over St. Magnus's steeple, 
 greatly to the astonishment of the Mayor and 
 Aldermen, who assembled to witness the experi- 
 ment. The machinery succeeded so well that a 
 few years later we find the corporation empower- 
 ing the same engineer to use the second arch of 
 London Bridge for a similar purpose.* 
 
 But even this augmented machinery for pump- 
 ing was found inadequate for the supply of London. 
 The town was extending rapidly in all directions, 
 and the growing density of the population along the 
 river banks was every year adding to the impurity 
 of the water, and rendering it less and less fit for 
 domestic purposes. Hence the demand for a more 
 copious and ready supply of pure water continued 
 steadily to increase. Where was the new supply 
 to be obtained, and how was it to be rendered 
 most readily available for the uses of the citizens? 
 Water is by no means a scarce element in England, 
 and no difficulty was experienced in finding a suffi- 
 ciency of springs and rivers of pure water at no 
 great distance from the metropolis. Thus, various 
 springs were known to exist in different parts of 
 Hertfordshire and Middlesex ; and many vague pro- 
 jects were proposed for conveying their waters to 
 London. 
 
 Desiring that one plan or another might be 
 carried out, the corporation obtained an Act 
 towards the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, t 
 
 * The river pumping-Ieases continued in the family of the 
 Morices until 1701, when the then owner sold his rights to Richard 
 Soams for 3S,ooo/., and by him they were afterw ards transferred to 
 the New River Company at a still higher price. 
 
 t Act 13 Eliz. c. 18. 
 
6 4 
 
 PROPOSED NEW RIVER 
 
 [chap III 
 
 empowering them to cut a river to the city from 
 any part of Middlesex or Hertfordshire; and ten 
 years were specified as the time for carrying out 
 the necessary works. But, though many plans 
 were suggested and discussed, no steps were taken 
 to cut the proposed river. The enterprise seemed 
 too large for any private individual to undertake; 
 and though the corporation were willing to sanc- 
 tion it, they were not disposed to find any part of 
 the requisite means for carrying it out. Notwith- 
 standing, therefore, the necessity for a large supply 
 of water, which became more urgent in proportion 
 to the increase of population, the powers of the Act 
 were allowed to expire without anything having 
 been done to carry them into effect. 
 
 In order, however, to keep alive the parlia- 
 mentary powers, another Act was obtained in the 
 third year of James I.'s reign (1605),* to bring an 
 artificial stream of pure water from the springs 
 of Chadwell and Amwell, in Hertfordshire; and 
 the provisions of this Act were enlarged and 
 amended in the following session. t From an entry 
 in the journals of the corporation, dated the 14th 
 October, 1606, it appears that one William Ingle- 
 bert petitioned the court for liberty to bring 
 the water from the above springs to the northern 
 parts of the city " in a trench or trenches of brick." 
 The petition was " referred," but nothing further 
 came of it ; and the inhabitants of London con- 
 tinued for some time longer to suffer from the 
 famine of water — the citizens patiently waiting for 
 the corporation to move, and he corporation as 
 patiently waiting for the citizens 
 
 The same inconveniences of defective water 
 * 3 Jac. c. 18. t 4 J ac - c. 12. " 
 
CHAP III] WATER SUPPLY OF TIVERTON 
 
 65 
 
 supply were experienced in other towns, and 
 measures were in some cases taken to remedy 
 them. Thus, at Hull, in certain seasons, the in- 
 habitants were under the necessity of bringing 
 the water required by them for ordinary uses 
 across the I lumber from Lincolnshire in boats, at 
 great labour and expense. They sought to obtain 
 a better supply by leading water into the town 
 from the streams in the neighbourhood ; but the 
 villagers of Hessle, Anlaby, and Cottingham, with 
 others, resisted their attempts. In 1376, the mayor 
 and burgesses appealed to the Crown ; commis- 
 sioners were appointed to inquire into the sub- 
 ject ; and the result was, that powers were granted 
 for making an aqueduct from Anlaby Springs to 
 Hull. This was not accomplished without serious 
 opposition on the part of the villagers, who riot- 
 ously assembled to destroy the works, and they 
 even went so far as to threaten Hull itself with 
 destruction. Some of the rioters were seized 
 and hanged at York, and the aqueduct was then 
 finished. 
 
 Tiverton, in Devonshire, has in like manner 
 been supplied with water from a very early period, 
 by means of an artificial cut called the Town-leet, 
 extending from a spring on White Down, about 
 five miles dis ant, into the heart of the town. 
 This valuable conduit was the free gift of Amicia, 
 Countess of Devon, to the inhabitants, as long 
 ago as the year 1240; and it continues a con- 
 stant source of blessing. A perambulation is 
 made along its course once in every five or six 
 years, by the portreeve, the steward of the manor, 
 the water bailiffs, and others, from Cogan's Well 
 in the centre of the town, to the source of the 
 1. F 
 
66 
 
 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 
 
 [chap III 
 
 stream on White Down. All obstructions are 
 then removed, and the stream is claimed publicly 
 for the sole use of the inhabitants of Tiverton. 
 For about two miles of its course, it ma) - , per- 
 haps, be regarded as a natural stream ; but from 
 the village of Chettiscombe the channel is for the 
 most part artificial, the water being confined with- 
 in a high embankment, in many places above the 
 level of the surrounding country ; and it is con- 
 veyed, as one writer says, " over a deep road be- 
 hind the hospital, by a leaded shute, on a strong 
 stone arch, into the town."* By this channel, 
 the water, shedding in its passage an allotted 
 portion to each street, is brought to Cogan's Well, 
 where it is artificially parted into three streams, 
 which run along the sides of the remaining streets, 
 until they are discharged into one or other of the 
 two rivers, the Loman and the Exe, from which 
 the place derives its name of Twy-ferd-town, or 
 Tiverton. Copious rivulets are in like manner 
 led, by artificial cuts, through the principal streets 
 of Salisbury, from the natural streams at the con- 
 fluence of which that city is situated. 
 
 But the most important artificial work of the 
 kind in the West of England is that constructed 
 for the supply of water to Plymouth, which was 
 carried out through the public spirit and enter- 
 prise of one of the most distinguished of English 
 admirals — the great Sir Francis Drake. It ap- 
 pears from ancient records that water was exceed- 
 ingly scarce in that town, the inhabitants being 
 under the necessity of sending their clothes more 
 than a mile to be washed, the water used by them 
 for domestic purposes having to be fetched for the 
 * Dunsford's 'Historical Memoirs/ p. 106. 
 
CHAP III] WATER SUPPLY OF PLYMOUTH 
 
 most part from Plympton, about five miles distant. 
 Sir Francis Drake, who was born within ten miles 
 of Plymouth, and had settled in the neighbourhood, 
 after having realised a considerable fortune by his 
 adventures on the Spanish main, observing the 
 great inconvenience suffered by the population 
 from their want of water, as well as the difficulty 
 of furnishing a supply to the ships frequenting 
 the port, conceived the project of remedying the 
 defect by leading a store of water to the town 
 from one of the numerous springs on Dartmoor. 
 Accordingly, in 1587, when he represented Bos- 
 siney (Tintagel) in Cornwall, he obtained an Act 
 enabling him to convey a stream from the river 
 Mew or Meavy ; and in the preamble to the Act 
 it was expressed that its object was not only to 
 ensure a continual supply of water to the inhabi- 
 tants, but to obviate the inconvenience hitherto 
 sustained by seamen in watering their vessels. It 
 would appear, from documents still extant, that 
 the town of Plymouth contributed 200/. towards 
 the expenses of the works, Sir Francis being at the 
 remainder of the cost; and on the completion of 
 the undertaking the corporation agreed to grant 
 him a lease of the aqueduct for a term of twenty 
 years, at a nominal rental. Drake lost no time in 
 carrying out the work, which was finished in four 
 years after the passing of the Act ; and its com- 
 pletion in 1 591, on the occasion of the welcoming 
 of the stream into the town, was celebrated by 
 great public rejoicings.* 
 
 The " Leet," as it is called, is a work of no great 
 
 * The tradition survives to this day that Sir Francis Drake did 
 not cut the Leet by the power of money and engineering skill, but 
 by the power of magic It is said of him that, calling for his horse, 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 WATER SUPPLY OF PLYMOUTH [CHAP III 
 
 magnitude, though of much utility. It was origi- 
 nally nothing more than an open trench cut along 
 the sides of the moor, in which the water flowed 
 by a gentle inclination into the town and through 
 the streets of Plymouth. The distance between 
 the head of the aqueduct at Sheep's Tor and Ply- 
 mouth, as the crow flies, is only seven miles; 
 but the length of the- Leet — so circuitous are its 
 windings — is nearly twenty-four miles. After 
 its completion, Drake presented the aqueduct to 
 the inhabitants of Plymouth "as a free gift for 
 ever," and it has since remained vested in the 
 corporation, — who might, however, bestow more 
 care than they do on its preservation against im- 
 purity Two years after the completion of the 
 Leet, the burgesses, probably as a mark of their 
 gratitude, elected Drake their representative in 
 Parliament. The water proved of immense public 
 convenience, and Plymouth, instead of being one 
 of the worst supplied, was rendered one of the 
 best watered towns in the kingdom. Until a 
 comparatively recent date the water flowed from 
 various public conduits, and it ran freely on either 
 side of the streets, that all classes of the people 
 might enjoy the benefit of a full and permanent 
 supply throughout the year. One of the original 
 conduits still remains at the head of Old Town- 
 street, bearing the inscription, "Sir Francis Drake 
 first brought this water into Plymouth, 1591." 
 
 The example of Plymouth may possibly have 
 
 he mounted it and rode about Dartmoor until he came to a spring 
 sufficiently copious for his design, on which, pronouncing some 
 magical words, he wheeled round, and, starting off at a gallop, the 
 stream formed its own channel, and followed his horse's heels into 
 the town. 
 
CHAP III] LONDON WATER SUPPLY 
 
 Gg 
 
 had an influence upon the corporation of London 
 in obtaining the requisite powers from Parliament 
 to enable them to bring the springs of Chadwell 
 and Amwell to the thirsty population of the metro- 
 polis ; but unhappily they had as yet no Drake to 
 supply the requisite capital and energy. In March, 
 1608, one Captain Edmond Colthurst petitioned 
 the Court of Aldermen for permission to enter 
 upon the work ; but it turned out that the pro- 
 bable cost was far beyond the petitioner's means, 
 without the pecuniary help of the corporation ; 
 and that being withheld, the project fell to the 
 ground. After this, one Edward Wright is said 
 to have actually begun the works ; but they were 
 suddenly suspended, and fever and plague* con- 
 tinued to decimate the population. The citizens 
 of London seemed to be as far as ever from their 
 supply of pure water. At this juncture, when all 
 help seemed to fail, and when men were asking 
 each other " who is to do this great work, and 
 
 * The plague was then a frequent visitor in the city. Numerous 
 proclamations were made by the Lord Mayor and Corporation on 
 the subject, — proclamations ordering wells and pumps to be drawn, 
 and streets to be cleaned, — and precepts for removing hogs out of 
 London, and against the selling or eating of pork. Wherever the 
 plague was in a house, the inhabitant thereof was enjoined to set 
 up outside a pole of the length of seven feet, with a bundle of straw 
 at the top, as a sign that the deadly visitant was within. W ife, 
 children, and servants belonging to that house must carry white 
 rods in their hands for thirty-six days before they were considered 
 " purged." It was also ordered subsequently, that on the street- 
 door of every house infected, or upon a post thereby, the inhabitant 
 must exhibit imprinted on paper a token of St. Anthony's Cross, 
 otherwise called the sign of the Taw T, that all persons might 
 have knowledge that such house was infected. — ' Corporation of 
 City of London Records,' jor. 12, fol. 136, No. 1. Years 1590 
 to 1694. 
 
JO HUGH MYDDELTON [CHAP Til 
 
 how is it to be done?" citizen Hugh Myddelton, 
 impatient of further delay, came forward and 
 boldly offered to execute it at his own cost. Yet 
 Hugh Myddelton was not an engineer, nor even 
 an architect nor a builder. What he really was, 
 we now proceed briefly to relate, according to the 
 
 Myddellon's House at Galch-hiH, Denbigh. 
 
 best information that we have been able to bring 
 together on the subject. 
 
 Hugh Myddelton, the London goldsmith, was 
 born in the year 1555, at Galch-hill, near Denbigh, 
 in North Wales. Richard Myddelton, of Galch- 
 hill, was governor of Denbigh Castle in the reigns 
 of Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth. He was a 
 man eminent for his uprightness and integrity, 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 THE MYDDELTON FAMILY 
 
 7 1 
 
 and is supposed to have been the first member 
 who sat in Parliament for the town of Denbigh. 
 His wife was one Jane Dryhurst, the daughter 
 of an alderman of the town, by whom he had a 
 family of nine sons and seven daughters. He 
 was buried with his wife in the parish church 
 of Denbigh, called Whitchurch or St. Marcellus ; 
 where a small monumental brass, placed within 
 
 Fnc-simi]e of die Mydilelton Brass in WMtchurch Porch. 
 
 the porch, represents Richard Myddelton and Jane 
 his wife, with their sixteen children behind them, 
 all kneeling. 
 
 Several of the Governor's sons rose to dis- 
 tinction. The third son, William, was one of 
 Queen Elizabeth's famous sea captains. He was 
 also a man of literary tastes, being the author 
 of a volume entitled ' Barddonnaeth, or the Art of 
 Welsh Poetry.' While on his cruises, he occupied 
 
72 
 
 THE MYDDELTON FAMILY 
 
 [CHAP III 
 
 himself in translating the Book of Psalms into 
 Welsh; he finished it in the West Indies, and 
 it was published in 1603, shortly after his death. 
 The fourth son, Thomas, was an eminent citizen 
 and grocer of London. He served the office of 
 Sheriff in 1603, when he was knighted ; and he was 
 elected Lord Mayor in 161 3. He was the founder 
 of the Chirk Castle family, now represented by 
 Mr. Myddelton Biddulph. The fifth son, Charles, 
 succeeded his father as governor of Denbigh 
 Castle, and when he died bequeathed numerous 
 legacies for charitable uses. The sixth son was 
 Hugh, the subject of this memoir. Robert, the 
 seventh, was, like two of his brothers, a citizen of 
 London, and afterwards a member of Parliament. 
 Foulk, the eighth son, served as high sheriff of the 
 county of Denbigh. This was certainly a large 
 measure of worldly prosperity and fame to fall to 
 the lot of one man's offspring. 
 
 Hugh Myddelton was sent up to London to be 
 bred to business there, under the eye of his elder 
 brother Thomas, the grocer and merchant adven- 
 turer. In those days country gentlemen of mode- 
 rate income were accustomed to bind their sons 
 apprentices to merchants, especially where the 
 number of younger sons was large, as it certainh r 
 was in the case of Richard Myddelton of Galch- 
 hill. There existed at that time in the metropolis 
 numerous exclusive companies or guilds, the ad- 
 mission into which was regarded as a safe road 
 to fortune. The merchants were few in number, 
 constituting almost an aristocracy in themselves ; 
 indeed, they were not unfrequently elevated to the 
 peerage because of their wealth as well as public 
 services, and not a few of our present noble families 
 
CTIAP III] 
 
 THE LONDON GOLDSMITHS 
 
 73 
 
 can trace their pedigree back to some wealthy 
 skinner, mercer, or tailor, of the reigns of James 
 or Elizabeth. 
 
 Hugh Myddelton was entered an apprentice of 
 the guild of the Goldsmiths' Company. Having 
 thus set his son in the way of well-doing, Richard 
 Myddelton left him to carve out his own career, 
 relying upon his own energy and ability. He had 
 done the same with Thomas, whom he had helped 
 until he could stand by himself ; and William, 
 whom he had educated at Oxford as thoroughly 
 as his means would afford. These sons having 
 been fairly launched upon the world, he bequeathed 
 the residue of his property to his other sons and 
 daughters. 
 
 The goldsmiths of that day were not merely 
 dealers in plate, but in money. They had succeeded 
 to much of the business formerly carried on by the 
 Jews and Venetian merchants established in or near 
 Lombard-street. They usually united to the trade 
 of goldsmith that of banker, money-changer, and 
 mone} - -lender, dealing generally in the precious 
 metals, and exchanging plate and foreign coin for 
 gold and silver pieces of English manufacture, 
 which had become much depreciated by long use 
 as well as by frequent debasement. It was to the 
 goldsmiths that persons in want of money then 
 resorted, as they would now resort to money- 
 lenders and bankers ; and their notes or warrants 
 of deposit circulated as money, and suggested the 
 establishment of a bank-note issue, similar to our 
 present system of bullion and paper currency. 
 They held the largest proportion of the precious 
 metals in their possession ; hence, when Sir 
 Thomas Gresham, one of the earliest bankers. 
 
74 
 
 MYDDELTON S SHOP 
 
 [chap hi 
 
 died, it was found that the principal part of his 
 wealth was comprised in gold chains." 
 
 The place in which Myddelton's goldsmith's 
 shop was situated was in Bassishaw (now called 
 Basinghall) Street, and he lived in the overhanging 
 tenement above it, as was then the custom of city 
 merchants. Few, if any, lived away from their 
 places of business. The roads into the country, 
 close at hand, were impassable in bad weather, 
 and dangerous at all times. Basing Hall was only 
 about a bow-shot from the City Wall, beyond which 
 lay Finsbury Fields, the archery ground of London, 
 which extended from the open country to the very 
 wall itself, where stood Moor Gate. The London 
 of that day consisted almost exclusively of what 
 is now called The City ; and there were few or no 
 buildings east of Aldgate, north of Cripplegate, or 
 west of Smithfield. At the accession of James I. 
 there were only a few rows of thatched cottages in 
 the Strand, along which, on the river's side, the boats 
 lay upon the beach. At the same time there were 
 groves of trees in Finsbury and green pastures in 
 Holborn ; Clerkenwell was a village ; St. Pancras 
 boasted only of a little church standing in meadows ; 
 and St. Martin's, like St. Giles's, was literally "in 
 the fields." All the country to the west was farm 
 and pasture land ; and woodcocks and partridges 
 flew over the site of the future Regent Street, May 
 Fair, and Belgravia. 
 
 The population of the city was about 150,000, 
 living in some 17,000 houses, brick below and 
 timber above, with picturesque gable-ends, and 
 sign boards swinging over the footways. The 
 
 * It may be remembered that Rubens was accustomed to be 
 paid for his pictures by so many links of gold chain. 
 
CHAP III] THE "CITY" OF LONDON 
 
 upper parts of the houses so overhung the foun- 
 dations, and the streets were so narrow, that 
 D'Avenant said the opposite neighbours might 
 shake hands without stirring from home. The 
 ways were then quite impassable for carriages, 
 which had not yet indeed been introduced into 
 England; all travelling being on foot or on horse- 
 back. When coaches were at length introduced 
 and became fashionable, the aristocracy left the 
 city, through the streets of which their carriages 
 could not pass, and migrated westward to Covent 
 Garden and Westminster. 
 
 Those were the days for quiet city gossip and 
 neighbourly chat over matters of local concern ; for 
 London had not yet grown so big or so noisy as to 
 extinguish that personal interchange of views on 
 public affairs which continues to characterise most 
 provincial towns. Merchants sat at their doorways 
 in the cool of the summer evenings, under the over- 
 hanging gables, and talked over the affairs of trade ; 
 whilst those courtiers who still had their residences 
 within the walls, lounged about the fashionable 
 shops to hear the city gossip and talk over the 
 latest news. Myddelton's shop appears to have 
 been one of such fashionable places of resort, and 
 the pleasant tradition was long handed down in 
 the parish of St. Matthew, Friday-street, that Hugh 
 Myddelton and Walter Raleigh used to sit together 
 at the door of the goldsmith's shop, and smoke the 
 newly introduced weed, tobacco, greatly to the 
 amazement of the passers by. It is not improbable 
 that Captain William Myddelton, who lived in 
 London * after his return from the Spanish main 
 
 * He resided at the old -Elizabethan house in Highgate, after- 
 wards occupied as an inn, called the " King's Head." 
 
7 6 
 
 myddelton's ventures 
 
 [chap in 
 
 in 1 591, formed an occasional member of the 
 group ; for Pennant states that he and his friend 
 Captain Thomas Price, of Plasgollen, and another, 
 Captain Koet, were the first who smoked, or as 
 they then called it, " drank " tobacco publicly in 
 London, and that the Londoners flocked from all 
 parts to see them.* 
 
 Hugh Myddelton did not confine himself to the 
 trade of a goldsmith, but from an early period his 
 enterprising spirit led him to embark in ventures 
 of trade by sea; and hence, when we find his name 
 first mentioned in the year 1597, in the records of 
 his native town of Denbigh, of which he was an 
 alderman and " capitall burgess," as well as the 
 representative in Parliament, he is described as 
 " Cittizen and Gouldsmythe of London, and one 
 of the Merchant Adventurers of England." t The 
 trade of London was as yet very small, but a 
 beginning had been made. A charter was granted 
 by Henry VII., in 1505, to the Company of Mer- 
 chant Adventurers of England, conferring on them 
 special privileges. Previous to that time, almost 
 the whole trade had been monopolised by the Steel- 
 yard Company of Foreign Merchants, whose ex- 
 clusive privileges were formally withdrawn in 1552. 
 But for want of an English mercantile navy, the 
 greater part of the foreign carrying trade of the 
 country continued long after to be conducted by 
 foreign ships. 
 
 The withdrawal of the privileges of the foreign 
 merchants in England had, however, an imme- 
 diate effect in stimulating the home trade, as is 
 proved by the fact, that in the year following the 
 
 * 'Tour in Wales,' vol. ii.. p. 31. Ed. 1784. 
 
 t Williams's 'Ancient and Modern Denbigh,' p. 105. 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 HIS MARRIAGE 
 
 suppression of the foreign company, the English 
 Merchant Adventurers shipped off for Flanders no 
 less than 40,000 pieces of cloth. Mvddelton entered 
 into this new trade of cloth-making with great 
 energy, and he prosecuted it with so much success, 
 that in a speech delivered by him in the House of 
 Commons on the proposed cloth patent, he stated 
 that he and his partner then maintained several hun- 
 dred families by that trade. He also seems to have 
 taken part in the maritime adventures of the period, 
 most probably encouraged thereto by his intimacy 
 with Raleigh and other sea captains, including his 
 brother William, who had made profitable ventures 
 on the Spanish main. In short, Hugh Mvddelton 
 was regarded as an eminently prosperous man. 
 
 At this stage of his affairs, when arrived at a 
 comparatively advanced age, Mvddelton took to 
 himself a wife ; and the rank and fortune of the 
 lady he married afford some indication of the 
 position he had by this time attained. She was 
 Miss Elizabeth Olmstead, the daughter and sole 
 heiress of John Olmstead of Ingatestone, Essex, 
 with whom the thriving goldsmith and merchant 
 adventurer received a considerable accession ot 
 property. That he had secured the regard of his 
 neighbours, and did not disdain to serve them in 
 the local offices to which they chose to elect him, 
 is apparent from the circumstance that he officiated 
 for three years as churchwarden for the parish of 
 St. Matthew, to which post he was appointed in 
 the year 1598. 
 
 Myddelton continued to keep up a friendly con- 
 nection with his native town of Denbigh, and he 
 seems to have been mainly instrumental in obtain- 
 ing for the borough its charter of incorporation in 
 
78 
 
 ELECTED MEMBER FOR DENBIGH [CHAP III 
 
 the reign of Elizabeth. In return for this service 
 the burgesses elected him their first alderman, and 
 in that capacity he signed the first by-laws of the 
 borough in 1597. On the back of the document 
 are some passages in his hand-writing, commencing 
 with " Tafod aur yngenau dedwydd" [A golden 
 tongue is in the mouth of the blessed], followed 
 by other aphorisms, and concluding with some 
 
 Whitchurch, or St. Marcetlus, Denbigh. 
 
 expressions of regret at parting with his brethren, 
 the burgesses of Denbigh, whom he had specially 
 visited on the occasion. It would appear, from 
 subsequent letters of his, that about this time he 
 temporarily resided in the town, — most probably 
 during an attempt which he made to sink for coal 
 in the neighbourhood, which turned out a total 
 failure. 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 MYDDELTON AS JEWELLER 
 
 79 
 
 A few years later, Myddelton was appointed 
 Recorder of the borough, and in [603 he was 
 elected to represent it in Parliament. In those 
 days the office of representative was not so much 
 coveted as it is now, and boroughs remote from 
 the metropolis were occasionally under the neces- 
 sity of paying their members to induce them to 
 serve. It was, doubtless, an advantage to the 
 burgesses of Denbigh that they had such a man 
 to represent them as Hugh Myddelton, resident 
 in London, and who was moreover an alderman 
 and a benefactor of the town. His two brothers 
 — Thomas Myddelton, citizen and grocer, and 
 Robert, citizen and skinner, of London — were 
 members of the same Parliament, and we find 
 Hugh and Robert frequently associated on com- 
 mittees of inquiry into matters connected with 
 trade and finance. Among the first committees 
 to which the brothers were appointed was one 
 on the subject of a bill for explanation of the 
 Statute of Sewers, and another for the bringing 
 of a fresh stream of running water from the river 
 of Lea, or Uxbridge, to the north parts of the 
 city of London. Thus the providing of a better 
 supply of water to the inhabitants of the metropolis 
 came very early under his notice, and doubtless 
 had some influence in directing his future action 
 on the subject. 
 
 At the same time the business in Bassishaw- 
 street was not neglected, for, shortly after the 
 arrival of King James in London, we find Myddel- 
 ton supplying jewelry for Queen Anne, whose rage 
 for finery of that sort was excessive. A warrant, 
 in the State-Paper-office, orders 250/. to be paid to 
 Hugh Myddelton, goldsmith, for a jewel given by 
 
8o UNDERTAKES TO CUT THE NEW RIVER [CHAP III 
 
 James I. to the Queen ; * and it is probable that this 
 connection with the Court introduced him to the 
 notice of the King, and facilitated his approach to 
 him when he afterwards had occasion to solicit His 
 Majesty's assistance in bringing the New River 
 works to completion. 
 
 The subject of water supply to the northern 
 parts of the city was still under the consideration 
 of parliamentary committees, of which Myddelton 
 was invariably a member ; and at length a bill 
 passed into law, and the necessary powers were 
 conferred. But no steps were taken to carry them 
 into effect. The chief difficulty was not in passing 
 the Act, but in finding the man to execute the 
 work. A proposal made by one Captain Colthurst 
 to bring a running stream from the counties of 
 Hertford and Middlesex, was negatived by the 
 Common Council in 1608. Fever and plague from 
 time to time decimated the population, and the 
 citizens of London seemed as far as ever from 
 being supplied with pure water. 
 
 It was at this juncture that Hugh Myddelton 
 stepped forth and declared that if no one else 
 would undertake it, he would, and bring the water 
 from Hertfordshire into London. "The matter," 
 
 * " 26th of February, 1604. To Hugh Middleton, Goldsmith, the 
 sum of 250/. for a pendant of one diamond bestowed upon the 
 Queen by His Majesty. By writ dated 9th day of January, 1604, 
 250/.'' — Extract from the ' Pell Records.' [The sum named would 
 be equivalent to about 1000/. of our present money. The Queen's 
 passion for jewels may be inferred from the circumstance stated by 
 Dr. Steven in his ' Memoir of George Heriot,' the King's goldsmith 
 (founder of Honor's Hospital, Edinburgh), that during the ten 
 years which immediately preceded the accession of King James to 
 the throne of Great Britain, Heriot's bills for the Queen's jewels 
 alone could not amount to less than 50,000/. sterling.] 
 
THE NliW RIVER, 
 
 [ T„ face />. 
 
CHAP III] CORPORATION ACCEPT HIS PROPOSAL 8 1 
 
 quaintly observes Stow, " had been well-mentioned 
 though little minded, long debated but never con- 
 cluded, till courage and resolution lovingly shook 
 hands together, as it appears, in the soule of this 
 no way to be daunted, well-minded gentleman." 
 When all others held back — lord mayor, corpora- 
 tion, and citizens — Myddelton took courage, and 
 showed what one strong practical man, borne for- 
 ward by resolute will and purpose, can do. " The 
 dauntless Welshman," says Pennant, " stept forth 
 and smote the rock, and the waters flowed into 
 the thirsting metropolis." 
 
 Myddelton's success in life seems to have been 
 attributable not less to his quick intelligence than 
 to his laborious application and indomitable per- 
 severance. He had, it is true, failed in his project 
 of finding coal at Denbigh ; but the practical know- 
 ledge which he acquired, during his attempt, of the 
 arts of mining and excavation, had disciplined his 
 skill and given him fertility of resources, as well 
 as cultivated in him that power of grappling with 
 difficulties, which emboldened him to undertake 
 this great work, more like that of a Roman emperor 
 than of a private London citizen. 
 
 The corporation were only too glad to transfer to 
 him the powers with which they had been invested 
 by the legislature, together with the labour, the 
 anxiety, the expense, and the risk of carding out 
 an undertaking which they regarded as so gigantic. 
 On the 28th of March, 1609, the corporation accord- 
 ingly formally agreed to his proposal to bring a 
 supply of water from Amwell and Chadwell, in 
 Hertfordshire, to Islington, as being "a thing of 
 great consequence, worthy of acceptation for the 
 good of the city ; " but subject to his beginning the 
 1. G 
 
82 
 
 myddei.ton's plan 
 
 [chap III 
 
 works within two months from the date of their 
 acceptance of his offer, and doing his best to finish 
 the same within four years. A regular indenture 
 was drawn up and executed between the parties on 
 the 2 ist of April following; and Myddelton began 
 the works and " turned the first sod" in the course 
 of the following month, according to the agree- 
 ment. The principal spring was at Chadwell, near 
 Ware, and the operations commenced at that point. 
 The second spring was at Amwell, near the same 
 town ; each being about twenty miles from London 
 as the crow flies. 
 
 The general plan adopted by Myddelton in 
 cutting the New River was to follow a contour 
 line, as far as practicable, from the then level 
 of the Chadwell Spring to the circular pond at 
 Islington, subsequently called the New River 
 Head. The stream originally presented a fall of 
 about 2 inches in the mile, and its City end was at 
 the level of about 82 feet above what is now known 
 as Trinity high water mark. Where the fall of the 
 ground was found inconveniently rapid, a stop-gate 
 was introduced across the stream, penning from 
 3 to 4 feet perpendicularly, the water flowing over 
 weirs down to the next level. 
 
 To accommodate the cut to the level of the 
 ground as much as possible, numerous deviations 
 
 soil was exca- 
 vated to form the lower bank of the intended 
 stream. Each valley was traversed on one side until 
 
 were made, and 
 the river was led 
 along the sides 
 of the hills, from 
 which sufficient 
 
CHAP III] COURSE Of THE NEW RIVER 
 
 83 
 
 it reached a point where it could be crossed ; and 
 there an embankment became necessary, in some 
 cases of from 8 to 10 feet in height, along the top 
 of which the water was conducted in a channel of 
 the proper dimensions. In those places where the 
 embankments were formed, provision had of course 
 to be made for the passage of the surface waters 
 from the west of the line of works into the river 
 
 The Boarded River formerly at Bush Hill. 
 
 Lea, which forms the natural drain of the district. 
 In some cases the drainage waters were conveyed 
 under the New River in culverts, and in others 
 over it by what were termed flashes. At each of 
 the " flashes" there were extensive swamps, where 
 the flood-waters were upheld to such a level as to 
 enable them to pass over the flash, which consisted 
 of a wooden trough, about twelve feet wide and 
 
 G 2 
 
84 NEW RIVER WORKS [CHAP III 
 
 three deep, extending across the river; and from 
 these swamps, as well as from every other running 
 stream, such apparatus was introduced as enabled 
 the Company to avail themselves of the supply of 
 water which they afforded, when required. Open- 
 ings were also left in the banks for the passage of 
 roads under the stream, the continuity of which 
 was in such cases maintained either by arches 
 or timber troughs lined with lead. One of these 
 
 Brick Arch under the New River, formerly near Bush Hill. 
 
 troughs, at Bush Hill, near Edmonton, was about 
 660 feet long, and 5 feet deep. A brick arch 
 also formed part of this aqueduct, under which 
 flowed a stream which had its source in Enfield 
 Chase ; the arch sustaining the trough and the 
 
 The map on the next paste will enable the reader to trace the line of the 
 New River works between AraweU, Chadwell. and London. The dotted hnes 
 indicate those parts of the old course which have since been superseded by 
 more direct cuts, represented by the continuous black line. Where the loops 
 have been detached from the present line of works, they are, in most instances, 
 laid dry. and may be examined and measured correctly, as also the soil of 
 which the banks were originally formed. 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 NEW RIVER MAP 
 
 Map of the New River. 
 
86 OPPOSITION" OF LANDED PROPRIETORS [CHAP III 
 
 road along its side. Another strong timber aque- 
 duct, 460 feet long and 17 feet high, conducted 
 the New River over the' valley near where it 
 entered the parish of Islington. This was long 
 known in the neighbourhood as " Myddelton's 
 Boarded River." At Islington also there ■ was a 
 brick tunnel of considerable extent, and another 
 at Newington. That at Islington averaged in 
 section about 3 feet by 5, and appears to have 
 been executed at different periods, in short lengths. 
 Such were the principal works along the New 
 River. Its original extent was much greater than 
 it is at present, from its frequent windings along 
 the high grounds for the purpose of avoiding heavy 
 cuttings and embankments. Although the distance 
 between London and Ware is only about 20 miles, 
 the New River, as originally constructed, was not 
 less than 38] miles in length. 
 
 The works were no sooner begun than a swarm 
 of opponents sprang up. The owners and occu- 
 piers of lands through which the New River was 
 to be cut, strongly objected to it as most injurious 
 to their interests. In a petition presented by them 
 to Parliament, they alleged that their meadows 
 would be turned into " bogs and quagmires," and 
 arable land become " squallid ground ; " that their 
 farms would be " mangled " and their fields cut up 
 into quillets and " small peeces ; " that the "cut," 
 which was no better than a deep ditch, dangerous 
 to men and cattle, would, upon " soden raines," 
 inundate the adjoining meadows and pastures, to 
 the utter ruin of many poor men ; that the church 
 would be wronged in its tithe without remedy; 
 that the highway between London and Ware would 
 be made impassable ; and that an infinity of evils 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 AGITATION IN PARLIAMENT 
 
 87 
 
 would be perpetrated and irretrievable injuries 
 inflicted on themselves and their posterity. The 
 opponents also pointed out that the Mayor and 
 corporation would have nothing to do with the 
 business, but, by an irrevocable act of the Common 
 Council, had transferred their powers of executing 
 the works to Mr. Myddelton and his heirs, " who 
 doth the same for his own private benefit." 
 
 The agitation against the measure was next 
 taken up in Parliament. " Much ado there is in 
 the House," writes Mr. Beaulieu, on the 9th of 
 May, 1610, to a friend in the country, " about the 
 work undertaken, and far advanced already by 
 Myddelton, of the cutting of a river and bringing 
 it to London from ten or twelve miles off, through 
 the grounds of many men, who, for their particular 
 interests, so strongly oppose themselves to it, and 
 are like (as it is said) to overthrow it all." On the 
 20th of June following, a Bill was introduced and 
 committed to repeal the Act authorising the con- 
 struction of the New River. A committee of ten 
 was appointed a few days after " to view " the river 
 and to certify respecting the progress made with 
 the works, doubtless with the object of ascertain- 
 ing what damage had actually been done, or was 
 likely to be done, to private property. The com- 
 mittee were directed to make their report in the 
 next session ; but as Parliament was prorogued in 
 July, and did not meet for four years, the subject 
 is not again mentioned in the Journals of the 
 House. 
 
 Worse than all, was the popular opposition 
 which Myddelton had to encounter. The pastor 
 of Tottenham, writing in 163 1, speaks of the New 
 River as " brought with an ill wille from Ware to 
 
88 EXTENSION OF TIME GRANTED [CHAP III 
 
 London." Stow, who was a contemporary and 
 enthusiastic admirer of Myddelton, says bitter]}', 
 "If those enemies of all good endeavours, Danger, 
 Difficulty, Impossibility, Detraction, Contempt, 
 Scorn, Derision, yea, and Desperate Despight, 
 could have prevailed, by their accursed and malevo- 
 lent interposition, either before, at the beginning, 
 in the very birth of the proceeding, or in the least 
 stolne advantage of the whole prosecution, this 
 Worke, of so great worth, had never been accom- 
 plished." Stow records that he rode down divers 
 times to see the progress made in cutting and con- 
 structing the New River, and " diligently observed 
 that admirable art, pains, and industry were be- 
 stowed for the passage of it, by reason that all 
 grounds are not of a like nature, some being oozy 
 and very muddy, others again as stiff, craggy, and 
 stony. The depth of the trench," he adds, " in 
 some places descended full thirty feet, if not more, 
 whereas in other places it required a sprightful 
 art again to mount it over a valley in a trough, 
 between a couple of hills, and the trough all the 
 while borne up by wooden arches, some of them 
 fixed in the ground very deep, and rising in height 
 above twenty-three feet." 
 
 It shortly became apparent to Myddelton that 
 the time originally fixed by the Common Council 
 for the completion of the works had been too 
 short, and we accordingly find him petitioning the 
 Corporation for its extension. This was granted 
 him for five years more, on the ground of the 
 opposition and difficulties which had been thrown 
 in his way by the occupiers and landowners along 
 the line of the proposed stream. It has usually 
 been alleged that Myddelton fell short of funds, and 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 HUGH MYDDELTON 
 
 8 9 
 
 that the Corporation refused him the necessary 
 pecuniar}- assistance ; but the Corporation records 
 do not bear out this statement, the only application 
 apparently made by Myddelton being for an exten- 
 sion of time. It has also been stated that he was 
 opposed by the water-carriers, and that they even 
 stirred up the Corporation to oppose the construc- 
 tion of the New River; but this statement seems 
 to be equally without foundation. The principal 
 obstacle which Myddelton had to encounter was 
 unquestionably the opposition of the landowners 
 and occupiers; and it was so obstinate that in his 
 emergency he was driven to apply to the King for 
 assistance. 
 
 Though James I. may have been ridiculous and 
 unkingly in many respects, he nevertheless appears 
 throughout his reign to have exhibited a sensible 
 desire to encourage the industry and develop the 
 resources of the kingdom he governed. It was he 
 who made the right royal declaration with reference 
 to the drowned lands in the Fens, that he would 
 not suffer the waters to retain their dominion 
 over the soil which skill and labour might reclaim 
 for human uses. Me projected the drainage and 
 reclamation of the royal manor of Hatfield Chase, 
 as well as the reclamation of Sedgemoor and 
 Malvern Chase; and when the landowners in the 
 Fens would take no steps to drain the Great Level, 
 he expressed the determination to become him- 
 self the sole undertaker. And now, when Hugh 
 Myddelton's admirable project for supplying the 
 citizens of London with water threatened to break 
 down by reason of the strong local opposition 
 offered to it, and while it was spoken of by many 
 with derision and contempt as an impracticable 
 
90 
 
 ASSISTED BY JAMES I 
 
 [chap III 
 
 undertaking, the same monarch came to his help, 
 and while he rescued Myddelton from heavy loss, 
 it might be ruin, he enabled him to prosecute his 
 important enterprise to completion. 
 
 James had probably become interested in the 
 works from observing their progress at the point 
 at which they passed through the Royal Park at 
 Theobalds, a little beyond Enfield.* Theobalds 
 was the favourite residence of the King, where he 
 frequently indulged in the pastime of hunting ; and 
 on passing the labourers occupied in cutting the 
 New River, he would naturally make inquiries 
 as to their progress. The undertaking was of a 
 character so unusual, and so much of it passed 
 directly through the King's domains, that he 
 could not but be curious about it. Myddelton, 
 having had dealings with His Majesty as a jeweller, 
 seized the opportunity of making known his need 
 of immediate help, otherwise the project must fall 
 through. Several interviews took place between 
 them at Theobalds and on the ground ; and the 
 result was that James determined to support the 
 engineer with his effective help as King, and also 
 with the help of the State purse, to enable the 
 work to be carried out. 
 
 An agreement was accordingly entered into 
 between the King and Myddelton, the original of 
 which is deposited in the Rolls-office, and is a 
 
 * Theobalds, a singularly beautiful place, where Elizabeth held 
 counsel with Burleigh, James often lived, and Charles played with 
 his children. The palace was ordered to be pulled down by the 
 Long Parliament, in spite of the commissioners' report that it was 
 " an excellent building in very good repair ; " and, the materials 
 having been sold to the highest bidder, the pioceeds were divided 
 amongst the soldiers of Cromwell and Fairfax. The materials 
 alone realised not less than 8275/. IU. 
 
chap in] 
 
 ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT 
 
 91 
 
 highly interesting document. It is contained on 
 seven skins, and is very lengthy; but the following 
 abstract will sufficiently show the nature of the 
 arrangement between the parties. The Grant, as 
 it is described, is under the Great Seal, and dated 
 the 2nd of May, 161 2. It is based upon certain 
 articles of agreement, made between King James I. 
 and Hugh Myddelton, "citizen and goldsmith of 
 London," on the 5th of November preceding. It 
 stipulates that His Majesty shall discharge a 
 moiety of all necessary expenses for bringing the 
 stream of water within "one mile of the city," as 
 well as a moiety of the disbursements "already 
 made" by Hugh Myddelton, upon the latter sur- 
 rendering an account, and swearing to the truth 
 of the same. In consideration of His Majesty's 
 pecuniary assistance, Myddelton assigned to him 
 a moiety of the interest in, and profits to arise 
 Irom, the New River " for ever," with the excep- 
 tion of a small quill or pipe of water which the 
 said Myddelton had granted, at the time of his 
 agreement with the City, to the poor people in- 
 habiting St. John-street and Aldersgate-street, — 
 which exception His Majesty allowed. 
 
 One of the first benefits Myddelton derived 
 from the arrangement was the repayment to him 
 of one-half the expenditure which had been in- 
 curred to that time. It appears from the first 
 certificate delivered to the Lord Treasurer, that 
 the total expenditure to the end of the year 1612 
 had been 4485/. 18s. i\d., as attested by Hugh 
 Myddelton, acting on his own behalf, and Miles 
 Whitacres acting on behalf of the King. Further 
 payments were made out of the Treasury for costs 
 disbursed in executing the works; and it would 
 
92 
 
 PROGRESS OF THE WORKS 
 
 [CHAP III 
 
 appear from the public records that the total pay- 
 ments made out of the Royal Treasury on account 
 of the New River works amounted to 8609/. 145. 6d. 
 As the books of the New River Company were 
 accidentally destroyed by a fire many years ago, 
 we are unable to test the accuracy of these figures 
 by comparison with the financial records of the 
 Company; but, taken in conjunction with other 
 circumstances hereafter to be mentioned, the amount 
 stated represents, with as near an approach to 
 accuracy as can now be reached, one-half of the 
 original cost of constructing the New River. 
 
 As the undertaking proceeded, with the powerful 
 help of the King and the public Treasury, and 
 as the great public uses of the New River began 
 to be recognised, the voice of derision became 
 gradually stilled, and congratulations began to 
 rise up on all sides in view of the approaching 
 completion of the bold enterprise. The scheme 
 had ceased to be visionary, as it had at first 
 appeared, for the water was already brought 
 within a mile of Islington ; all that was wanted 
 to admit it to the reservoir being the completion 
 of the tunnel near that place. At length that 
 too was finished ; and now King, Corporation, 
 and citizens vied with each other in doing honour 
 to the enterprising and public spirited Hugh 
 Myddelton. The Corporation elected his brother 
 Thomas Lord Mayor for the year ; and on Michael- 
 mas Day, 161 3, the citizens assembled in great 
 numbers to celebrate by a public pageant the ad- 
 mission of the New River water to the metropolis. 
 The ceremony took place at the new cistern at 
 Islington, in the presence of the Lord Mayor, 
 Aldermen, Common Council, and a great concourse 
 
CHAP III] OPENING OF THE NEW RIVER 
 
 93 
 
 of spectators. A troop of some three score 
 labourers in green Monmouth caps, bearing spades 
 and mattocks, or such other implements as they 
 had used in the construction of the work, marched 
 round the cistern to the martial music of drums and 
 trumpets, after which a metrical speech, composed 
 by one Thomas Middleton, was read aloud, expres- 
 sive of the sentiments of the workmen. The follow- 
 ing extract may be given, as showing the character 
 of the persons employed on the undertaking : — 
 
 First, here's the Overseer, this try'd man, 
 An antient souldier and an artizan ; 
 The Clearke ; next him the Mathematian ; 
 The Maister of the Timber-worke takes place 
 Next after these ; the Measurer in like case ; 
 Bricklayer, and Enginer ; and after those 
 The Borer, and the Pavier ; then it showes 
 The Labourers next ; Keeper of Amwell Head ; 
 The Walkers last ; — so all their names are read. 
 Vet these but parcels of six hundred more, 
 That, at one time, have been imploy'd before ; 
 Vet these in sight and all the rest will say 
 That all the weeke they had their Royall pay ! 
 
 At the conclusion of the recitation the flood-gates 
 were thrown open, and the stream of pure water 
 rushed into the cistern amidst loud huzzas, the 
 firing of mortars, the pealing of bells, and the 
 triumphant welcome of drums and trumpets.* 
 
 * A large print was afterwards published by G. Bickham, in 
 commemoration of the event, entitled 'Sir Hugh Myddelton's 
 Glory.' It represents the scene of the ceremony, the reservoir, 
 with the stream rushing into it ; the Lord Mayor (Sir John 
 Swinnerton) on a white palfrey, pointing exultingly to Sir Hugh ; 
 the Recorder, Sir Henry Montague, afterwards Lord Keeper and 
 Earl of Manchester, and by his side the Lord Mayor elect, the 
 projectors brother, Maister Thomas Myddelton. Various figures 
 gesticulating their admiration occupy the foreground, whilst the 
 
94 USES OF THE NEW RIVER [CHAP III 
 
 It is rather curious that James I. was afterwards 
 nearly drowned in the New River which he had 
 enabled Hugh Myddelton to complete. He had 
 gone out one winter's day after dinner to ride in 
 the park at Theobalds accompanied by his son 
 Prince Charles ; when, about three miles from the 
 palace, his horse stumbled and fell, and the King- 
 was thrown into the river. It was slightly frozen 
 over at the time, and the King's bod}' disappeared 
 under the ice, nothing but his boots remaining 
 visible. Sir Richard Young rushed in to his 
 rescue, and dragged him out, when "there came 
 much water out of his mouth and body." He was, 
 however, able to ride back to Theobalds, where he 
 got to bed and was soon well again. The King attri- 
 buted his accident to the neglect of Sir Hugh and 
 the Corporation of London in not taking measures 
 to properly fence the river, and he did not readily 
 forget it ; for when the Lord Mayor, Sir Edward 
 Barkham, accompanied by the Recorder, Sir 
 Heneage Finch, attended the King at Greenwich, 
 in June, 1622, to be knighted, James took occasion, 
 in rather strong terms, to remind the Lord Mayor 
 and his brethren of his recent mischance in " Myd- 
 delton's Water." 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to point out the great 
 benefits conferred upon the inhabitants of London 
 by the construction of the New River, which 
 furnished them with an abundant and unremitting 
 supply of pure water for domestic and other 
 purposes. Along this new channel were poured 
 into the city several millions of gallons daily; and 
 
 foot of the print is garnished with little " chambers," or miniature 
 mortars, spontaneously exploding. There is a copy of the original 
 print in the British Museum. 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 WATER CARRIERS 
 
 95 
 
 the reservoirs at New River Head being, as before 
 stated, at an elevation of 82 feet above the level of 
 high water in the Thames, they were thus capable of 
 supplying through pipes the basement stories of the 
 greater number of nouses then in the metropolis. 
 
 The pipes which were laid down in the first 
 instance to convey the water to the inhabitants 
 were made of wood, prin- 
 cipally elm ; and at one 
 time the New River 
 Company had wooden 
 pipes laid down through 
 the streets to the ex- 
 tent of about 400 miles ! 
 But the leakage was so 
 great through the por- 
 ousness of the material, 
 — about one-fourth of the 
 whole quantity of water 
 supplied passing away 
 by filtration, — and the 
 decay of the pipes in 
 ordinary weather was so 
 rapid, besides being liable to burst during frosts, 
 that they were ultimately abandoned when me- 
 chanical skill was sufficiently advanced to enable 
 pipes of cast-iron to be substituted for them. For 
 a long time, however, a strong prejudice existed 
 against the use of water conveyed through pipes 
 of any kind, and the cry of the water-carriers 
 long continued to be familiar to London ears, of 
 "Any New River water here!" "Fresh and fair 
 New River water! none of your pipe sludge ! " 
 
 Among the many important uses to which the 
 plentiful supply of New River water was put, was 
 
96 
 
 HUGH MYDDELTON 
 
 [CHAP III 
 
 the extinction of fires, then both frequer.t and de- 
 structive, in consequence of the greater part of the 
 old houses in London being built of wood. Stow 
 particularly mentions the case of a fire which broke 
 out in Broad Street, on the 12th November, 1623, 
 in the house of Sir William Cockaigne, which 
 speedily extended itself to several of the adjoin- 
 ing buildings. We are told by the chronicler, 
 that "Sir Hugh Myddelton, upon the first know- 
 ledge thereof, caused all the sluices of the water- 
 cisterne in the field to be left open, whereby there 
 was plenty of water to quench the fire. The water" 
 [of the New River], he continues, " hath done many 
 like benefits in sundrie like former distresses." 
 
 We now proceed to follow the fortunes of Myd- 
 delton in connexion with the New River Company. 
 The year after the public opening of the cistern at 
 Islington, we find him a petitioner to the Corpora- 
 tion for a loan of 3000/., for three years, at six per 
 cent., which was granted him "in consideration of 
 the benefit likely to accrue to the city from his 
 New River;" his sureties being the Lord Mayor 
 (Hayes), Mr. Robert Myddelton (his brother), and 
 Mr. Robert Bateman. There is every reason to 
 believe that Myddelton had involved himself in 
 difficulties by locking up his capital in this costly 
 undertaking ; and that he was driven to solicit the 
 loan to carry him through until he had been enabled 
 to dispose of the greater part of his interest in 
 the concern to other capitalists. This he seems to 
 have done very shortly after the completion of the 
 works. The capital was divided into seventy-two 
 shares,* one-half of which belonged to Myddelton 
 
 * In Pennant's 'London' it is stated that the original shares in 
 the concern were 100/. each, whereas Entick makes them to have 
 
ANOTHER VIEW OF L'HE NEW RIVER 
 
 [■fa /act p. 96. 
 
CHAP III] TITLE OF COMPANY 97 
 
 and the other half to the King, in consideration of 
 the latter having borne one-half of the cost. Of 
 the thirty-six shares owned by the former, as many 
 as twenty-eight were conveyed by him to other 
 persons ; and that he realised a considerable sum 
 by the sale is countenanced by the circumstance 
 that we find him shortly after embarked in an 
 undertaking hereafter to be described, requiring 
 the command of a very large capital. 
 
 The shareholders were incorporated by letters 
 patent on the 21st of June, 1619, under the title of 
 "The Governors and Company of the New Rivet- 
 brought from Chadwell and Amwell to London."* 
 The government of the corporation was vested in 
 the twenty-nine adventurers who held amongst 
 them the thirty-six shares originally belonging to 
 Myddelton, who had by that time reduced his hold- 
 ing to only two shares. At the first Court of pro- 
 prietors, held on the 2nd of November, 1619, he was 
 appointed Governor, and Robert Bateman Deputy- 
 Governor of the Company. Sir Giles Mompesson 
 was appointed, on behalf of the King, Surveyor 
 of the profits of the New River, with authority to 
 attend the meetings, inspect the accounts, &c, with 
 a grant for such service of 200/. per annum out of 
 the King's moiety of the profits of the said river. 
 It was long, however, before there were any profits 
 
 amounted to not less than 7000/. each ! This is only another illus- 
 tration of the hap-hazard statements put forth respecting Sir Hugh 
 and his works. The original cost of the New River probably 
 did not amount to more than 18,000/., in which case the capital 
 represented by each original share would be 250/. 
 
 * On the occasion of its subsequent confirmation by parliament. 
 Sir Edward Coke said : "This is a very good bill, and prevents one 
 great mischief that hangs over the city. Nimis potaiio : frequens 
 incendium" 
 
 1. Jl 
 
9 8 
 
 VALUE OF NEW RIVER SHARES [CHAP III 
 
 to be divided; for the cost of making repairs and 
 improvements, and laying down wooden pipes, 
 continued to be very great for many years ; and 
 the ingenious method of paying dividends out of 
 capital, to keep up the price of shares and invite 
 further speculation, had not yet been invented. In 
 fact, no dividend whatever was paid until after the 
 lapse of twenty years from the date of opening 
 the New River at Islington ; and the first dividend 
 only amounted to 15/. 3s. 3^. a share. The next 
 dividend of 3/. 4s. 2d. was paid three years later, 
 in 1636 ; and as the concern seemed to offer no 
 great prospect of improvement, and a further 
 call on the proprietors was expected, Charles I., 
 who required all his available means for other 
 purposes, finally regranted his thirty-six " King's 
 shares" to the Company, under his great seal, in 
 consideration of a fee farm rent of 500/., which 
 is to this day paid by them yearly into the King's 
 exchequer. 
 
 Notwithstanding this untoward commencement 
 of the New River Company, it made great and 
 rapid progress when its early commercial diffi- 
 culties had been overcome; and after the year 1640 
 its prosperity steadily kept pace with the popu- 
 lation and wealth of the metropolis. By the end 
 of the seventeenth century the dividend paid was 
 at the rate of about 200/. per share ; at the end 
 of the eighteenth century the dividend was above 
 500/. per share ; and at the present date each share 
 produces about 850/. a year. At only twenty 
 years' purchase, the capital value of a single share 
 at this day would be about 17,000/. But most of 
 the shares have in course of time, by alienation and 
 bequeathment, become very much subdivided ; the 
 
CHAP III] HUGH MYDDELTON 99 
 
 possessors of two or more fractional parts of a 
 share being enabled, under a decree of Lord Chan- 
 cellor Cowper, in 171 1, to depute a person to 
 represent them in the government of the Company. 
 
 Source of the: New River at Cfaadwell, near Ware, with the Monumental Pedestal 
 in memory of Sir Hugh Myddelton. 
 
( 100 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HUGH MYDDEI.TON {continued) — HIS OTHER ENGINEER- 
 ING AND MINING WORKS — AND DEATH. 
 
 Shortly after the completion of the New River, 
 and the organisation of the Company for the supply 
 of water to the metropolis, we find Hugh Myddelton 
 entering upon a new and formidable enterprise — 
 that of enclosing a large tract of drowned land from 
 the sea. 
 
 The scene of his operations on this occasion 
 was the eastern extremity of the Isle of Wight, 
 at a place now marked on the maps as Brading 
 Harbour. This harbour or haven consists of a 
 tract of about eight hundred acres in extent. At 
 low water it appears a wide mud flat, through the 
 middle of which a small stream, called the Yar, 
 winds its way from near the village of Brading, at 
 the head of the haven, to the sea at its eastern 
 extremity ; whilst at high tide it forms a beautiful 
 and apparently inland lake, embayed between 
 hills of moderate elevation covered with trees, in 
 many places down to the water's edge. At its 
 seaward margin Bembridge Point stretches out 
 as if to meet the promontory on the opposite 
 shore, where stands the old tower of St. Helen's 
 Church, now used as a sea-mark ; and, as seen 
 
CHAP IV] HUGH MYDDELTON 1 01 
 
 from most points, the bay seems to be completely 
 landlocked. 
 
 View of Brading Haven, temporarily reclaimed by Sir Hugh Myddelton, as seen 
 from the Village of Brading. 
 
 The reclamation of so large a tract of land, ap- 
 parently so conveniently situated for the purpose, 
 
102 RECLAMATION OF BRADING HARBOUR [CHAP IV 
 
 had long been matter of speculation. It is not 
 improbable that at some early period neither 
 swamp nor lake existed at Brading Haven, but a 
 green and fertile valley; for in the 
 course of the works under- 
 taken by Sir Hugh Myddel- 
 & ton for its recovery from the 
 H sea, a well, strongly cased 
 with stone, was dis- 
 covered near the middle 
 of the haven, indicating 
 the existence of 
 a population for- 
 merly settled on 
 the soil. The sea 
 Jjjl^ must, however, 
 have burst 
 in and de- 
 stroyed the 
 settlement, 
 laying the 
 whole area under 
 water. 
 
 In King James s 
 reign, when the inning of 
 drowned lands began to re- 
 Map of Brading Harbour. ce i ve an unusual degree of 
 attention, the project of reclaiming Brading Haven 
 was again revived; and in the year 1616 a grant 
 was made of the drowned district to one John Gibb, 
 the King reserving to himself a rental of 20/. per 
 annum. The owners of the adjoining lands con- 
 tested the grant, claiming a prior right to the 
 property in the haven, whatever its worth might 
 be. But the verdict of the Exchequer went against 
 
CHAP tv] 
 
 HUGH MYDDELTON 
 
 I03 
 
 the landowners, and the right of the King to grant 
 the area of the haven for the purpose of reclama- 
 tion was maintained. It appears that Gibb sold 
 his grant to one Sir Bevis Thelwall, a page of the 
 King's bedchamber, who at once invited Hugh 
 Myddelton to join him in undertaking the work ; 
 but Thelwall would not agree to pay Gibb any- 
 thing until the enterprise had been found prac- 
 ticable. In 1620 we find that a correspondence was 
 in progress as to "the composition to be made 
 by the Solicitor-General with Myddelton touch- 
 ing the draining of certain lands in the Isle of 
 W ight, and the bargain having been made accord- 
 ing to such directions as His Majesty hath given, 
 then to prepare the surrender, and thereupon 
 such other assurance for His Majesty as shall be 
 requisite." * 
 
 A satisfactory arrangement having been made 
 with the King, Myddelton began the work of re- 
 claiming the haven in the course of the same year. 
 He sent to Holland for Dutch workmen familiar 
 with such undertakings; and from the manner in 
 which he carried out his embankment, it is obvious 
 that he mainly followed the Dutch method of re- 
 clamation, which, as we have already seen in the 
 case of the drainage of the Fens by Vermuyden, 
 was not, in many respects, well adapted for English 
 practice. But it would also appear, from a patent 
 for draining land which he took out in 1621, that he 
 employed some invention of his own for the pur- 
 pose of facilitating the work. The introduction 
 to the grant of the patent runs as follows :— 
 
 * ' Domestic Calendar of State Papers.' Docquet, 13th August, 
 1620. 
 
104 
 
 RECLAMATION OF READING HAVEN [CHAP IV 
 
 " Whereas wee are given to vnderstand that ourwelbeloved 
 subiect Hugh Middleton, Citizen and Goldsmith of London, 
 hath to his very great charge maynteyned many strangers and 
 others, and bestowed much of his tyme to invent a new way, 
 and by his industrie, greate charge, paynes, and long expe- 
 rience, hath devised and found out ' A New Invencon, Skill, 
 or Way for the Wynning and Drayning of many Ground( 
 
 WHICH ARE DaYLIE AND DeSPERATELIE SURROUNDED WITHIN 
 OUR KlNGDOME OF ENGLAND AND DOMINION OF WALES,' and 
 
 is now in very great hope to bringe the same to good effect, 
 the same not being heretofore knowne, experimented, or vsed 
 within our said realme or dominion, whereby much benefitt, 
 which as yet is lost, will certenly be brought both to vs in 
 particular and to our comon wealth in general], and hath 
 offered to publish and practise his skill amongest our loving sub- 
 iectC . • •, Knowe yee, that wee, tendring the weale of this 
 our kingdom and the benefitt of our subiectf , and out of our 
 princely care to nourish all art?, invencions, and studdies 
 whereof there may be any necessary or .pffitable vse within our 
 dominions, and out of our desire to cherish and encourage the 
 industries and paynes of all other our loving subiect? in the 
 like laudable indeavors, and to recompence the labors and 
 expences of the said Hugh Middleton disbursed and to be 
 susteyned as aforesaid, and for the good opinion wee have 
 conceived of the said Hugh Middleton, for that worthy worke 
 of his in bringing the New River to our cittie of London, and 
 his care and industrie in busines of like nature tending to the 
 publicke good . . . doe give and graunt full, free, and absolute 
 licence, Iibertie, power, and authoritie vnto the said Hughe 
 Middleton, his deputies," &c. to use and practise the same 
 during the terme of fowerteene years next ensuing the date 
 hereof. 
 
 No description is given of the particular method 
 adopted by Myddelton in forming his embankments. 
 It would, however, appear that he proceeded by 
 driving piles into the bottom of the Haven near 
 
CHAP iv] RECLAMATION OF BRAD1NG HAVEN 105 
 
 Bembridge Point where it is about the narrowest, 
 and thus formed a strong embankment at its 
 junction with the sea, but unfortunately without 
 
 Kntrance to Brading Harbour, from St- Helen's Old Tower." 
 
 * The above view represents the present state of the entrance 
 to Brading Haven. A wide ridge of drifted sand lies across it, in 
 front of the old bank raised by Myddelton, which extended from 
 a point below the hill under " Mrs. Grant's house," a little to the 
 westward of the village of Bembridge (seen on the opposite shore) 
 to what are now called " The Boat Houses," situated towards the 
 northern side of the haven, and behind the sand-ridge extending 
 across the view. The black piles driven into the bottom of the 
 haven in the process of embankment are still to be seen sticking up 
 at low water ; and only a few years since the old gates which served 
 for a sluice were dug up near the Boat Houses. At the extremity 
 of the sand-ridge there is a ferry across to the village of Bembridge, 
 in front of which is the narrow entrance into the haven. There 
 have been serious encroachments of the sea on that side of late 
 years, and the channel has become much impeded ; so much so 
 that it has been feared that the navigation would be lost. The old 
 church-tower of St. Helen's, faced with brick and whitewashed, on 
 the right of the view, is still used as a sea-mark. 
 
106 RECLAMATION OF BRADING HAVEN [CHAP IV 
 
 making adequate provision for the egress ot the 
 inland waters. 
 
 A curious contemporary manuscript by Sir John 
 Oglander is still extant, preserved amongst the 
 archives of the Oglander family, who have held 
 the adjoining lands from a period antecedent to the 
 date of the Conquest, which we cannot do better 
 than quote, as giving the most authentic account 
 extant of the circumstances connected with the 
 enclosing of Brading Haven by Hugh Myddelton. 
 This manuscript says : — 
 
 " Brading Haven was begged first of all of King James by 
 one Mr. John Gibb, being a groom of his bedchamber, and 
 the man that King James trusted to carry the reprieve to 
 Winchester for my Lord George Cobham and Sir Walter 
 Rawleigh, when some of them were on the scaffold to be 
 executed. This man was put on to beg it of King James by 
 one Sir Bevis Thelwall, who was then one of the pages of the 
 bedchamber. After he had begged it, Sir Bevis would give 
 him nothing for it until the haven were cleared ; for the gentle- 
 men of the island whose lands join to the haven challenged it 
 as belonging unto them. King James was wonderful earnest 
 in the business, both because it concerned his old servant, and 
 also because it would be a leading case for the fens in Lincoln- 
 shire. After the verdict went in the Chequer against the 
 gentlemen, then Sir Bevis Thelwall would give nothing for it 
 till he could see that it was feasible to be inned from the sea ; 
 whereupon one Sir Hugh Myddelton was called in to assist 
 and undertake the work, and Dutchmen were brought out of 
 the Low Countries, and they began to inn the haven about the 
 20th of December, 1620. Then, when it was taken in, King 
 James compelled Thelwall and Myddelton to give John Gibb 
 (who the King called ' Father ') 2000/. Afterwards Sir Hugh 
 Myddelton, like a crafty fox and subtle citizen, put it off 
 wholly to Sir Bevis Thelwall, betwixt whom afterwards there 
 was a great suit in the Chancery ; but Sir Bevis did enjoy it 
 
CHAP IV] THE OGLANDER MANUSCRIPT 
 
 107 
 
 some eight years, and bestowed much money in building of 
 a barnhouse, mill, fencing of it, and in many other necessary 
 works. 
 
 " But now let me tell you somewhat of Sir Bevis Thelwall 
 and Sir Hugh Myddelton, and of the nature of the ground 
 after it was inned, and the cause of the last breach. Sir Bevis 
 was a gentleman's son in Wales, bound apprentice to a mercer 
 in Cheapside, and afterwards executed that trade till King 
 James came into England : then he gave up, and purchased to 
 be one of the pages of the bedchamber, where, being an under- 
 standing man, and knowing how to handle the Scots, did in 
 that infancy gain a fair estate by getting the Scots to beg for 
 themselves that which he first found out for them, and then 
 himself buying of them with ready money under half the value. 
 He was a very bold fellow, and one that King James very well 
 affected. Sir Hugh Myddelton was a goldsmith in London. 
 This and other famous works brought him into the world, 
 viz., his London waterwork, Brading Haven, and his mine in 
 Wales. 
 
 " The nature of the ground, after it was inned, was not 
 answerable to what was expected, for almost the moiety of it 
 next to the sea was a light running sand, and of little worth. 
 The best of it was down at the fardrer end next to Brading, 
 my Harsh, and Knight's Tenement, in Bembridge. I account 
 that there was 200 acres that might he worth 6s. St/, the acre, 
 and all the rest 2s. 6 f. the acre. The total of the haven was 
 706 acres. Sir Hugh Myddelton, before he sold, tried all 
 experiments in it : he sowed wheat, barley, oats, cabbage seed, 
 and last of all rape seed, which proved best ; but all the others 
 came to nothing. The only inconvenience was in it that the 
 sea brought in so much sand and ooze and seaweed that choked 
 up the passage of the water to go out, insomuch as I am of 
 opinion that if the sea had not broke in Sir Bevis could hardly 
 have kept it, for there would have been no current for the 
 water to go out ; for the eastern tide brought so much sand as 
 the water was not of force to drive it away, so that in time it 
 would have laid to the sea, or else the sea would have drowned 
 
10S THE OGLANDER MANUSCRIPT [CHAP IV 
 
 the whole country. Therefore, in my opinion, it is not good 
 meddling with a haven so near the main ocean. 
 
 " The country (I mean the common people) was very much 
 against the inning of it, as out of their slender capacity think- 
 ing by a little fishing and fowling there would accrue more 
 benefit than by pasturage ; but this I am sure of, it caused, 
 after the first three years, a great deal of more health in these 
 parts than was ever before ; and another thing is remarkable, 
 that whereas we thought it would have improved our marshes, 
 certainly they were the worse for it, and rotted sheep which 
 before fatted there. 
 
 "The cause of the last breach was by reason of a wet 
 time when the haven was full of water, and then a high spring 
 tide, when both the waters met underneath in the loose sand. 
 On the 8th of March, 1630, one Andrew Ripley that was put 
 in earnest to look to Brading Haven by Sir Bevis Thelwall, 
 came in post to my house in Newport to inform me that the 
 sea had made a breach in the said haven near the easternmost 
 end. I demanded of him what the charge might be to stop it 
 out : he told me he thought 40s., whereupon I bid him go 
 thither and get workmen against the next day morning, and 
 some carts, and I would pay them their wages; but the sea 
 the next day came so forcibly in that there was no meddling 
 of it, for Ripley went up presently to London to Sir Bevis 
 Thelwall himself, to have him come down and take some 
 further course ; but within four days after the sea had won so 
 much on the haven, and made the breach so wide and deep, 
 that on the 15th of March when I came thither to see it I 
 knew not well what to judge of it, for whereas at the first 5/. 
 would have stopped it out, now I think 200/. will not do it, and 
 what will be the event of it time will tell. Sir Bevis on news 
 of this breach came into the island on the 17th of March, 1630, 
 and brought with him a letter from my Lord Conway to me 
 and Sir Edward Dennies, desiring us to cause my Lady AVorsley, 
 on behalf of her son, to make up the breach which happened 
 in her ground through their neglect. She returned us an 
 answer that she thought that the law would not compel her 
 
CHAP IV] 
 
 HIS MIXING ADVENTURE 
 
 I I I 
 
 made him acquainted with the mining enterprises 
 then on foot in different parts of Wales — so rich 
 in ores of copper, lead, and iron. It appears that 
 the Governor and Company of Mines Royal in 
 Cardiganshire were incorporated in the year 1604, 
 for the purpose of working the lead and silver 
 mines of that count}-. The principal were those 
 at Cwmsymlog and the Darren Hills, situated 
 about midway, as the crow flies, between Aberyst- 
 with and the mountain of Plinlimmon, and at 
 Tallybout, about midway between Aberystwith and 
 the estuary at the mouth of the River Dovey. 
 They were all situated in the township of Skibery 
 Coed, in the northern part of the county of 
 Cardigan. For many years these mines (which 
 were first opened out by the Romans) were 
 worked by the Corporation of Mines Royal ; but 
 it does not appear that much success attended 
 their operations. Mining was little understood 
 then, and all kinds of pumping and lifting machinery 
 were clumsy and inefficient. Although there was 
 no want of ore, the mines were so drowned by 
 water, that the metal could not well be got at and 
 worked out. 
 
 Myddelton's spirit of enterprise was excited by 
 the prospect of battling with the water and getting 
 at the rich ore, and he had confidence that his 
 mechanical ability would enable him to overcome 
 the difficulties. The Company of Mines Royal 
 were only too glad to get rid of their unprofitable 
 undertaking, and they agreed to farm their mines 
 to Sir Hugh at the rental of 400/. per annum. 
 This was in the year 1617, some time after he 
 had completed his New River works, but before 
 he had begun the embankment of Brading Haven, 
 
IIO SIR HUGH MYDDELTON [CHAP IV 
 
 Sir Hugh continued to maintain his Parlia- 
 mentary connection with his native town of 
 Denbigh, of which he was still the representative. 
 We do not find that he took an active part in 
 political questions. The name of his brother, Sir 
 Thomas, frequently appears in the Parliamentary 
 debates of the time, and he was throughout a 
 
 Chart of Mines in North Wales. 
 [From an old Print in the British Museum.] 
 
 strong opponent of the Court party; but that of 
 Sir Hugh only occurs in connection with com- 
 mercial topics or schemes of internal improvement, 
 on which he seems to have been consulted as an 
 authority. 
 
 Sir Hugh's occasional visits to his constituents 
 brought him into contact with Welsh families, and 
 
chap rv] 
 
 THE OGLANDER MANUSCRIPT 
 
 109 
 
 unto it, and therefore desired to be excused, which answer we 
 returned to my lord. What the event will be I know not, but 
 it seemeth to me not reasonable that she should suffer for not 
 complying with his request. If he had not inned the haven 
 this accident could never have happened ; therefore he giving 
 the cause, that she should apply the cure I understand not. 
 But this I am sure, that Sir Bevis thinketh to recover of her 
 and her son all his charges, which he now sweareth every way 
 to be 2000/. For my part, I would wish no friend of mine to 
 have any hand in the second inning of it. Truly all the better 
 sort of the island were very sorry for Sir Bevis Thelwall, and 
 the commoner sort were as glad as to say truly of Sir Bevis 
 that he did the country many good offices, and was ready at 
 all times to do his best for the public and for everyone. 
 
 " Sir Hugh Myddelton took it first in, and it was proper for 
 none but him, because he had a mine of silver in Wales to 
 maintain it. It cost at the first taking of it in 4000/., then 
 they gave 2000/. to Mr. John Gibb for it, who had begged it 
 of King James ; afterwards, in building the barn and dwelling- 
 house, and water-mill, with the ditching and quick-setting, 
 and making all the partitions, it could not have cost less 
 than 200/. more : so in the total it stood them, from the 
 time they began to take it in, until the 8th of March, a loss of 
 7000/." 
 
 It will thus be observed that the loss of this 
 undertaking fell upon Thelwall, and not upon 
 Myddelton, who sold out of the adventure long 
 before the sea burst through the embankment. 
 The date of conveyance of his rights in the re- 
 claimed land to Sir Bevis Thelwall was the 4th 
 September, 1624, nearly six years before the final 
 ruin of the work. He had, therefore, got his 
 capital out of the concern, most probably with 
 his profit as contractor, and was thus free to 
 embark in the important mining enterprise in 
 Wales, on which we find him next engaged. 
 
I 1 2 RAISED TO THE DIGNITY OF BARONET [CHAP IV 
 
 — and Sir Bevis Thehvall was also a partner with 
 him in this new venture. It took him some time 
 to clear the mines of water, which he did by 
 pumping-machines of his own contrivance ; but 
 at length sufficient ore was raised for testing, and 
 it was found to contain a satisfactory proportion 
 of silver. His mining adventure seems to have 
 been attended with success, for we shortly after- 
 wards find him sending considerable quantities of 
 silver to the Royal Mint to be coined. 
 
 King James was so much gratified by the 
 further proofs of Myddelton's skill and enter- 
 prise, displayed in his embankment of Brading 
 Harbour and his successful mining operations in 
 Wales, that he raised him to the dignity of a 
 Baronet on the 19th of October, 1622; and the 
 compliment was all the more marked by His 
 Majesty directing that Sir Hugh should be dis- 
 charged from the payment of the customary fees, 
 amounting to 1095/., and that the dignity should 
 be conferred upon him without any charge what- 
 ever.* The patent of baronetcy granted on the 
 occasion set forth the "reasons and considerations" 
 which induced the King to confer the honour; 
 and it may not be out of place to remark, that 
 though more eminent industrial services have been 
 
 * Sloane MS. (British Museum), vol. ii. 4177. Also ' Calendar 
 of Domestic State Papers,' Oct. 19th, 1622 : " Grant to Hugh 
 Myddelton of the rank of Baronet, granting discharge of 1095/. due 
 on being made a Baronet." The usual statement is to the effect 
 that Myddelton was knighted on the occasion of the opening of the 
 New River in 1613. But this was not the case, as it will be found 
 from the patent for draining land taken out by him in 162 1 (see 
 ante, p. 103), that he was then described as simply " Citizen and 
 Goldsmith, of London." Nor is his name to be found in any 
 contemporary list of King James's Knights. 
 
THE OAK. ROOM AT THE OFFICES OF THE XKWRIVKR COMPANY", 
 
 I 1 o /ace p. 1 1 a. 
 
CHAP IV] PATENT OF BARONETCY 
 
 "3 
 
 rendered to the public by succeeding engineers, 
 there has been no such cordial or graceful recog- 
 nition of them by any succeeding monarch. The 
 patent states that King James had made a baronet 
 of Hugh Myddelton, of London, goldsmith, for the 
 following reasons and considerations : — 
 
 " i. For bringing to the city of London, with excessive 
 charge and greater difficulty, a new cutt or river of fresh 
 water, to the great benefit and inestimable preservation thereof. 
 2. For gaining a very great and spacious quantity of land in 
 Brading Haven, in the Isle of Wight, out of the bowells of the 
 sea, and with bankes and pyles and most strange defensible 
 and chargeable mountains, fortifying the same against the 
 violence and fury of the waves. 3. For finding out, with a 
 fortunate and prosperous skill, exceeding industry, and noe 
 small charge, in the county of Cardigan, a royal and rych 
 myne, from whence he hath extracted many silver plates which 
 have been coyned in the Tower of London for current money 
 of England." * 
 
 The King, however, did more than confer the 
 title — he added to it a solid benefit in confirming 
 the lease made to Sir Hugh by the Governor 
 and Company of Mines Royal, "as a recompense 
 for his industry in bringing a new river into 
 London," waiving all claim to royalty upon the 
 silver produced, although the Crown was en- 
 titled, according to the then interpretation of the 
 law, to a payment on all gold and silver found 
 in the lands of a subject; and it is certain that 
 the lessee t who succeeded Sir Hugh did pay 
 
 * Harleian MS., No. 1307, Art. 40. (British Museum.) 
 
 t Subsequent to 1636, Thomas Bushell (who purchased the 
 leasei paid 1000/. per annum to the King ; and some years after, in 
 1647, we find him agreeing- to pay 2500/ per annum to the Par- 
 liament. As a curious fact, we may here add that, under date Die 
 
 I 1 
 
114 
 
 myddelton's welsh mines 
 
 [chap IV 
 
 such royalty into the State Exchequer. It also 
 appears from documents preserved amongst the 
 State Papers, that large offers of royalty were 
 actually made to the King at the very time that this 
 handsome concession was granted to Sir Hugh. 
 
 The discovery of silver in the Welsh mountains 
 doubtless caused much talk at the time, and, as in 
 Australia and California now, there were many 
 attempts made by lawless persons to encroach 
 upon the diggings. On this, a royal proclamation 
 was published, warning such persons against the 
 consequences of their trespass, and orders were 
 issued that summary proceedings should be taken 
 against them. It appears that Sir Hugh and his 
 partners continued to work the mines with profit 
 for a period of about sixteen years, although it 
 is stated that during most of that time, in con- 
 sequence of the large quantity of water met with, 
 little more than the upper surface could be got at. 
 The water must, however, have been sufficiently 
 kept under to enable so much ore eventually to 
 be raised. Waller says an engine was employed 
 at Cwmsymlog; and a tradition long existed 
 among the neighbouring miners that there were 
 two engines placed about the middle of the work. 
 There were also several " levels " at Cwmsymlog, 
 one of which is called to this day "Sir Hugh's 
 Level." 
 
 The following rude cut, from Pettus' ' Fodinae 
 Regales,' may serve to give an idea of the manner 
 
 Sabbati, 14 August, 1641, Parliament granted an order or 'license to 
 Thomas Bushell to dig turf on the King's wastes within the limits 
 of Cardiganshire, for the purpose of smelting and refining the lead 
 ores, Sec, his predecessor (Myddelton) having used up almost all 
 the wood growing in the neighbourhood of the mines. 
 
CHAP IV] MYDDELTON'S WELSH MINES I 1 5 
 
 in which the works of Cwmsymlog (facetiously 
 styled by the author or his printer " Come-some- 
 luck") were laid out : 
 
 <^ -ill 
 
 Plan of Myddelton's Silver Mining Works at Cwmsymlog. 
 
 (i. Adits to drain woiks. 
 
 H. Myddelton's decayed chapel. 
 
 I. Old stamping-house. 
 
 K. The smelting mills, supposed 
 
 miles from the hill. 
 I.. Unwrought ground. 
 M, The brook that divides the lull. 
 X. The stream which drives the mil 
 
 A. The old works of Myddelton and 
 BusheiL 
 
 ]J. The round holes are the shafts of 
 the mine. 
 
 C. Windlace to wind up ore from the 
 
 shafts. 
 
 D. A new vein. 
 K. Sir H. Myddelton's adit. 
 F. A new adit. L 
 
 From a statement made by Bushell to Parlia- 
 ment of the results of the working subsequent to 
 1636, it appears that the lead alone was worth 
 above 5000/. a year, to which there was to be 
 added the value of the silver— Bushell alleging, 
 in his petition to Charles L, deposited in the 
 State Paper-office* that Sir Hugh had brought 
 
 * Dated 22nd October, 1636. The prayer of Bushell's petition 
 to Charles L is, that His Majesty will ratify his agreement with 
 Lady Myddelton (by that time a widow) for the purchase of the 
 residue of her lease. 
 
 I 2 
 
I 1 6 MINING ENTERPRISE SUCCESSFUL [CHAP IV 
 
 "to the Minte theis 16 j^eares of puer silver 100 
 poundes weekly." A ton of the lead ore is said 
 to have yielded about a hundred ounces of silver, 
 and the yield at one time was such that Myddel- 
 ton's profits were alleged by Bushell to have 
 amounted to at least two thousand pounds a 
 month. There is no doubt, therefore, that Myd- 
 delton realised considerable profits by the working 
 of his Welsh mines, and that towards the close 
 of his useful life he was an eminently prosperous 
 man.* 
 
 Successful as he had been in his enterprise, 
 he was ready to acknowledge the Giver of all 
 Good in the matter. He took an early oppor- 
 tunity of presenting a votive cup, manufactured 
 by himself out of the Welsh silver, to the cor- 
 poration of Denbigh, and another to the head of 
 his family at Gwaenynog, in its immediate neigh- 
 bourhood, both of which are still preserved. On 
 the latter is inscribed " Mentem non munus — 
 Omnia a Deo — Hugh Myddelton." 
 
 While conducting the mining operations, Sir 
 Hugh resided at Lodge, now called Lodge Park, 
 in the immediate neighbourhood of the mines. 
 The house was the property of Sir John Pryse, 
 of Gogerddan, whose son Richard, afterwards 
 created a baronet, was married to Myddelton's 
 daughter Hester. The house stood on the top 
 of a beautifully wooded hill, overlooking the 
 
 * In these rampant days of joint-stock enterprise, we are not 
 surprised to observe that a scheme has been set on foot to work the 
 long-abandoned silver and lead mines of Sir Hugh Myddelton. 
 With the greatly improved mining machinery of modern times, it is 
 not unreasonable to anticipate a considerable measure of success 
 from such an undertaking. 
 
CHAP IV] 
 
 PROPOSED DRAINAGE SCHEME 
 
 estuary of the Dovey and the great bog of Gors- 
 fochno, the view being bounded by picturesque 
 hills on the one hand and by the sea on the 
 other. Whilst residing here, on one of his visits 
 to the mines, a letter reached him from his cousin, 
 Sir John Wynn, of Gwydir, dated the ist Sep- 
 tember, 1625, asking his assistance in an engineer- 
 ing project in which he was interested. This 
 was the reclamation of the large sandy marshes, 
 called Traeth-Mawr and Traeth-Bach, situated at 
 the junction of the counties of Caernarvon and 
 Merioneth, at the northern extremity of the bay 
 of Cardigan. Sir John, after hailing his good 
 cousin as " one of the great honours of the 
 nation," congratulated him on the great work 
 which he had performed in the Isle of Wight, 
 and added, " I may say to you what the Jews 
 said to Christ, We have heard of thy greate 
 workes done abroade, doe now somewhat in thine 
 own country." After describing the nature of the 
 land proposed to be reclaimed, Sir John declares 
 his willingness "to adventure a brace of hundred 
 pounds to joyne with Sir Hugh in the worke," 
 and concludes by urging him to take a ride to 
 Traeth - Mawr, which was not above a day's 
 journey from where Sir Hugh was residing, and 
 afterwards to come on and see him at Gwydir 
 House, which was at most only another day's 
 journey or about twenty-five miles further to the 
 north-west of Traeth-Mawr. The following was 
 Sir Hugh's reply : — 
 
 " Honourable Sir, 
 
 " I have received your kind letter. Few are the 
 things done by me ; for which I give God the glory. It may 
 please you to understand my first undertaking of public works 
 
I r S SIR HUGH MYDDELTON [CHAP IV 
 
 was amongst my owne kindred, within less than a myle of the 
 place where I hadd my first being, 24 or 25 years since, in 
 seekinge of coales for the town of Denbighe. 
 
 " Touching the drowned lands near your lyvinge, there are 
 many things considerable therein. Iff to be gayned, which will 
 hardlie be performed without great stones, which was plentiful 
 at the Weight [Isle of Wight], as well as wood, and great sums 
 of money to be spent, not hundreds, but thousands ; * and 
 first of all his Majesty's interest must be got. As for myself, 
 I am grown into years, and full of business here at the mynes, 
 the river at London, and other places, my weeklie charge 
 being above 200/.; which maketh me verie unwillinge to 
 undertake any other worke ; and the least of theis, whether 
 the drowned lands or mynes, requireth a whole man, with a 
 large purse. Noble sir, my desire is great to see you, which 
 should draw me a farr longer waie ; yet such are my occasions 
 at this tyme here, for the settlinge of this great worke, that I 
 can hardlie be spared one howr in a daie. My wieff being 
 also here, I cannot leave her in a strange place. Yet my love 
 to publique works, and desire to see you (if God permit), maie 
 another tyme drawe me into those parts. Soe with my heartie 
 comendations I comit you and all your good desires to God. 
 " Your assured lovinge couzin to command, 
 
 " Hugh Myddelton. 
 
 "Lodge, Sept. 2nd, 1625." 
 
 * A long time passed before the attempt was made to reclaim 
 the large tract of land at Traeth-Mawr ; but after the lapse of two 
 centuries it was undertaken by William Alexander Madocks, Esq., 
 and accomplished in spite of many formidable difficulties. Two 
 thousand acres of Penmorfa Marsh were first enclosed on the 
 western side of the river, after which an embankment was con- 
 structed across the estuary, about a mile in length, by which 6000 
 additional acres were secured. The sums expended on the works 
 are said to have exceeded 100,000/. ; but the expenditure has proved 
 productive, and the principal part of the reclaimed land is now 
 under cultivation. Tremadoc, or Madock's Town, and Port Madoc, 
 are two thriving towns, built by the proprietor on the estate thus 
 won from the sea. 
 
CHAP iv] 
 
 HIS DEATH 
 
 119 
 
 At the date of this letter Sir Hugh was an old 
 man of seventy, yet he still continued industriously 
 to apply himself to business affairs. Like most 
 men with whom work has become a habit, he 
 could not be idle, and active occupation seems to 
 have been necessary to his happiness. To the 
 close of his life we find him engaged in corre- 
 spondence on various subjects — on mining, drain- 
 ing, and general affairs. When in London he 
 continued to occupy his house in Bassishaw- 
 street, where the goldsmith business was carried 
 on in his absence by his son William. He also 
 continued to maintain his pleasant country house 
 at Bush Hill, near Edmonton, which he occupied 
 when engaged on the engineering business of 
 the New River, near to which it was convenientl} - 
 situated. 
 
 At length all correspondence ceases, and the 
 busy hand and head of the old man find rest in 
 death. Sir Hugh died on the 10th of December, 
 1631, at the advanced age of seventy-six. In his 
 will, which he made on the 21st November, three 
 weeks before his death, when he was " sick in 
 bodie" but "strong in mind," for which he praised 
 God, he directed that he should be buried in the 
 church of St. Matthew, Friday-street, where he 
 had officiated as churchwarden, and where six of 
 his sons and five of his daughters had been 
 baptized. It had been his parish church, and was 
 hallowed in his memor}- by many associations of 
 family griefs as well as joys ; for there he had 
 buried several of his children in early life, amongst 
 others his two eldest-born sons. The church of 
 St. Matthew, however, has long since ceased to 
 exist, though its registers have been preserved : 
 
120 
 
 SIR HUGH MYDDELTON 
 
 [CHAP IV 
 
 it was destroyed in the great fire of 1666, and the 
 monumental record of Sir Hugh's last resting-place 
 perished in the common ruin. 
 
 The popular and oft-repeated story of Sir Hugh 
 Myddelton having died in poverty and obscurity 
 is only one of the numerous fables which have 
 accumulated about his memory.* He left fair 
 portions to all the children who survived him, and 
 an ample provision to his widow.f His eldest son 
 and heir, William, who succeeded to the baronetcy, 
 inherited the estate at Ruthin, and afterwards 
 married the daughter of Sir Thomas Harris, 
 Baronet, of Shrewsbury. Elizabeth, the daughter 
 
 * The tradition still survives that Sir Hugh retired in his old 
 age to the village of Kemberton, near Shiffnal, Salop, where he 
 lived in great indigence under the assumed name of Raymond, and 
 that he was there occasionally employed as a street paviour ! The 
 parish register is said to contain an entry of his burial on the nth 
 of March, 1702 ; by which date Hugh Myddelton, had he lived 
 until then, would have been about 1 50 years old ! The entry in 
 the register was communicated by the rector of the parish in 1 S09 
 to the ' Gentleman's Magazine ' (vol. lxxix., p. 795), but it is scarcely 
 necessary to point out that it can have no reference whatever to 
 the subject of this memoir. 
 
 t On the 24th June, 1632, Lady Myddelton memorialised the 
 Common Council of London with reference to the loan of 3000/. 
 advanced to Sir Hugh, which does not seem to have been repaid ; 
 and more than two years later, on the 10th Oct., 1634, we find the 
 Corporation allowed 1000/. of the amount, in consideration of the 
 public benefit conferred on the city by Sir Hugh through the for- 
 mation of the New River, and for the losses alleged to have been 
 sustained by him through breaches in the water-pipes on the 
 occasion of divers great fires, as well as for the " present comfort " 
 of Lady Myddelton. It is to be inferred that the balance of the 
 loan of 3000/. was then repaid. Lady Myddelton died at Bush Hill 
 on the 19th July, 1643, aged sixty-three, and was interred in the 
 chancel of Edmonton Church. Middlesex. On her monumental 
 tablet it is stated that she was " the mother of fifteen children." 
 
CHAP IV] 
 
 HIS WILL 
 
 121 
 
 of Sir William, married John Grene, of Enfield, 
 clerk to the New River Company, and from her is 
 lineally descended the Rev. Henry Thomas Ella- 
 combe, M.A., rector of Clyst St. George, Devon, 
 who still holds two shares in the New River 
 Company, as trustee for the surviving descend- 
 ants of Myddelton in his family. Sir Hugh left 
 to his two other sons, Henry and Simon,* besides 
 what he had already given them, one share each 
 in the New River Company (after the death of his 
 wife) and 400/. a-piece. His five daughters seem 
 to have been equally well provided for. Hester 
 was left 900/., the remainder of her portion of 
 1900/. ; Jane having already had the same portion 
 on her marriage to Dr. Chamberlain, of London. 
 Elizabeth and Ann, like Henry and Simon, were 
 left a share each in the New River Company and 
 500/. a-piece. He bequeathed to his wife, Lady 
 Myddelton, the house at Bush Hill, Edmonton, 
 and the furniture in it, for use during her life, 
 with remainder to his youngest son Simon and 
 his heirs. He also left her all the "chains, rings, 
 jewels, pearls, bracelets, and gold buttons, which 
 she hath in her custody and useth to wear at 
 festivals, and the deep silver basin, spout pot, 
 maudlin cup, and small bowl;" as well as "the 
 keeping and wearing of the great jewel given to 
 him by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, 
 and after her decease to such one of his sons as 
 she may think most worthy to wear and enjoy it." 
 By the same will Lady Mvddelton was authorised 
 to dispose of her interest in the Cardiganshire 
 
 * Simon's son Hugh was created a Baronet, of Hackney. 
 Middlesex, in 16S1. He married Dorothy, the daughter of Sir 
 William Oglander, of Nunwell, Baronet. 
 
122 
 
 SIR HUGH MYDDELTON 
 
 [CHAP IV 
 
 mines for her own benefit ; and it afterwards ap- 
 pears, from documents in the State Paper Office, 
 that Thomas Bushell, " the great chymist," as he 
 was called, purchased it for 400/. cash down, and 
 400/. per annum during the continuance of her 
 grant, which had still twenty-five years to run 
 after her husband's death. 
 
 Besides these bequeathments, and the gifts of 
 land, money, and New River shares, which he had 
 made to his other children during his lifetime, 
 Sir Hugh left numerous other sums to relatives, 
 friends, and clerks; for instance, to Richard Newell 
 and Howell Jones, 30/. each, " to the end that the 
 former may continue his care in the works in the 
 Mines Royal, and the latter in the New River 
 water-works," where they were then respectively 
 employed. He also left an annuity of 20/. to 
 William Lewyn, who had been engaged in the 
 New River undertaking from its commencement. 
 Nor were his men and women servants neglected, 
 for he bequeathed to each of them a gift of money, 
 not forgetting " the boy in the kitchen," to whom 
 he left forty shillings. He remembered also the 
 poor of Henllan, near Denbigh, " the parish in 
 which he was born," leaving to them 20/. ; a similar 
 sum to the poor of Denbigh, which he had repre- 
 sented in several successive Parliaments ; and 5/. 
 to the parish of Amwell, in Hertfordshire. To the 
 Goldsmiths' Company, of which he had so long 
 been a member, he bequeathed a share in the 
 New River Company, for the benefit of the more 
 necessitous brethren of that guild, " especially to 
 such as shall be of his name, kindred, and county."* 
 
 * Several of the descendants of Sir Hugh Myddelton, when 
 reduced in circumstances, obtained assistance from this fund. It 
 
CHAP iv] 
 
 IR HLC.H MYDDELTON 
 
 123 
 
 Such was the life and such the end of Sir 
 Hugh Myddelton, a man full of enterprise and 
 resources, an energetic and untiring worker, a 
 great conqueror of obstacles and difficulties, an 
 honest and truly noble man, and one of the most 
 distinguished benefactors the city of London has 
 ever known. 
 
 has been stated, and often repeated, that Lady Myddelton, after 
 her husband's death, became a pensioner of the Goldsmiths' 
 Company, receiving from them 20/. a year. But this annuity was 
 paid, not to the widow of the first Sir Hugh, but to the mother of 
 the last Sir Hugh, more than a century later. The last who bore 
 the title was an unworthy scion of this distinguished family. He 
 could raise his mind no higher than the enjoyment of a rummer of 
 ale ; and towards the end of his life existed upon a pension granted 
 him by the New River Company. The statements so often pub- 
 lished (and which, on more than one occasion, have brought poor 
 persons up to town from Wales to make inquiries) as to an annuity 
 of 100/. said to have been left by Sir Hugh and unclaimed for a 
 century, and of an advertisement calling upon his descendants to 
 apply for the sum of 10,000/., alleged to be lying for them at the 
 Bank of England, are altogether unfounded. Xo such annuity 
 has been left, no such sum has accrued, and no such advertisement 
 has appeared. 
 
( 124 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CAPTAIN PERRY — STOPPAGE OF DAGENHAM BREACH. 
 
 Although the cutting of the New River involved 
 a great deal of labour, and was attended with 
 considerable cost, it was not a work that would 
 now be regarded as of any importance in an 
 engineering point of view. It was, nevertheless, 
 one of the greatest undertakings of the kind that 
 had at that time been attempted in England ; and 
 it is most probable that, but for the persevering 
 energy of Myddelton and the powerful support of 
 the King, the New River enterprise would have 
 failed. As it was, a hundred 3'ears passed before 
 another engineering work of equal importance 
 was attempted, and then it was necessity, and not 
 enterprise, that occasioned it. 
 
 We have, in a previous chapter, referred to the 
 artificial embankment of the Thames, almost from 
 Richmond to the sea, by which a large extent of 
 fertile land is protected from inundation along 
 both banks of the river. The banks first raised 
 seemed to have been in many places of insufficient 
 strength ; and when a strong north-easterly wind 
 blew down the North Sea, and the waters became 
 pent up in that narrow part of it lying between 
 the Belgian and the English coasts, — and especially 
 when this occurred at a time of the highest spring 
 
CHAP v] DESTRUCTIVE INUNDATIONS 
 
 125 
 
 tides, — the strength of the river embankments 
 became severely tested throughout their entire 
 length, and breaches often took place, occasioning 
 destructive inundations. 
 
 Down to the end of the seventeenth centurj- 
 scarcely a season passed without some such acci- 
 dent occurring. There were frequent burstings 
 of the banks on the south side between London 
 Bridge and Greenwich, the district of Bermondsey, 
 then green fields, being especially liable to be 
 submerged. Commissions were appointed on such 
 occasions with full powers to distrain for rates, 
 and to impress labourers in order that the requisite 
 repairs might at once be carried out. In some 
 cases the waters for a long time held their ground, 
 and refused to be driven back. Thus, in the reign 
 of Henry VIII., the marshes of Plumstead and 
 Lesnes, now used as a practising ground by the 
 Woolwich garrison, were completely drowned by 
 the waters which had burst through Erith Breach, 
 and for a long time all measures taken to reclaim 
 them proved ineffectual. There were also frequent 
 inundations of the Combe Marshes, lying on the 
 east of the royal palace at Greenwich. 
 
 But the most destructive inundations occurred 
 on the north bank of the Thames. Thus, in the 
 year 1676, a serious breach took place at Lime- 
 house, when many houses were swept away, and 
 it was with the greatest difficulty that the waters 
 could be banked out again. The wonder is, that 
 sweeping, as the new current did, over the Isle 
 of Dogs, in the direction of Wapping, and in the 
 line of the present West India Docks, the channel 
 of the river was not then permanently altered. 
 But Deptford was already established as a royal 
 
126 
 
 DAGENHAM BREACH 
 
 [chap V 
 
 dockyard, and probably the diversion of the river 
 would have inflicted as much local injury, judging 
 by comparison, as it unquestionably would do at 
 the present day. The breach was accordingly 
 stemmed, and the course of the river held in 
 its ancient channel by Deptford and Greenwich. 
 Another destructive inundation shortly after oc- 
 curred through a breach made in the embankment 
 of the West Thurrock Marshes, in what is called 
 the Long Reach, nearly opposite Greenhithe, where 
 the lands remained under water for seven years, 
 and it was with much difficult}- that the breach 
 could be closed. 
 
 But the most destructive and obstinate of all 
 the breaches was that ' made in the north bank 
 a little to the south of the village of Dagenham, 
 in Essex, by which the whole of the Dagenham 
 and Havering Levels lay drowned at every tide. 
 A similar breach had occurred in 1621, which 
 Vermuyden, the Dutch engineer, succeeded in 
 stopping; and at the same time he embanked or 
 "inned" the whole of Dagenham Creek, through 
 which the little rivulet flowing past the village of 
 that name found its way to the Thames. Across 
 the mouth of this rivulet Vermuyden had erected 
 a sluice, of the nature of a " clow," being a strong 
 gate suspended by hinges, which opened to admit 
 of the egress of the inland waters at low tide, and 
 closed against the entrance of the Thames when 
 the tide rose. It happened, however, that a heavy 
 inland flood, and an unusually high spring tide, 
 occurred simultaneously during the prevalence of 
 a strong north-easterly wind, in the 3-ear 1707; 
 when the united force of the waters meeting from 
 both directions blew up the sluice, the repairs cf 
 
CHAP v] 
 
 DAGENHAM BREACH 
 
 t-7 
 
 which had been neglected, and in a very short 
 time nearly the whole area of the above Levels was 
 covered by the waters of the Thames. 
 
 At first the gap was so slight as to have been 
 easily closed, being onl}- from 14 to 16 feet wide. 
 But no measures having been taken to stop it, 
 the tide ran in and out for several years, every 
 tide wearing the channel deeper, and rendering 
 the stoppage of the breach more difficult. At 
 length the channel was found upwards of 30 feet 
 deep at low water, and about 100 feet wide, a lake 
 more than a mile and a half in extent having by 
 this time been formed inside the line of the river 
 embankment. Above a thousand acres of rich 
 lands were spoiled for all useful purposes, and by 
 the scouring of the waters out and in at even- 
 tide, the soil of about a hundred and twenty acres 
 was completely washed away. It was carried into 
 the channel of the Thames, and formed a bank of 
 about a mile in length, reaching half-way across the 
 river. This state of things could not be allowed 
 to continue, for the navigation of the stream was 
 seriously interrupted by the obstruction, and there 
 was no knowing where the mischief would stop. 
 
 Various futile attempts were made by the ad- 
 joining landowners to stem the breach. They filled 
 old ships with chalk and stones, and had them 
 scuttled and sunk in the deepest places, throw- 
 ing in baskets of chalk and earth outside them, 
 together with bundles of straw and hay to stop 
 up the interstices; but when the full tide rose, 
 it washed them away like so many chips, and the 
 opening was again driven clean through. Then 
 the expedient was tried of sinking into the hole 
 gigantic boxes made expressly for the purpose, 
 
128 
 
 DAGENHAM BREACH 
 
 [chap v 
 
 fitted tightly together, and filled with chalk. 
 Power was obtained to lay an embargo on the 
 cargoes of chalk and ballast contained in passing 
 ships, for the purpose of filling these boxes, as 
 well as damming up the gap ; and as many as 
 from ten to fifteen freights of chalk a da}* were 
 thrown in, but still without effect. 
 
 One day when the tide was on the turn, the 
 force of the water lifted one of the monster trunks 
 sheer up from the bottom, when it toppled round, 
 the lid opened, out fell the chalk, and, righting 
 again, the immense box floated out into the stream 
 and down the river. One of the landowners 
 interested in the stoppage ran along the bank, 
 and shouted out at the top of his voice, "Stop her! 
 stop her!" But the unwieldy object being under 
 no guidance was carried down stream towards the 
 shipping tying at Gravesend, where its unusual 
 appearance, standing so high out of the water, ex- 
 cited great alarm amongst the sailors. The empty 
 trunk, however, floated safely past, down the river, 
 until it reached the Nore, where it stranded upon 
 a sandbank. 
 
 The Government next lent the undertakers an 
 old royal ship called the Lion, for the purpose of 
 being sunk in the breach, which was done, with 
 two other ships ; but the Lion was broken in 
 pieces by a single tide, and at the very next ebb 
 not a vestige of her was to be seen. No matter 
 what was sunk, the force of the water at high tide 
 bored through underneath the obstacle, and only 
 served to deepen the breach. After the destruc- 
 tion of the Lion, the channel was found deepened 
 to 50 feet at low water, at the very place where 
 she had been sunk. 
 
CHAP v] 
 
 CAPTAIN PERRY 
 
 All this had been but tinkering at the breach, 
 and every measure that had been adopted merely 
 proved the incompetency of the undertakers. The 
 obstruction to the navigation through the deposit 
 of earth and sand in the river being still on the 
 increase, an Act was passed in 1714, alter the 
 bank had been open for a period of seven years, 
 giving powers for its repair at the public expense. 
 But it is an indication of the very low state of 
 engineering ability in the kingdom at the time, that 
 several more years passed before the measures 
 taken with this object were crowned with success, 
 and the opening was only closed after a fresh 
 succession of failures. 
 
 The works were first let to one Boswell, a 
 contractor. He proceeded very much after the 
 method which had already failed, sinking two rows 
 of caissons or chests across the breach, but pro- 
 vided with sluices for the purpose of shutting off 
 the inroads of the tide. All his contrivances, how- 
 ever, failed to make the opening watertight ; and 
 his chests were blown up again and again. Then 
 he tried pontoons of ships, which he loaded and 
 sunk in the opening; but the force of the tide, as 
 before, rushed under and around them, and broke 
 them all to pieces, the only result being to make 
 the gap in the bank considerably wider and deeper 
 than he found it. Boswell at length abandoned all 
 further attempts to close it, after suffering a heavy 
 loss ; and the engineering skill of England seemed 
 likely to be completely baffled by this hole in a 
 river's bank. 
 
 The competent man was, however, at length 
 found in Captain Perry, who had just returned 
 from Russia, where, having been able to find no 
 
 I. K 
 
1 30 
 
 CAPTAIN PERRY 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 suitable employment for his abilities in his own 
 country, he had for some time been employed by 
 the Czar Peter in carrying on extensive engineering 
 works. 
 
 John Perry was born at Rodborough, in Glouces- 
 tershire, in 1669, and spent the early part of his life 
 at sea. In 1693 we find him a lieutenant on board 
 the royal ship the Montague. The vessel having put 
 into harbour at Portsmouth to be refitted, Perry 
 is said to have displayed considerable mechanical 
 skill in contriving an engine for throwing out a 
 large quantity of water from deep sluices (pro- 
 bably for purposes of dry docking) in a very short 
 space of time. The Montague having been re- 
 paired, went to sea, and was shortly after lost. 
 As the English navy had suffered greatly during 
 the same j'ear, partly by mismanagement, and 
 partly by treachery, the Government was in a 
 very bad temper, and Perry was tried for alleged 
 misconduct. The result was, that he was sen- 
 tenced to pay a fine of 1000/., and to undergo ten 
 years' imprisonment in the Marshalsea. 
 
 This sentence must, however, have been subse- 
 quently mitigated, for we find him in 1695 pub- 
 lishing a "Regulation for Seamen," with a view 
 to the more effectual manning of the English navy; 
 and in 1698 the Marquis of Caermarthen and others 
 recommended him to the notice of the Czar Peter, 
 then resident in England, by whom he was invited 
 to go out to Russia, to superintend the establish- 
 ment of a royal fleet, and the execution of several 
 gigantic works then contemplated for the purpose 
 of opening up the resources of that empire. Perry 
 was engaged by the Czar at a salary of 300/. a 
 year, and shortly after accompanied him to Holland, 
 
CHAP v] ENGINEER TO THE CZAR I 3 I 
 
 thence proceeding to Moscow, to enter upon the 
 business of his office. 
 
 One of the Czar's grand designs was to open up 
 a system of inland navigation to connect his new 
 city of St. Petersburg with the Caspian Sea, and 
 also to place Moscow upon another line, by form- 
 ing a canal between the Don and the Volga. In 
 1698 the works had been begun by one Colonel 
 Breckell, a German officer in the Czar's service. 
 But though a good military engineer, it turned out 
 that he knew nothing of canal making; for the 
 first sluice which he constructed was immediately 
 blown up. The water, when let in, forced itself 
 under the foundations of the work, and the six 
 months' labour of several thousand workmen was 
 destroyed in a night. The Colonel, having a due 
 regard for his personal safety, at once fled the 
 country in the disguise of a servant, and was 
 never after heard of. Captain Perry entered upon 
 this luckless gentleman's office, and forthwith pro- 
 ceeded to survey the work he had begun, some 
 seventy-five miles beyond Moscow. Perry had a 
 vast number of labourers at his disposal, but they 
 were altogether unskilled, and therefore compara- 
 tively useless. His orders were to have no fewer 
 than 30,000 men at work, though he seldom had 
 more than from 10,000 to 15,000; but one-twentieth 
 the number of skilled labourers would have better 
 served his purpose. He had many difficulties to 
 contend with. The local nobility or boyars were 
 strongly opposed to the undertaking, declaring it 
 to be impossible; and their observation was, that 
 God had made the rivers to flow one way, and it 
 was presumption in man to think of attempting to 
 turn them in another. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 CAPTAIN PERRY 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 Short]}' after the Czar had returned to his 
 dominions, he got involved in war with Sweden, 
 and was defeated by Charles XII. at the battle 
 of Narva, in 1701. Although the Don and Volga 
 Canal was by this time half-dug, and many of the 
 requisite sluices were finished, the Czar sent orders 
 to Perry to let the works stand, and attend upon 
 him immediately at St. Petersburg. Leaving one 
 of his assistants to take charge of the work in 
 hand, Perry waited upon his roj'al employer, who 
 had a great new design on foot of an altogether 
 different character. This was the formation of a 
 royal dockyard on one of the southern rivers of 
 Russia, where Peter contemplated building a fleet 
 of war-ships, wherewith to act against the Turks 
 in the Black Sea. Perry immediately entered upon 
 the office to which he was appointed, of Comp- 
 troller of Russian Maritime Works, and proceeded 
 to carry out the new project. The site of the Royal 
 Dockyard was fixed at Veronize on the Don, where 
 he was occupied for several years, with a vast 
 number of workmen under him, in building a 
 dockyard, with storehouses, ship-sheds, and work- 
 shops. He also laid down and superintended the 
 construction of numerous vessels, one of them of 
 eighty guns : the slips on which he built them are 
 said to have been very ingeniously contrived. 
 
 The creation of this dockyard was far advanced 
 when he received a fresh command to undertake 
 the survey of a canal to connect St. Petersburg 
 with the Volga, to enable provisions, timber, and 
 building materials to flow freely to the capital 
 from the interior of the empire. Perry surveyed 
 three several routes, recommending the adoption 
 of that through Lakes Ladoga and Onega ; and the 
 
CHAP v] 
 
 RETURNS TO ENGLAND 
 
 133 
 
 works were forthwith begun under his direction. 
 Before they were completed, however, he had left 
 Russia, never to return. During" the whole of his 
 stay in the kingdom he had been unable to get 
 paid for his work. His applications for his stipu- 
 lated salary were put off with excuses from year 
 to year. Proceedings in the courts of law were 
 out of the question in such a country ; he could 
 only dun the Czar and his ministers ; and at 
 length his arrears had become so great, and his 
 necessities so urgent, that he could no longer 
 endure his position, and threatened to quit the 
 Czar's service. It came to his ears that the Czar 
 had threatened on his part, that if he did, he would 
 have Perry's head; and the engineer immediately 
 took refuge at the house of the British minister, who 
 shortly after contrived to get him conveyed safely 
 out of the 'country, but without being paid. He 
 returned to England in 17 12, as poor as he had left 
 it, though he had so largely contributed to create 
 the navy of Russia, and to lay the foundations of 
 its afterwards splendid system of inland navigation. 
 
 It will be remembered that all attempts made 
 to stop the breach at Dagenham had thus far 
 proved ineffectual ; and it threatened to bid de- 
 fiance to the engineering talent of England. Perry 
 seemed to be one of those men who delight in 
 difficult undertakings, and he no sooner heard of 
 the work than he displayed an eager desire to 
 enter upon it. He went to look at the breach 
 shortly after his return, and gave in a tender with 
 a plan for its repair ; but on Boswell's being ac- 
 cepted, which was the lowest, he held back until 
 that contractor had tried his best, and failed. The 
 way was now clear for Perry, and again he offered 
 
'34 
 
 CAPTAIN PERRY 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 to stop the breach and execute the necessary works 
 for the sum of 25,000/.* His offer was this time 
 accepted, and operations were begun early in 1715. 
 The opening was now of great width and depth, 
 and a lake had been formed on the land from 400 
 to 500 feet broad in some places, and extending 
 nearly 2 miles in length. Perry's plan of opera- 
 tions may be briefly explained with the aid of his 
 own map. 
 
 In the first place he sought to relieve the tre- 
 mendous pressure of the waters against the breach 
 at high tide, by making other openings in the bank 
 through which they might more easily flow into 
 and out of the inland lake, without having exclu- 
 sively to pass through the gap which it was his 
 object to stop. He accordingly had two openings, 
 protected by strong sluices, made in the bank a 
 little below the breach, and when these had been 
 opened and were in action he proceeded to stop 
 the breach itself. He began by driving in a row of 
 strong timber piles across the channel; and they 
 were dovetailed one into the other so as to render 
 them almost impervious to water. The heads 
 of the piles were not more than from eighteen 
 inches to two feet above low water mark, so that 
 in driving them little or no difficulty would be 
 experienced from the current of ebb or flood. 
 " Forty feet from this central row of sheeting piles, 
 was constructed on each side, a sort of low coffer- 
 dam-like structure, variously stated as 18 or 20 
 feet broad, formed of vertical piles and horizontal 
 boarding, and filled with chalk, to prevent the toe 
 of the future embankment from spreading. On 
 
 * Boswell's price had been 16,300/., and lie undertook to do the 
 work in fifteen months. 
 
CHAP V] THE PLAN OF DAGENHAM BREACH 135 
 
 the outside of these foot-wharfs, as Perry calls 
 them, a wall of chalk rubble was made, as a further 
 security. The dam itself was composed entirely 
 
 Perry's Plan of Dagenham Breach. 
 
 A. — The Dam whereby lhe Breach was 
 
 stopped. 
 B —The site of Boswell's works. 
 C. — L he site of the Landowners' works. 
 I). — The site of Perry's Sluices. 
 
 E. — The site of Boswell's Sluices. 
 
 F. — A Dam and Sluice made for recovery 
 
 of the Meadows shortly after the 
 Breach had occurred. 
 
 G. — Small Sluice for drainage of the land 
 waters. 
 
 HH. — The tlotted line represents the ex- 
 tent of the inundation caused by 
 the P.reach. 
 
 L — Places where stag..' horrs were dug up. 
 
 K. — Parallel lines, showing the depth at 
 low water at every 60 yards distance 
 from the shore. 
 
 of clayey earth, in layers about 3 feet in height, 
 and scarcements or steps of about 7 feet ; and in 
 the course of its erection, care was taken always 
 
136 
 
 STOPPAGE OF DAGENHAM BREACH [CHAP V 
 
 to shut the sluices already mentioned when, at 
 each successive ebb-tide, the level of the back- 
 water fell to the level of the top of the work in 
 progress. In this way there was at no time a 
 higher face for the water of the rising tide to flow 
 over. In fact the unfinished embankment held in 
 the water, over the land it was intended to lay 
 dry, at a depth corresponding to its gradual pro- 
 gress, until finally, when the bank was above high- 
 water line, it was discharged by the sluices, and 
 never re-admitted." * 
 
 Scarcely had Perry begun the work, and pro- 
 ceeded so far as to exhibit his general design, than 
 Boswell, the former contractor, presented a peti- 
 tion to Parliament against the engineer being 
 allowed to go on, alleging that his scheme was 
 utterly impracticable. The work being of great 
 importance, and executed at the public expense, a 
 Parliamentary Committee was appointed, when 
 Perry was called before them and examined fully 
 as to the details. His answers were so explicit, 
 and, on the whole, so satisfactory, that at the 
 close of the examination one of the members thus 
 spoke the sense of the Committee : — " You have 
 answered us like an artist, and like a workman ; 
 and it is not only the scheme, but the man, that 
 we recommend." 
 
 Perry was then allowed to proceed, and the 
 work went steadily forward. About three hundred 
 men were employed in stopping the breach, and it 
 occupied them about five years to accomplish it. 
 " Perry was proceeding steadily with the dam, 
 which was constructed by successive scarcements 
 
 * Description of Perry's work by S. Downing, C.E., in Practical 
 Mechanics' Journal, May, 1 864. 
 
chap v] 
 
 DAGENHAM LAKE 
 
 137 
 
 about 7 feet broad and 3 feet high ; these being 
 supported by piles and planking on the side, and 
 protected by layers of reeds on the top, had been 
 able to resist the action of the tide when it came 
 on. In this manner he was advancing to com- 
 pletion, when one of his assistants proposed to 
 the parties who had advanced Captain Perry the 
 necessary capital, to set all hands to work at 
 neap tides, and form a narrow wall of earth, un- 
 
 Da§enham Lake. 
 
 protected by reeds or planking, and build it so 
 rapidly as to get it above the level of the 
 springs before they should come on, and thus at 
 once exclude the tides from the level. Unfortu- 
 nately, the next spring-tide rose to an unexpected 
 height under the influence of a storm from the 
 
1 3S THE BREACH EFFECTUALLY STOPPED [CHAP V 
 
 north-west, and over-topped this narrow dam by 
 about six inches, although Perry used the greatest 
 energy, and heightened the wall of earth by piles 
 and boarding set on edge on the top ; but all in 
 vain : the water poured over it, and in the course 
 of tivo hours the whole dam was swept away, and 
 the dovetailed piles laid bare. This accident was 
 repaired in the winter months, and in June, 1718, 
 the tide was again turned out of the levels ; but in 
 September of the same year the dam gave way 
 again, and this time with far greater injury to the 
 work, as upwards of 100 feet of the dovetailed piles 
 were torn up and carried away. In one place there 
 was about 20 feet greater depth than before the 
 work was begun. The third dam was completed 
 on the 1 8th June, 1719, about fourteen years after 
 the accident first occurred." Thus the opening 
 was at length effectually stopped, and the water 
 drained away by the sluices, leaving the exten- 
 sive inland lake, which is to this day used by 
 the Londoners as a place for fishing and aquatic 
 recreation.* 
 
 A good idea of the formidable character of the 
 embankments extending along the Thames may be 
 obtained by a visit to this place. Standing on the 
 top of the bank, which is from 40 to 50 feet above 
 the river level at low water.t we see on the one 
 side the Thames, with its shipping passing and 
 
 * It has recently been proposed to convert the lake into ex- 
 tensive docks, connected with London by the Tilbury Railway ; 
 and a Company has been formed for the purpose of carrying out 
 the enterprise. 
 
 t The banks themselves are from 17 to 25 feet high in the 
 neighbourhood of Dagenham, and from 25 to 30 feet wide at the 
 base. The marks of the old breach are still easily traceable. 
 
CHAP v] EMBANKMENTS ALONG THE THAMES 
 
 139 
 
 repassing, high above ? he inland level when the 
 tide is up, with the still lake of Dagenham and the 
 far extending flats on the other. Looking from 
 the lower level on these strong banks extending 
 along the stream as far as the eye can reach, we 
 can only see the masts of sailing ships and the 
 funnels of large steamers leaving behind them long 
 trails of murky smoke, — at once giving an idea of 
 the gigantic traffic that flows along this great water 
 
 The Thames from Dagenham Hank, looking up the River. 
 
 highway, and the enormous labour which it has 
 cost to bank up the lands and confine the river 
 within its present artificial limits. We do not 
 exaggerate when we state that these formid- 
 able embankments, winding along the river side, 
 up creeks and tributary streams, round islands 
 and about marshes, from London to the mouth 
 of the Thames, are not less than 300 miles in 
 extent. 
 
140 
 
 CAPTAIN PERRY 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 It is to be regretted that Perry gained nothing 
 but fame by his great work. The expense of stop- 
 ping the breach far exceeded his original estimate ; 
 he required more materials than he had calculated 
 upon ; and frequent strikes amongst his workmen 
 for advances of wages greatly increased the total 
 cost. These circumstances seem to have been 
 taken into account by the Government in settling 
 with the engineer, and a grant of 15,000/. was 
 voted to him in consideration of his extra outlay. 
 The landowners interested also made him a present 
 of a sum of 1000/. But even then he was left a 
 loser ; and although the public were so largely 
 benefited by the success of the work, which re- 
 stored the navigation of the river, and enabled the 
 adjoining proprietors again to reclaim for purposes 
 of agriculture the drowned lands within the em- 
 bankment, the engineer did not really receive a 
 farthing's remuneration for his five years' anxiety 
 and labour. 
 
 After this period Perry seems to have been 
 employed on harbour works, — more particularly at 
 Rye and Dover ; but none of these were of great 
 importance, the enterprise of the country being as 
 yet dormant, and its available capital for public 
 undertakings comparatively limited. It appears 
 from the Corporation Records of Rye, that in 1724 
 he was appointed engineer to the proposed new 
 harbour-works there. The port had become very 
 much silted up, and for the purpose of restoring 
 the navigation it was designed to cut a new 
 channel, with two pier-heads, to form an entrance 
 to the harbour. The plan further included a large 
 stone sluice and draw-bridge, with gates, across 
 the new channel, about a quarter of a mile within 
 
CHAP v] 
 
 HIS DEATH 
 
 HI 
 
 the pier-heads; a wharf constructed of timber 
 along the two sides of the channel, up to the 
 sluice ; together with other well-designed im- 
 provements. But the works had scarcely been 
 begun before the Commissioners displayed a 
 strong disposition to job, one of them with- 
 drawing for the purpose of supplying the stone 
 and timber required for the new works at ex- 
 cessive prices, and others forming what was 
 called " the family compact," or a secret arrange- 
 ment for dividing the spoil amongst them. The 
 plan of Perry was not fully carried out ; and 
 though the pier-heads and stone sluice were built, 
 the most important part of the work, the cutting 
 of the new channel, was only partly executed, 
 when the undertaking was suspended for want 
 of funds. 
 
 From that time forward, Perry's engineering 
 ability was very much confined to making reports 
 as to what things should be done, rather than in 
 being employed to do them. In 1727 he pub- 
 lished his ' Proposals for Draining the Pens in 
 Lincolnshire;' and he seems to have been em- 
 ployed there as well as in Hatfield Level, where 
 "Perry's Drain" still marks one of his works. 
 He was acting as engineer for the adventurers 
 who undertook the drainage of Deeping Fen, in 
 1732, when he was taken ill and died at Spalding, 
 in the sixty-third year of his age. He lies buried 
 in the churchyard of that town ; and the tomb- 
 stone placed over his grave bears the following 
 inscription : — 
 
142 
 
 INSCRIPTION ON TOMBSTONE 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 To the Memory of 
 Iohn Perry Esq r ; in 1693 
 Commander of His Maiesty King Will™* 
 Ship the Cignet ; second Son of Sam 1 Perry 
 of Rodborough in Gloucestershire Gent & of 
 Sarah his Wife; Daughter of Sir Tho s Nott; K T 
 He was several Years Comptroller of the 
 Maritime works to Czar Peter in Russia & 
 on his Return home was Employed by y e 
 Parliament to stop Dagenham Preach which 
 he Effected and thereby Preserved the 
 Navigation of the River of Thames and 
 Rescued many Private Familys from Ruin 
 he after departed this Life in this Town & 
 was here Interred February 13 ; 1732 Aged 
 63 Years 
 
 This stone was placed over him by the 
 Order of William Perry of Penthurst in 
 Kent Esq' his Kindsman and Heir Male 
 
( U3 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE BEGINNINGS OF CANAL NAVIGATION. 
 
 In the preceding memoirs of Vermuyden and 
 Perry, we have found a vigorous contest carried 
 on against the powers of water, the chief object of 
 the engineers being to dam it back by embank- 
 ments, or to drain it off b\- cuts and sluices; whilst 
 in the case of Myddelton, on the other hand, we 
 find his chief concern to have been to collect all 
 the water within his reach, and lead it by conduit 
 and aqueduct for the supply of the thirsting metro- 
 polis. The engineer whose history we are now 
 about to relate dealt with water in like manner to 
 Myddelton, but on a much larger scale ; directing 
 it into extensive artificial canals, for use as the 
 means of communication between various towns 
 and districts. 
 
 Down to the middle of last century, the trade 
 and commerce of England were comparatively 
 insignificant. This is sufficiently clear from the 
 wretched state of our road and river communica- 
 tion about that time ; for it is well understood that 
 without the ready means of transporting commodi- 
 ties from place to place, either by land or water, 
 commerce is impossible. But the roads of England 
 were then about the worst in Europe, and usually 
 impassable for vehicles during the greater part of 
 
H4 
 
 COST OF TRANSPORT 
 
 [chap VI 
 
 the year.* Corn, wool, and such like articles, were 
 sent to market on horses or bullocks' backs ; and 
 manure was carried to the field, and fuel conveyed 
 from the forest or the bog, in the same way. The 
 only coal used in the inland southern counties was 
 carried on horseback in sacks for the supply of the 
 blacksmiths' forges. The food of London was prin- 
 cipally brought from the surrounding country in 
 panniers. The little merchandise transported from 
 place to place was mostly of a light description, — 
 the cloths of the West of England, the buttons 
 of Birmingham and Macclesfield, the baizes of 
 Norwich, the cutlery of Sheffield, and the tapes, 
 coatings, and fustians of Manchester. 
 
 Articles imported from abroad were in like 
 manner conveyed inland by pack-horse or waggon ; 
 and it was then cheaper to bring most kinds of 
 foreign wares from remote parts to London by 
 sea than to convey them from the inland parts of 
 England to London by road. Thus, two centuries 
 since, the freight of merchandise from Lisbon to 
 London was no greater than the land carriage of 
 the same articles from Norwich to London ; and 
 from Amsterdam or Rotterdam the expense of 
 conveyance was very much less. It cost from 
 y I. to 9/. to convey a ton of goods from Birming- 
 ham to London, and 13/. from Leeds to London. 
 It will readily be understood that rates such as 
 these were altogether prohibitory as regarded 
 many of the articles now entering largely into 
 the consumption of the great body of the people. 
 Things now considered necessaries of life, in 
 
 * For a full account of Old Roads and Travelling in England, 
 we must refer the reader to ' Lives of the Engineers,' vol. iii. 
 pp. 1-S9. 
 
chap vi] England's water communications 145 
 
 daily common use, were then regarded as luxuries, 
 obtainable only by the rich. The manufacture of 
 pottery was as yet of the rudest kind. Vessels 
 of wood, of pewter, and even of leather, formed 
 the principal part of the household and table 
 utensils of genteel and opulent families ; and we 
 long continued to import our cloths, our linen, 
 our glass, our "Delph" ware, our cutlery, our 
 paper, and even our hats, from France, Spain, 
 Germany, Flanders, and Holland. Indeed, so 
 long as corn, fuel, wool, iron, and manufactured 
 articles had to be transported on horseback, or 
 in rude waggons dragged over still ruder roads 
 by horses or oxen, it is clear that trade and 
 commerce could make but little progress. The 
 cost of transport of the raw materials required 
 for food, manufactures, and domestic consumption, 
 must necessarily have formed so large an item as 
 to have in a great measure precluded their use ; 
 and before they could be made to enter largely 
 into the general consumption, it was absolutely 
 necessary that greater facilities should be provided 
 for their transport. 
 
 Fngland was not, however, like many other 
 countries less favourably circumstanced, neces- 
 sarily dependent solely upon roads for the means 
 of transport, but possessed natural water com- 
 munications, and the means of improving and 
 extending them to an almost indefinite extent. 
 She was provided with convenient natural havens 
 situated on the margin of the world's great high- 
 way, the ocean, and had the advantage of fine 
 tidal rivers, up which fleets of ships might be 
 lifted at every tide into almost the heart of the 
 land. Very little had as yet been done to take 
 1. l 
 
146 
 
 JOHN TREW 
 
 [CHAP VI 
 
 advantage of this great natural water power, and 
 to extend navigation inland either by improving 
 the rivers which might be made navigable, or b}' 
 means of artificial canals, as had been done in 
 Holland, France, and even Russia, by which those 
 countries had in some parts been rendered in a 
 great measure independent of roads. 
 
 It is true, public attention had from time to 
 time been directed to the improvement of rivers 
 and the cutting of canals, but excepting a few 
 isolated attempts, little had been done towards 
 carrying the numerous suggested plans in different 
 parts of the country into effect. If we except 
 some of the wider drains in the Fens, which were 
 in certain cases made available for purposes of 
 navigation, though to a very limited extent, the 
 first canal was that constructed by John Trew, at 
 Exeter, in 1566. In early times the tide carried 
 vessels up to that city, but the Countess of Devon 
 took the opportunity of revenging herself upon 
 the citizens for some affront they had offered to 
 her, by erecting a weir across the Exe at Topsham 
 in 1284, which had the effect of closing the river 
 to sea-going vessels. This continued until the 
 reign of Henry VIII., when authority was granted 
 by Parliament to cut a canal about three miles 
 in length along the west side of the river, from 
 Exeter to Topsham. The work was executed by 
 Trew, and it is a curious circumstance that it 
 contained the first lock constructed in England, 
 — though locks are said to have been used in the 
 Brenta in 1488, and were shortly after adopted 
 in the Milan canals. John Trew was a native of 
 Glamorganshire; and though he must have been 
 a man of skill and enterprise, like many other 
 
CHAP Vl] CANAL FROM EXETER TO TOPSHAM 1 47 
 
 projectors of improvements and benefactors of 
 mankind, he seems to have realised only loss 
 and mortification by his work. In consequence 
 of an alleged failure on his part in carrying out 
 the agreement for executing the canal, the Mayor 
 and Chamber of the city disputed his claims, and 
 he became involved in ruinous litigation. In a 
 letter written by him to Lord Burleigh, in which 
 he relates his suit against the Chamber of Exeter, 
 Trew draws a sad picture of the state to which 
 he was reduced. "The varyablenes of men," says 
 he, "and the great injury done unto me, brought 
 me in such case that I wyshed my credetours 
 sattisfyd and I away from earth : what becom 
 may of my poor wyf and children, who lye in 
 great mysery, for that I have spent all." * He 
 then proceeded to recount "the things whearin 
 God hath given (him) exsperyance ; " relating 
 chiefly to mining operations, and various branches 
 of civil and even military engineering. It is satis- 
 factory to add that in 1573 the harassing suit 
 was brought to a conclusion, and Trew granted 
 the Corporation a release on their agreeing to 
 pay him a sum of 224/., and thirty pounds a year 
 for life.t 
 
 In the reign of James I. several Acts of Parlia- 
 ment were passed, giving powers to improve rivers, 
 so as to facilitate the passage of boats and barges 
 
 * Lansdowne MS. cvii. art. 73. 
 
 t The Lansdowne MS. x.xxi., art. 74, sets forth certain " Reasons 
 against the proceedings of John Trew in the works ot Dover 
 Haven, 1581." It appears from Lysons's History of Dover, that 
 Trew was engaged as harbour-engineer at ten shillings a-day 
 wages ; but the corporation, thinking that he was inclined to pro- 
 tract the work on which he was engaged, summarily dismissed 
 him. This is the last that we hear of John Trew. 
 
 L 2 
 
148 FRANCIS MATHEW's PROJECT [CHAP VI 
 
 carrying merchandise. Thus, in 1623, Sir Hugh 
 Myddelton was engaged upon a Committee on a 
 bill then under consideration "for the making of 
 the river of Thames navigable to Oxford." In the 
 same year Taylor, the water poet, pointed out to 
 the inhabitants of Salisbury that their city might 
 be effectually relieved of its poor by having their 
 river made navigable from thence to Christchurch. 
 The progress of improvement, however, must have 
 been slow; as urgent appeals, on the same subject, 
 continued to be addressed to Parliament and the 
 public for a century later. 
 
 In 1656 we find one Francis Mathew addressing 
 Cromwell and his Parliament on the immense . 
 advantage of opening up a water-communication 
 between London and Bristol. But he only pro- 
 posed to make the rivers Isis and Avon navigable 
 to their sources, and then either to connect their 
 heads by means of a short sasse or canal of about 
 three miles across the intervening ridge of country, 
 or to form a fair stone causeway between the heads 
 of the two rivers, across which horses or carts 
 might carry produce between the one and the 
 other. His object, it will be observed, was mainly 
 the opening up of the existing rivers; "and not," 
 he says, "to have the old channel of any river to 
 be forsaken for a shorter passage." Mathew fully 
 recognised the formidable character of his project, 
 and considered it quite beyond the range of private 
 enterprise, whether of individuals or of any cor- 
 poration, to undertake it; but he ventured to think 
 that it might not be too much for the power of 
 the State to construct the three miles of canal and 
 carry out the other improvements suggested by 
 him, with a reasonable prospect of success. The 
 
CHAP Vl] 
 
 YARRANTON S CANAL PLANS 
 
 140 
 
 scheme was, however, too bold for Mathew's time, 
 and a century elapsed before another canal was 
 made in England. 
 
 A few years later, in 1677, a curious work was 
 published by Andrew Yarranton,* in which he 
 pointed out what the Dutch had accomplished by 
 means of inland navigation, and what England 
 ought to do as the best means of excelling the 
 Dutch without fighting them. The main feature 
 of his scheme was the improvement of our rivers 
 so as to render them navigable and the inland 
 country thus more readily accessible to commerce. 
 For, in England, said he, there are large rivers 
 well situated for trade, great woods, good wool 
 and large beasts, with plenty of iron stone, and 
 pit coals, with lands fit to bear flax, and with 
 mines of tin and lead; and besides all these things 
 in it, England has a good air. But to make these 
 advantages available, the country, he held, must 
 be opened up by navigation. First of all, he pro- 
 posed that the Thames should be improved to 
 Oxford, and connected with the Severn by the 
 Avon to Bristol— these two rivers, he insisted, 
 being the master rivers of England. When this 
 has been done, says Mr. Yarranton, all the great 
 and heavy carriage from Cheshire, all Wales, 
 Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Bristol, will be 
 carried to London and recarried back to the great 
 towns, especially in the winter time, at half the 
 rates they now pa}', which will much promote 
 and advance manufactures in the counties and 
 places above named. "If I were a doctor," he 
 says, " and could read a Lecture of the Circulation 
 of the Blood, I should by that awaken all the 
 
 * 'England's Improvement by Sea and Land.' London, 1677. 
 
ISO 
 
 EARLY CANALS 
 
 [chap VI 
 
 City : For London is as the Heart is in the Bod}-, 
 and the great Rivers are as its Veins ; let them 
 be stopt, there will then be great danger either 
 of death, or else such Veins will apply themselves 
 to feed some other part of the Body, which it was 
 not properly intended for : For I tell you, Trade 
 will creep and steal away from any place, pro- 
 vided she may be better treated elsewhere." But 
 he goes on — " I hear some say, You projected the 
 making Navigable the River Stoure in Worcester- 
 shire : what is the reason it was not finished? I 
 say it was my projection, and I will tell you the 
 reason it was not finished. The River Stoure and 
 some other Rivers were granted by an Act of 
 Parliament to certain Persons of Honour, and 
 some progress was made in the work ; but within 
 a small while after the Act passed it was let fall 
 again. But it being a brat of my own, I was not 
 willing it should be Abortive; therefore I made 
 offers to perfect it, leaving a third part of the 
 Inheritance to me and my heirs for ever, and we 
 came to an agreement. Upon which I fell on, 
 and made it compleatly Navigable from Sturbridge 
 to Kederminster ; and carried down many hundred 
 Tuns of Coales, and laid out near one thousand 
 pounds, and then it was obstructed for Want of 
 Money, which by Contract was to be paid." 
 
 There is no question that this "want of money" 
 was the secret of the little progress made in the 
 improvement of the internal communications of 
 the country, as well as the cause of the backward 
 state of industry generally. England was then 
 possessed of little capital and less spirit, and hence 
 the miserable poverty, starvation, and beggary 
 which prevailed to a great extent amongst the 
 
CHAP Vl] 
 
 CANAL ENTERPRISE 
 
 lower classes of society at the time when Mr. 
 Yarranton wrote, and which he so often refers to 
 in the course of his book. For the same reason 
 most of the early Acts of Parliament for the im- 
 provement of navigable rivers remained a dead 
 letter : there was not money enough to carry them 
 out, modest though the projects usually were. 
 Among the few schemes which were actually 
 carried out about the beginning of the eighteenth 
 century, was the opening up of the navigation of 
 the rivers Aire and Calder, in Yorkshire. Though 
 a work of no great difficulty, Thoresby speaks of 
 it in his diary as one of vast magnitude. It was, 
 however, of much utility, and gave no little impetus 
 to the trade of that important district. 
 
 It was, indeed, natural that the demand for 
 improvements in inland navigation should arise 
 in those quarters where the communications were 
 the most imperfect and where good communica- 
 tions were most needed, namely, in the manu- 
 facturing districts of the north of England. On 
 the western side of the island Liverpool was then 
 rising in importance, and the necessity became 
 urgent for opening up its water communications 
 with the interior. By the assistance of the tide, 
 vessels were enabled to reach as high up the 
 Mersey as Warrington ; but there they were 
 stopped by the shallows, which it was necessary 
 to remove to enable them to reach Manchester 
 and the adjacent districts. Accordingly, in 1720, 
 an Act was obtained empowering certain persons 
 to take steps to make navigable the rivers Mersey 
 and Irwell from Liverpool to Manchester. This 
 was effected by the usual contrivance of wears, 
 locks, and flushes, and a considerable improvement 
 
152 
 
 CANAL ENTERPRISE 
 
 [CHAP VI 
 
 in the navigation was thereby effected. Acts were 
 also passed for the improvement of the Weaver 
 navigation, the Douglas navigation, and the Sankey 
 navigation, all in the same neighbourhood; and 
 the works carried out proved of much service to 
 the district. 
 
 But these improvements, it will be observed, 
 were principally confined to clearing out the chan- 
 nels of existing rivers, and did not contemplate 
 the making of new and direct navigable cuts be- 
 tween important towns or districts. It was not 
 until about the middle of last centurj- that English 
 enterprise was fairly awakened to the necessity of 
 carrying out a system of artificial canals through- 
 out the kingdom ; and from the time when canals 
 began to be made, it will be found that the in- 
 dustry of the nation made a sudden start forward. 
 Abroad, monarchs had stimulated like undertakings, 
 and drawn largely on the public resources for the 
 purpose of carrying them into effect ; but in Eng- 
 land such projects are usually left to private 
 enterprise, which follows rather than anticipates 
 the public wants. In the upshot, however, the 
 English system, as it may be termed — which is 
 the outgrowth in a great measure of individual 
 energy — does not prove the least efficient ; for we 
 shall find that the English canals, like the English 
 railways, were eventually executed with a skill, 
 despatch, and completeness, which imperial enter- 
 prise, backed by the resources of great states, was 
 unable to surpass or even to equal. How the first 
 English canals were made, how they prospered, 
 and how the system extended, will appear from 
 the following biography of James Brindley, the 
 father of canal engineering in England. 
 
JAMES BRINDLEY, 
 
 [To face f. 
 
LIFE OF JAMES BRINDLEY. 
 
brindley's native district, 
 
LIFE OF JAMES BRIXDLEY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 brindlf.y's early years. 
 
 In the third year of the reign of George I., whilst 
 the British Government were occupied in extin- 
 guishing the embers of the Jacobite rebellion which 
 had occurred in the preceding year, the first English 
 canal engineer was born in a remote hamlet in the 
 I ligh Peak of Derby. 
 
 The nearest town of any importance was Mac- 
 clesfield, where a considerable number of persons 
 were employed about the middle of last century in 
 making wrought buttons in silk, mohair, and twist. 
 The articles were sold throughout the country by 
 pedestrian hawkers, most of whom had squatted 
 on the waste lands called " The Flash," from a 
 hamlet of that name situated between Buxton, Leek, 
 and Macclesfield. The}" were notorious for their 
 half-barbarous manners, and brutal pastimes. Such 
 was the district, and such the population, in the 
 neighbourhood of which our hero was born. 
 
 James Brindley first saw the light in a humble 
 cottage standing about midway between the hamlet 
 of Great Rocks, and that of Tunstead, in the liberty 
 of Thornsett, some three miles to the north-east 
 of Buxton. The house in which he was born, in 
 
1 5 6 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP I 
 
 the }"ear 1716, has long since fallen to ruins — the 
 Brindley family having been its last occupants. 
 The walls stood for some time after the roof had 
 fallen in, and at length the materials were removed 
 to build cowhouses ; but in the middle of the ruin 
 there grew up a young ash tree, forcing up one of 
 the flags of the cottage floor. It looked so health}' 
 and thriving a plant, that the labourer employed to 
 
 Brindley's Croit.» 
 
 remove the stones for the purpose of forming the 
 pathway to the neighbouring farm-house, spared 
 the seedling, and it grew up into the large and 
 
 * The site of the Croft is very elevated, and commands an 
 extensive view as far as Topley Pike, between Bakewell and 
 Buxton, at the top of what is called the Long Hill. Topley Pike 
 is behind the spectator in looking- at the Croft in the above aspect. 
 The rising ground behind the ash tree is called Wormhill Common, 
 though now enclosed. The old road from Buxton to Tideswell 
 skirts the front of the rising ground. 
 
CHAP l] 
 
 brindley's cRorr 
 
 '57 
 
 flourishing tree, six feet nine inches in girth, stand- 
 ing in the middle of the Croft, and now known as 
 " Brindley's Tree." This ash tree is Nature's own 
 memorial of the birth-place of the engineer, and it 
 is the only one as yet erected in commemoration 
 of his genius. 
 
 Although the enclosure is called Brindley's 
 Croft, this name was only given to it of late years 
 by its tenant, in memory of the engineer who was 
 born there. The statement made in Mr. Henshall's 
 memoir of Brindley,* to the effect that Brindley's 
 father was the freehold owner of his croft, does 
 not appear to have any foundation ; as the present 
 owner of the property, Dr. Fleming, informs us 
 that it was purchased, about the beginning of the 
 present century, from the heirs of the last of the 
 Heywards, who became its owners in 1688. No 
 such name as Brindley occurs in any of the title- 
 deeds belonging to the property ; and it is probable 
 that the engineer's father was an under-tenant, and 
 merely rented the old cottage in which our hero 
 was born. There is no record of his birth, nor 
 does the name of Brindley appear in the register 
 of the parish of Wormhill, in which the cottage was 
 situated; but registers in those days were very 
 imperfectly kept, and part of that of Wormhill has 
 been lost. 
 
 It is probable that Brindley's father maintained 
 his family by the cultivation of his little croft, and 
 that he was not much, if at all, above the rank of a 
 cottier. It is indeed recorded of him that he was 
 by no means a steady man, and was fonder of sport 
 than of work. He went shooting and hunting, 
 when he should have been labouring ; and if there 
 * Kippis's ' Biographia Britannica,' Art. Brindley. 
 
158 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [chap I 
 
 was a bull-running within twenty miles, he was 
 sure to be there. The Bull Ring of the district lay 
 less than three miles off, at the north end of Long 
 Ridge Lane, which passed almost by his door; and 
 of that place of popular resort Brindley's father was 
 a regular frequenter. These associations led him 
 into bad company, and very soon reduced him 
 to poverty. He neglected his children, not only 
 setting before them a bad example, but permitting 
 them to grow up without education. Fortunately, 
 Brindley's mother in a great measure supplied the 
 father's shortcomings ; she did what she could to 
 teach them what she knew, though that was not 
 much ; but, perhaps more important still, she en- 
 couraged them in the formation of good habits by 
 her own steady industry.* 
 
 The different members of the family, of whom 
 James was the eldest, were thus under the neces- 
 sity of going out to work at a very early age to 
 provide for the family wants. James worked at 
 any ordinary labourer's employment which offered 
 until he was about seventeen years old. His 
 mechanical bias had, however, early displayed 
 itself, and he was especially clever with his knife, 
 making models of mills, which he set to work in 
 little mill-streams of his contrivance. It is said 
 that one of the things in which he took most delight 
 when a boy, was to visit a neighbouring grist-mill 
 
 * Brindley's father seems afterwards to have somewhat re- 
 covered himself ; for we find him, in 1729, purchasing an undivided 
 share of a small estate at Lowe Hill, within a mile of Leek, in 
 Staffordshire, where he had before gone to settle; and he con- 
 trived to realise the remaining portion before his death, and 
 to leave it to his son James. None of the Brindley family 
 remained at Wormhill, and the name has disappeared in the 
 district. 
 
CHAP i] THE WHEELWRIGHT'S APPRENTICE 
 
 159 
 
 and examine the water-wheels, cog-wheels, drum- 
 wheels, and other attached machinery, until he 
 could carry away the details in his head ; after- 
 wards imitating the arrangements by means of his 
 knife and such little bits of wood as he could obtain 
 for the purpose. We can thus readily understand 
 how he should have turned his thoughts in the 
 direction in which we afterwards find him em- 
 ployed, and that, encouraged by his mother, he 
 should have determined to bind himself, on the 
 first opportunity that offered, to the business of a 
 millwright. 
 
 The demands of trade were so small at the time, 
 that Brindley had no great choice of masters ; but 
 at the village of Sutton, near Macclesfield, there 
 lived one Abraham Bennett, a wheelwright and 
 millwright, to whom young Brindley offered him- 
 self as apprentice ; and in the year 1733, after a few 
 weeks' trial, he became bound to that master for the 
 term of seven years. Although the employment of 
 millwrights was then of a very limited character, 
 they obtained a great deal of valuable practical 
 information whilst carrying on their business. 
 The millwrights were as yet the only engineers. 
 In the course of their trade they worked at the foot- 
 lathe, the carpenter's bench, and the anvil, by turns ; 
 thus cultivating the faculties of observation and 
 comparison, acquiring practical knowledge of the 
 strength and qualities of materials, and dexterity in 
 the handling of tools of many different kinds. In 
 country places, where division of labour could not 
 be carried so far as in the larger towns, the mill- 
 wright was compelled to draw largely upon his 
 own resources, and to devise expedients to meet 
 pressing emergencies as they arose. Necessity 
 
i6o 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP I 
 
 thus made them dexterous, expert, and skilful in 
 mechanical arrangements, more particularly those 
 connected with mill-work, steam-engines, pumps, 
 cranes, and such like. Hence millwrights in those 
 early days were looked upon as a very important 
 class of workmen. The nature of their business 
 tended to render them self-reliant, and they prided 
 themselves on the importance of their calling. On 
 occasions of difficulty the millwright was invariably 
 resorted to for help ; and as the demand for me- 
 chanical skill arose, in course of the progress of 
 manufacturing and agricultural industry, the men 
 trained in millwrights' shops, such as Brindley, 
 Meikle, Rennic, and Fairbairn, were borne up by 
 the force of their practical skill and constructive 
 genius into the highest rank of skilled and scien- 
 tific engineering. 
 
 Brindley, however, only acquired his skill by 
 slow degrees. Indeed, his master thought him 
 slower than most lads, and even stupid. Bennett, 
 lij<e many well-paid master mechanics at that time, 
 was of intemperate habits, and gave very little 
 attention to his apprentice, leaving him to the 
 tender mercies of his journeymen, who were for 
 the most part a rough and drunken set. Much of 
 the lad's time was occupied in running for beer, and 
 when he sought for information he was often met 
 with a rebuff. Skilled workmen were then very 
 jealous of new hands, and those who were in any 
 lucrative employment usually put their shoulders 
 together to exclude outsiders. Brindley had thus 
 to find out nearly everj'thing for himself, and 
 he only worked his way to dexterity through a 
 succession of blunders. 
 
 He was frequently left in sole charge of the 
 
chap i] 
 
 HIS EARLY EFFORTS 
 
 161 
 
 wheelwright's shop — the men being absent at jobs 
 in the country, and the master at the public-house, 
 from which he could not easily be drawn. Hence, 
 when customers called at the shop to get any 
 urgent repairs done, the apprentice was under the 
 necessity of doing them in the best way he could, 
 and that often very badly. When the men came 
 home and found tools blunted and timber spoiled, 
 they abused Brindley and complained to the master 
 of his bungling apprentice's handiwork, declaring 
 him to be a mere " spoiler of wood." On one occa- 
 sion, when Bennett and the journeymen were 
 absent, he had to fit in the spokes of a cart-wheel, 
 and was so intent on completing his job that he did 
 not find out that he had fitted them all in the wrong 
 way until he had applied the gauge-stick. Not 
 long after this occurrence, Brindley was left by 
 himself in the shop for an entire week, working at 
 a piece of common enough wheelwright's work, 
 without any directions ; and he made such a " mess " 
 of it, that on the master's return he was so enraged, 
 that he threatened, there and then, to cancel the 
 indentures and send the young man back to farm- 
 labourer's work, which Bennett declared was the 
 only thing for which he was fit. 
 
 Brindley had now been two years at the busi- 
 ness, and in his master's opinion had learnt next 
 to nothing; though it shortly turned out that, not- 
 withstanding the apprentice's many blunders, he 
 had really groped his way to much valuable prac- 
 tical information on matters relating to his trade. 
 Bennett's shop would have been a bad school for 
 an ordinary youth, but it proved a profitable one 
 for Brindley, who was anxious to learn, and deter- 
 mined to make a way for himself if he could net 
 i. it 
 
JAMES BRIXDLEY 
 
 [CHAP I 
 
 find one. He must have had a brave spirit to 
 withstand the many difficulties he had to contend 
 against, to learn dexterity through blunders, and 
 success through defeats. But this is necessarily 
 the case with all self-taught workmen ; and Brind- 
 ley was mainly self-taught, as we have seen, even 
 in the details of the business to which he had 
 bound himself apprentice. 
 
 In the autumn of 1735 a small silk-mill at 
 Macclesfield, the property of Mr. Michael Daintry, 
 sustained considerable injury from a fire at one 
 of the gudgeons inside the mill, and Bennett was 
 called upon to execute the necessary repairs. 
 Whilst the men were employed at the shop in 
 executing the new work, Brindley was sent to the 
 mill to remove the damaged machinery, under the 
 directions of Mr. James Milner, the superintendent 
 of the factory. Milner had thus frequent occasion 
 to enter into conversation with the young man, 
 and was struck with the pertinence of his remarks 
 as to the causes of the recent fire and the best 
 means of avoiding similar accidents in future. He 
 even applied to Bennett, his master, to permit the 
 apprentice to assist in executing the repairs of 
 certain parts of the work, which was reluctantly 
 assented to. Bennett closely watched his " bung- 
 ling apprentice," as he called him ; but Brindley, 
 encouraged by the superintendent of the mill, 
 succeeded in satisfactorily executing his allotted 
 portion of the repairs, not less to the surprise of 
 his master than to the mortification of his men. 
 Many years after, Brindley, in describing this first 
 successful piece of mill-work which he had exe- 
 cuted, observed, " I can yet remember the delight 
 which I felt when my work was fixed and fitted 
 
CHAP i] FIRST SUCCESSFUL PIF.CE OF WORK I63 
 
 complete ; though I could not understand why 
 my master and the other workmen, instead of 
 being pleased, seemed to be dissatisfied with the 
 insertion of every fresh part in its proper place." 
 
 The completion of the job was followed by the 
 usual supper and drink at the only tavern in the 
 town, then on Parsonage Green. Brindley's share 
 in the work was a good deal ridiculed by the men 
 when the drink began to operate ; on which Mr. 
 Milner, to whose intercession his participation in 
 the work had been entirely attributable, interposed 
 and said, " I will wager a gallon of the best ale in 
 the house, that before the lad's apprenticeship is 
 out he will be a cleverer workman than any here, 
 whether master or man." We have not been in- 
 formed whether the wager was accepted ; but it 
 was long remembered, and Brindley was so often 
 taunted with it by the workmen, that he was not 
 himself allowed to forget that it had been offered. 
 Indeed, from that time forward, he zealously 
 endeavoured so to apply himself as to justify the 
 prediction, for it was nothing less, of his kind 
 friend Mr. Milner; and before the end of his third 
 year's apprenticeship his master was himself con- 
 strained to admit that Brindley was not the " fool" 
 and the "blundering blockhead" which he and his 
 men had so often called him. 
 
 Very much to the chagrin of the latter, and to 
 the surprise of Bennett himself, the neighbouring 
 millers, when sending for a workman to execute 
 repairs in their machinery, would specially request 
 that "the young man Brindley" should be sent 
 them in preference to any other of the workmen. 
 Some of them would even have the apprentice in 
 preference to the master himself. At this Bennett 
 
 m 2 
 
164 JAMES BRINDLEY [CHAP I 
 
 was greatly surprised, and, quite unable to under- 
 stand the mystery, he even went so far as to inquire 
 of Brindley where he had obtained his knowledge 
 of mill-work! Brindley could not tell; it "came 
 natural-like;" but the whole secret consisted in 
 Brindley working with his head as well as with 
 his hands. The apprentice had already been found 
 peculiarly expert in executing mill repairs, in the 
 course of which he would frequently suggest 
 alterations and improvements, more especially in 
 the application of the water-power, which no one 
 had before thought of, but which proved to be 
 founded on correct principles, and worked to the 
 millers' entire satisfaction. Bennett, on afterwards 
 inspecting the gearing of one of the mills repaired 
 by Brindley, found it so securely and substantially 
 fitted, that he even complained to him of his style 
 of work. "Jem," said he, " if thou goes on i' this 
 foolish way o' workin', there will be very little 
 trade left to be done when thou comes oot o' thy 
 time: thou knaws firmness o' wark's th' ruin o' 
 trade." Brindley, however, gave no heed whatever 
 to the unprincipled suggestion, and considered it 
 the duty and the pride of the mechanic always to 
 execute the best possible work. 
 
 Among the other jobs which Brindlcy's master 
 was employed to execute about this time, was the 
 machinery of a new paper-mill proposed to be 
 erected on the river Dane. The arrangements were 
 to be the same as those adopted in the Smedley 
 paper-mill on the Irk, and at Throstle-Nest, on 
 the Irwell, near Manchester ; and Bennett went 
 over to inspect the machinery at those places. But 
 Brindley was afterwards of opinion that he must 
 have inspected the taverns in Manchester much 
 
CHAP ij 
 
 HIS master's dilemma 
 
 165 
 
 more closely than the paper-mills in the neigh- 
 bourhood ; for when he returned, the practical 
 information he brought with him proved almost 
 a blank. Nevertheless, Bennett could not let slip 
 the opportunity of undertaking so lucrative a piece 
 of employment in his special line, and, ill-informed 
 though he was, he set his men to work upon the 
 machinery of the proposed paper-mill. 
 
 It very soon appeared that Bennett was alto- 
 gether unfitted for the performance of the contract 
 which he had undertaken. The machinery, when 
 made, would not fit ; it would not work ; and, 
 what with drink and what with perplexity, Bennett 
 soon got completely bewildered. Yet to give up 
 the job altogether would be to admit his own in- 
 competency as a mechanic, and must necessari^ 
 affect his future employment as a millwright. He 
 and his men, therefore, continued distractedly to 
 persevere in their operations, but without the 
 slightest appearance of satisfactory progress. 
 
 About this time an old hand, who happened to 
 be passing the place at which the men were at 
 work, looked in upon them and examined what 
 they were about, as a mere matter of curiosity. 
 When he had done so, he went on to the nearest 
 public-house and uttered his sentiments on the 
 subject very freely. He declared that the job was a 
 farce, and that Abraham Bennett was only throw- 
 ing his employer's money away. The statement 
 of what the " experienced hand " had said, was re- 
 peated until it came to the ears of young Brindley. 
 Concerned for the honour of his shop as well as 
 for the credit of his master — though he probably 
 owed him no great obligation on the score either 
 of treatment or instruction — Brindley formed the 
 
JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP I 
 
 immediate resolution of attempting to master the 
 difficulty so that the work might be brought to a 
 satisfactory completion. 
 
 At the end of the week's work Brindley left the 
 mill without saying a word of his intention to any 
 one, and instead of returning to his master's house, 
 where he lodged, he took the road for Manchester. 
 Bennett was in a state of great alarm lest he should 
 have run away; for Brindley, now in the fourth 
 _year of his apprenticeship, had reached the age 
 of twenty-one, and the master feared that, taking 
 advantage of his legal majority, he had left his 
 service never to return. A messenger was de- 
 spatched in the course of the evening to his 
 mother's house ; but he was not there. Sunday 
 came and passed — still no word of young Brindley : 
 he must have run away ! 
 
 On Monday morning Bennett went to the paper- 
 mill to proceed with his fruitless work ; and lo! the 
 first person he saw was Brindley, with his coat off, 
 working away with greater energy than ever. His 
 disappearance was soon explained. He had been 
 to Smedley Mill to inspect the machinery there 
 with his own eyes, and clear up his master's diffi- 
 culty. He had walked the twenty-five miles thither 
 on the Saturday night, and on the following Sunday 
 morning he had waited on Mr. Appleton, the pro- 
 prietor of the mill, and requested permission to 
 inspect the machinery. With an unusual degree of 
 liberality Mr. Appleton gave the required consent, 
 and Brindley spent the whole of that Sunday in 
 the most minute inspection of the entire arrange- 
 ments of the mill. He could not make notes, but he 
 stored up the particulars carefull} - in his head ; and 
 believing that he had now thoroughly mastered the 
 
CHAP i] IMPROVES MACHINERY OF PAPER-MILL 1 6j 
 
 difficulty, he set out upon his return journey, and 
 walked the twenty-five miles back to Macclesfield 
 again. 
 
 Having given this proof of his determination, 
 as he had already given of his skill in mechanics, 
 Bennett was only too glad to give up the whole 
 conduct of the contract thenceforth to his appren- 
 tice ; Brindley assuring him that he should now 
 have no difficulty in completing it to his satisfac- 
 tion. No time was lost in revising the whole 
 design ; many parts of the work already fixed 
 were rejected by Brindley, and removed ; others, 
 after his own design, were substituted ; several 
 entirely new improvements were added ; and in 
 the course of a few weeks the work was brought 
 to a conclusion, within the stipulated time, to the 
 satisfaction of the proprietors of the mill. 
 
 There was now no longer any question as to 
 the extraordinary mechanical skill of Bennett's 
 apprentice. The old man felt that he had been in a 
 measure saved by young Brindley, and thenceforth, 
 during the remainder of his apprenticeship, he left 
 him in principal charge of the shop. For several 
 years after, Brindley maintained his old master and 
 his family in respectability and comfort ; and when 
 Bennett died, Brindley carried on the concern until 
 the work in hand had been completed and the 
 accounts wound up ; after which he removed from 
 Macclesfield to begin business on his own account 
 at the town of Leek, in Staffordshire. 
 
( i68 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 BRINDLEY AS MASTER WHEELWRIGHT AND MILLWRIGHT. 
 
 Brindley had now been nine years at his trade, 
 seven as apprentice and two as journeyman ; and 
 he began business as a wheelwright at Leek at 
 the age of twenty-six. He had no capital except 
 his skill, and no influence except that which his 
 character as a steady workman gave him. Leek 
 was not a manufacturing place at the time when 
 Brindle}' began business there in 1742. It was but 
 a small market town, the only mills in the neigh- 
 bourhood being a few grist-mills driven b_y the 
 streamlets flowing into the waters of the Dane, the 
 Churnet, and the Trent. These mills usually con- 
 tained no more than a single pair of stones, and 
 they were comparatively rude and primitive in 
 their arrangement and construction. 
 
 Brindley at first obtained but a moderate share 
 of employment. His work was more strongly 
 done, and his charges were consequently higher, 
 than was customary in the district ; and the agri- 
 cultural classes were as yet too poor to enable 
 them to pay the prices of the best work. He 
 gradually, however, acquired a position, and became 
 known for his skill in improving old machinery or 
 inventing such new mechanical arrangements as 
 might be required for any special purpose. He 
 
CHAP Ii] WHEELWRIGHT AND MILLWRIGHT 
 
 169 
 
 was very careful to execute the jobs which wen- 
 entrusted to him within the stipulated time, and 
 he began to be spoken of as a thoroughly reliable 
 workman. Thus his business gradually extended 
 to other places at a distance from Leek, and more 
 especially into the Staffordshire Pottery districts, 
 about to rise into importance under the fostering 
 energy of Josiah Wedgwood. 
 
 At first Brindley kept neither apprentices not 
 journeymen, but felled his own timber and cut it 
 up himself, with such assistance as he could pro- 
 cure on the spot. As his business increased he 
 took in an apprentice, and then a journeyman, to 
 carry on the work in the shop while he was absent ; 
 and he was often called to a considerable distance 
 from home, more particularly for the purpose of 
 being consulted about any new machinery that 
 was proposed to be put up. Nor did he confine 
 himself to mill-work. He was ready to undertake 
 all sorts of machinery connected with the pump- 
 ing of water, the draining of mines, the smelting 
 of iron and copper, and the various mechanical 
 arrangements connected with the manufactures 
 rising into importance in the adjoining counties 
 of Cheshire and Lancashire. Whenever he was 
 called upon in this way, he endeavoured to intro- 
 duce improvements ; and to such an extent did 
 he carry this tendency, that he became generally 
 known in the neighbourhood by the name of "The 
 Schemer." 
 
 A number of Brindley's memoranda books * are 
 
 * In the possession of Joseph Mayer, Esq., of Liverpool, who 
 lias kindly permitted the author to inspect the whole of his valuable 
 manuscripts relating to Brindley, so curiously illustrative of his 
 start in life as a working and consulting Engineer. 
 
JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP II 
 
 still in existence, which show the varied nature of 
 his employment during this early part of his career. 
 It appears from the entries made in them, that he 
 was not only employed in repairing and fitting up 
 silk-throwing mills at Macclesfield, all of which 
 were then driven by water, but also in repairing 
 corn -mills at Congleton, Newcastle - under- Lyne, 
 and various other places, besides those in the im- 
 mediate neighbourhood of Leek, where he lived. 
 We believe the pocket memoranda books, to which 
 we refer, were the only records which Brindley 
 kept of his early business transactions ; the rest he 
 carried in his memory, which by practice became 
 remarkably retentive. Whilst working as an ap- 
 prentice at Macclesfield, he had taught himself the 
 art of writing ; but he never mastered it thoroughly, 
 and to the end of his life he wrote with difficulty, 
 and almost illegibly. His spelling was also very 
 bad ; and what with the bad spelling and what with 
 the hieroglyphics in which he wrote, it is some- 
 times very difficult to decypher the entries made 
 by him from time to time in his books. 
 
 We find him frequently at Trentham. On one 
 occasion he makes entry of a " Loog of Daal 20 foot 
 long;" at another time he is fitting a pump for 
 " Arle Gower," the Earl being one of Brindley's 
 first patrons. The log of deal, it afterwards ap- 
 pears, was required for the flint-mill of a Mr. Tibots 
 — "a mow [new?] invontion," as Brindley enters it 
 in his book — of which more hereafter. On May 18, 
 1755, he enters " Big Tree to cut 1 day," and he 
 seems to have felled the tree, and, some months 
 after, to have cut it up himself, entering so many 
 days at two shillings a day for the labour. When 
 he had to travel some distance, he set down 
 
THE POTTERIES DISTRICT 
 
 CHAP II] 
 
 sixpence a day extra for expenses, 
 occasion he makes this entry : " For 
 mill of Codan looking out a shaft neer 
 i day 0:2 : 6." 
 
 Between Leek 
 and Trentham lay 
 the then small pot- 
 ter)- village of Burs- 
 lem, which Brindley 
 had frequent occa- 
 sion to pass through 
 in going to and 
 from his jobs for the 
 Earl. The earthen- 
 ware then manufac- 
 tured at Burslem 
 was of a very in- 
 ferior sort, consist- 
 ing almost entirely 
 of brown vessels ; 
 and the quantity 
 turned out was so 
 small that it was 
 hawked about on 
 the backs of the 
 potters themselves, 
 or sold by higglers, 
 who carried it from 
 village to village in 
 the panniers of their 
 donkeys. The brothers 
 erected a potwork of 
 
 171 
 
 Thus on one 
 Mr. Kent corn 
 Broun Edge 
 
 The Potteries District. 
 
 Elers, the Dutchmen, 
 an improved kind near 
 Burslem, at the beginning of the century, in which 
 they first practised the art of salt-glazing, brought 
 by them from Holland. 
 
1/2 JAMES BRINDLEY [CHAP II 
 
 The next improvement introduced was the use 
 of powder of flints, used at first as a wash or dip, 
 and afterwards mixed with tobacco-pipe clay, from 
 which an improved ware was made, called "Flint 
 potters." The merit of introducing this article is 
 usually attributed to William Astbury, of Shelton, 
 who, when on a journey to London, stopping at an 
 inn at Dunstable, noticed the very soft and delicate 
 nature of some burnt flint-stones when mixed with 
 water (the hostler having used the powdered flint as 
 a remedy for a disorder in his horses' e_yes), and 
 from thence he is said to have conceived the idea of 
 applying it to the purposes of his trade. In first 
 using the calcined flints, Mr. Astbury's practice 
 was to have them pounded in an iron mortar until 
 perfectly levigated ; and being but sparingly used, 
 this answered the demand for some time. But 
 when the use of flint became more common, this 
 tedious process would no longer suffice. 
 
 The brothers John and Thomas Wedgwood 
 carried on the pottery business in a very small 
 way, but were nevertheless hampered by an in- 
 sufficient supply of flint powder, and it was found 
 necessary to adopt some means of increasing 
 it. In their emergency the potters called "The 
 Schemer" to their aid; and hence we find him 
 frequently occupied in erecting flint -mills, in 
 Burslem and the neighbourhood, from that time 
 forward. The success which attended his efforts 
 brought Brindley not only fame, but business. 
 
 It happened that, while thus occupied, Mr. John 
 Edensor Heathcote, owner of the Clifton estate 
 near Manchester, became married to one of the 
 daughters of Sir Nigel Gresley, of Knypersley, in 
 the neighbourhood of Burslem, and that the marriage 
 
CHAP ll] PLAN FOR CLEARING MINES OF WATER 1 75 
 
 festivities were in progress, when the remarkable 
 ingenuity of the young millwright of Leek was 
 accidentally mentioned in the hearing of Mr. Heath- 
 cote one day at dinner. The Manchester man, in 
 the midst of pleasure, did not forget business ; and 
 it occurred to him that this ingenious mechanic 
 might be of use in contriving some method for 
 clearing his Clifton coal-mines of the water by which 
 they had so long been drowned. The old methods 
 of the gin-wheel and tub, and the chain-pump, had 
 been tried, but entirely failed to keep the water 
 under: if this Brindley could but do anything to 
 help him in his difficulty, he would employ him at 
 once ; at all events, he would like to see the man. 
 
 Brindley was accordingly sent for, and the 
 whole case was laid before him. Mr. Heathcote 
 described as minutely as possible the nature of the 
 locality, the direction in which the strata lay, and 
 exhibited a plan of the working of the mines. 
 Brindley was perfectly silent for a long time, seem- 
 ingly absorbed in a consideration of the difficulties 
 to be overcome ; but at length his countenance 
 brightened, his eyes sparkled, and he briefly 
 pointed out a method by which he thought he- 
 should be enabled, at no great expense, effectually 
 to remedy the evil. His explanations were con- 
 sidered so satisfactory, that he was at once directed 
 to proceed to Clifton with full powers to carry out 
 his proposed plan of operations. This was, to call 
 to his aid the fall of the river Irwell, which formed 
 one boundary of the estate, and pump out the 
 water from the pits by means of the greater power 
 of the water in the river. 
 
 With this object Brindley contrived and executed 
 his first tunnel, which he drove through the solid 
 
174 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP II 
 
 rock for a distance of six hundred yards, and in this 
 tunnel he led the river on to the breast of an im- 
 mense water-wheel fixed in a chamber some thirty 
 feet below the surface of the ground, from the 
 lower end of which the water, after exercising its 
 power, flowed away into the lower level of the 
 Irwell. The expedient, though bold, was simple, 
 and it proved effective. The machinery was found 
 fully equal to the emergency; and in a very short 
 time Brindley's wheel and pumps, working night 
 and day, so cleared the mine of water as to enable 
 the men to get the coal in places from which they 
 had long been completely " drowned out." 
 
 We are not informed of the remuneration which 
 the engineer received for carrying out this impor- 
 tant work; but from the entries in his memorandum 
 book it is probable that all he obtained was only his 
 workman's wage of two shillings a day. Notwith- 
 standing his ingenuity and hard-working energy, 
 Brindley never seems, during the early part of his 
 career, to have earned more than about one-third 
 the wage of skilled mechanics in our own time ; 
 and from the insignificant sums charged by him for 
 expenses, it is clear that he was satisfied to live in 
 the fashion of an ordinary labourer. What modern 
 engineers will receive ten guineas a day for doing, 
 he, with his strong original mind, was quite content 
 to do for two shillings. But eminent constructive 
 skill seems to have been lightly appreciated in 
 those days, if we may judge by the money value 
 attached to it.* To this, however, it must be added, 
 
 * The low remuneration paid for skilled labour of the same 
 sort long before Brindley's time is worthy of passing notice. In 
 1544 John of Padua was paid only two shillings a-day as " devizour 
 of His Majestie's works," in other words as Royal architect. Still 
 
CHAP n] 
 
 TRADE OF MACCLESFIELD 
 
 175 
 
 that at the time of which we speak, the people of 
 the country were comparatively poor — manufac- 
 turers as well as landowners. 
 
 In Macclesfield and the neighbourhood, where 
 the inventions of men such as Brindley have issued 
 in so extraordinary a development of wealth, the 
 operations of trade were as yet in their infancy, 
 and had numerous obstructions and difficulties to 
 contend against. Perhaps the greatest difficulty of 
 all was the absence of those facilities for transport 
 between one district and another, without which 
 the existence of trade is simply impossible; but we 
 shall shortly find Brindley also entering upon this 
 great work of opening up the internal communica- 
 tions of the country, with an extraordinary degree 
 of ability and success. 
 
 By the middle of last century, Macclesfield and 
 the neighbouring towns were gradually rising out 
 of the small button-trade, and aiming at greater 
 things in the way of manufacture. In 1755 Mr. N. 
 Pattison of London, Mr. John Clayton, and a few 
 other gentlemen, entered into a partnership to 
 
 later, Inigo Jones was paid only eight shillings and fourpence a- 
 day as architect and surveyor of the Whitehall Banqueting House, 
 and forty-six pounds a-year for house-rent, clerks, and incidental 
 expenses ; whilst Nicholas Stowe, the master mason, was allowed 
 but four and tenpence a-day. When the Duchess of .Marlborough 
 was afterwards engaged in resisting the claims of one of her Blen- 
 heim surveyors, she told him indignantly "that Sir Christopher 
 Wren, while employed upon Saint Paul's, was content to be dragged 
 up to the top of the building three times a-week in a basket, at the 
 great hazard of his life, for only 200/. a-year" — the actual amount 
 of his salary as architect of that magnificent Cathedral. Brindley, 
 however, fared worse still, and for a long time does not seem to 
 have risen above mere mechanic's pay, even whilst engaged in 
 constructing the celebrated canal for the Duke of Bridgewater, 
 which laid the foundation of so many gigantic fortunes. 
 
176 
 
 JAMES BRIXDLEY 
 
 [chap II 
 
 build a new silk-mill at Congleton, in Cheshire, on 
 a larger scale than had yet been attempted in that 
 neighbourhood. Brindley was employed to execute 
 the water-wheel and the commoner sort of mill-work 
 about the building; but the smaller wheels and the 
 more complex parts of the machinery, with which 
 it was not supposed Brindley could be acquainted, 
 were entrusted to a master joiner and millwright, 
 named Johnson, who also superintended the pro- 
 gress of the whole work. 
 
 The superintendent required Brindley to work 
 after his mere verbal directions, without the aid of 
 any plan ; and Brindley was not even allowed to 
 inspect the models of the machinery required for 
 the proposed mill. He thus worked at a great dis- 
 advantage, and the operations connected with the 
 construction of the intended machinery were very 
 shortly found in a state of complete muddle. The 
 proprietors had reason to suspect that their super- 
 intendent was not equal to the enterprise which he 
 had undertaken. At first he endeavoured to assure 
 them that all was going right ; but at last, after 
 various efforts, he was obliged to confess his in- 
 competency and his inability to complete the work. 
 
 The proprietors, becoming alarmed, then sent for 
 Brindley and told him of their dilemma. " Would 
 he undertake to complete the works?" He asked 
 to see the model and plans which the superinten- 
 dent engineer had proposed to follow out. But on 
 being applied to, the latter positively refused to 
 submit his designs to a common millwright, as he 
 alleged Brindley to be. The proprietors were 
 almost in despair, and their only reliance now 
 was on Brindley's genius. " Tell me," he said, 
 " what is the precise operation that you wish to 
 
CHAP ll] 
 
 SILK-MILL AT CONGLF.TON 
 
 i/7 
 
 perform, and I will endeavour to provide you with 
 the requisite machinery for doing it ; but you must 
 let me carry out the work in my own way." To 
 this they were only too glad to assent ; and having 
 been furnished with the necessary powers, he forth- 
 with set to work. 
 
 His intelligent observation of the process of 
 manufacture in the various mills he had inspected, 
 his intimate practical knowledge of machinery of 
 all kinds then in use, and his fertility of resources 
 in matters of mechanical arrangement, enabled him 
 to perform even more than he had promised ; and 
 he not only finished the mill to the complete satis- 
 faction of its owners, but added a number of new 
 and skilful improvements in detail, which after- 
 wards proved of the greatest value. For instance, 
 he adapted lifts to each set of rollers and swifts, by 
 means of which the silk could be wound upon the 
 bobbins equably, instead of in wreaths as in other 
 mills ; and he so arranged the shafting as to throw 
 out of gear and stop either the whole or any part 
 of the machinery at will — an arrangement subse- 
 quently adopted in the throstle of the cotton- 
 spinning machine, and, though common enough 
 now, then thought perfectly marvellous. And, in 
 order that the tooth-and-pinion wheels should 
 fit with perfect precision, he expressly invented 
 machinery for their manufacture — a thing that had 
 not before been attempted — all such wheels having, 
 until then, been cut by hand, at great labour and 
 cost. By means of this new machinery, as much 
 work, and of a far better description, could be 
 cut in a day as had before occupied at least a 
 fortnight. The result was, that the new silk-mill, 
 when finished, was 'found to be one of the most 
 
 1. N 
 
178 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP II 
 
 complete and economical arrangements of manufac- 
 turing machinery that had up to that time been 
 erected in the neighbourhood. 
 
 After the Congleton silk-mill had been com- 
 pleted, we find Brindley engaged in erecting flint- 
 mills in the Potteries, of a more powerful and 
 complete kind than any that had before been tried, 
 but which were rendered necessary by the grow- 
 ing demands of the earthenware-manufacture. One 
 of the largest was that erected for Mr. Thomas 
 Baddely, at a place called Machins' of the Mill, near 
 Tunstall. We find these entries in Brindley's 
 pocket-book: — "March 15, 1757. With Mr. Badley 
 to Matherso about a now flint mill upon a windey 
 day 1 day 3s. 6d. March 19 draing a plann 1 day 
 2s. 6d. March 23 draing a plann and to sat out the 
 wheel race 1 day 4s." 
 
 This new mill was driven by water-power, and 
 the wheel both worked the pumping apparatus 
 by which the adjoining coal-mine was drained, and 
 the stamping machinery for pounding and grinding 
 the flints. The wheel, which was of considerable 
 diameter, was fixed in a chamber below the surface 
 of the ground, and the water was conveyed to it 
 from the mill-pool through a small trough open- 
 ing upon it at its breast, which kept the paddle- 
 boxes of the descending part constantly filled, 
 without any waste whatever, and thus, by the rota- 
 tion of the wheel, the pumps and stampers were 
 effectually worked. The main shaft was more 
 than two hundred yards from the mill ; and to 
 work the pumps Brindley invented the slide rods, 
 which were moved horizontally by a crank at the 
 mill, and gave power to the upright arm of a 
 crank-lever, whose axis was at the angle, and the 
 
CHAP II] FLINT-MILLS IN THE POTTERIES 
 
 1/9 
 
 lift at the other extremity. In course of time, as 
 improvements were introduced in the grinding of 
 flints, the stamping apparatus was detached from 
 the machinery ; but this water-wheel continued 
 its constant and useful operation of pumping out 
 the mines for full forty years after the death of its 
 inventor ; and when it was at length broken up, 
 about the year 1812, the pump-trees, which con- 
 sisted of wooden staves firmly bound together with 
 ashen hoops, were found to be lined with cow- 
 hides, the working buckets being also covered 
 with leather — a contrivance of which the like, it is 
 believed, has not before been recorded.* 
 
 About the same time Brindley was requested 
 by Mr. John Wedgwood to erect a windmill for 
 a similar purpose on an elevated site adjoining the 
 town of Burslem, called The Jenkins; this being 
 one of the first, if not the very first, experiments 
 made of the plan of grinding the calcined flints in 
 water, which in this case was pumped by the action 
 of the machinery from a well situated within the 
 mill itself. This invention, which was of consider- 
 able importance, has by some been attributed to 
 Brindley, whose ingenious mind was ever ready 
 to suggest improvements in whatever process of 
 manufacture came under his notice. It was natural 
 that he should closely watch the operation of flint- 
 grinding, having to construct and repair the greater 
 part of the machinery used in the process ; and he 
 could not fail to notice the distressing consequences 
 resulting from inhaling the fine particles with which 
 the air of the flint-mills was laden. Hence the 
 probability of his suggesting that the flints should 
 
 * 'History of the Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent. 1 By John 
 Ward, 1853. P. 164. 
 
 N 2 
 
JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP II 
 
 be ground in water, as calculated not only to 
 prevent waste and preserve the purity of the air, 
 but also to facilitate the operation of grinding, — a 
 simple enough suggestion, but, as the result proved, 
 a most valuable one. 
 
 With this object he invented an improved mill, 
 which consisted of a large circular vat, about thirty 
 inches deep, having a central step fixed in the 
 bottom, to carry the axis of a vertical shaft. The 
 moving power was applied to this shaft by a crown 
 cog-wheel placed on the top. At the lower part of 
 the shaft, at right angles to it, were four arms, upon 
 which the grinding-stones were fixed, large blocks 
 of stone of the same kind being likewise placed in 
 the vat. These stones were a very hard silicious 
 mineral, called " Chert," found in abundance in the 
 neighbourhood of Bakewell, in Derbyshire. The 
 broken flints being introduced to the vat and com- 
 pletely covered with water, the axis was made to 
 revolve with great velocity, when the calcined flints 
 were quickly reduced to an impalpable powder. 
 This contrivance of Brindley's proved of great 
 value to Wedgwood, and it was shortly after 
 adopted throughout the Potteries, and continues 
 in use to this day. 
 
 Being thus extensively occupied in the invention 
 and erection of machinery driven by one power or 
 another, it was natural that Brindley's attention 
 should have been attracted to the use of steam 
 power in manufacturing operations. Wind and 
 water had heretofore been almost the exclusive 
 agents employed for the purpose ; but far-seeing 
 philosophers and ingenious mechanics had for 
 centuries been feeling their way towards the far 
 greater power derived from the pent-up force of 
 
chap 1 1] newcomen's STEAM-ENGINE I? I 
 
 vaporised water ; and engines had actually been con- 
 trived which rendered it likely that the problem 
 would ere long be solved, and a motive agent in- 
 vented, which should be easily controllable, and 
 independent alike of wind, tides, and waterfalls. 
 Reserving for another place the history of the suc- 
 cessive stages of this great invention, it will be 
 sufficient for our present purpose merely to indicate, 
 briefly, the direction of Brindley's labours in this 
 important field. 
 
 It appears that Newcomen had as early as the 
 year 171 1 erected an atmospheric engine for the 
 purpose of drawing water from a coal mine in 
 the neighbourhood of Wolverhampton ; and after 
 considerable difficulties had been experienced in 
 its construction and working, the engine was at 
 length pronounced the most effective and economi- 
 cal that had yet been tried. Other engines of a 
 similar kind were shortly after erected in the coal 
 districts of the north of England, in the tin and 
 copper mines of Cornwall, and in the lead mines 
 of Cumberland, for the purpose of pumping water 
 from the pits. 
 
 Brindley, like other contrivers of power, felt 
 curious about this new invention, and proceeded 
 to Wolverhampton to study one of Newcomen's 
 engines erected there. He was greatly struck by 
 its appearance, and, with the irrepressible instinct of 
 the inventor, immediately set about contriving how 
 it might be improved. He found the consumption 
 of coal so great as to preclude its use excepting 
 where coal was unusually abundant and cheap, as, 
 for instance, at the mouth of a coal-pit, where the 
 fuel it consumed was the produce and often the 
 refuse of the mine itself; and he formed the opinion 
 
1 82 JAMES BRINDLEY [CHAP II 
 
 that unless the consumption of coal could be 
 reduced, the extended use of the steam-engine 
 was not practicable, by reason of its dearness, as 
 compared with the power of horses, wind, or 
 water. 
 
 With this idea in his head, he proceeded to 
 contrive an improved engine, the main object of 
 which was to ensure greater economy in fuel. In 
 1756 we find him erecting a steam-engine for one 
 Mr. Broade, at Fenton Vivian, in Staffordshire, in 
 which he adopted the expedient, afterwards tried 
 by James Watt, of wooden cylinders made in the 
 manner of coopers' ware, instead of cylinders of 
 iron. He also substituted wood for iron in the 
 chains which worked at the end of the beam. Like 
 Watt, however, he was under the necessity of 
 abandoning the wooden cylinders ; but he sur- 
 rounded his metal cylinders with a wooden case, 
 filling the intermediate space with wood-ashes ; 
 and by this means, and using no more injection of 
 cold water than was necessary for the purpose of 
 condensation, he succeeded in reducing the waste 
 of steam by almost one-half. 
 
 Whilst bus}- with Mr. Broade's engine, we find 
 from the entries in his pocket-book that Brindley 
 occasionally spent several days together at Coal- 
 brookdale, in superintending the making of the 
 boiler-plates, the pipes, and other iron-work. Re- 
 turning to Fenton Vivian, he proceeded with the 
 erection of his engine-house and the fitting of the 
 machinery, whilst, during five days more, he appears 
 to have been occupied in making the hoops for the 
 cylinders. It takes him five days to get the " great 
 leavor fixed," thirty-nine days to put the boiler 
 together, and thirteen days to get the pit prepared ; 
 
CHAP II] STEAM-ENGINE AT FENTON VIVIAN 1 83 
 
 and as he charges only workmen's wages for 
 those daj's, we infer that the greater part of the 
 work was done by his own hands. He even seems 
 to have himself felled the requisite timber for the 
 work, as we infer from the entry in his pocket- 
 book of " falling big tree 3i days." 
 
 The engine was at length ready after about a 
 year's work, and was set a-going in November, 1757, 
 after which we find these significant entries : " Bad 
 louk [luck] five days ; " then, again, " Bad louk " for 
 three days more; and, after that, " Midlin louk;" 
 and so on with "Midlin louk" until the entries 
 under that head come to an end. In the spring 
 of the following year we find him again striving 
 to get his "engon at woork," and it seems at length 
 to have been fairly started on the 19th of March, 
 when we have the entry " Engon at woork 3 da\'s." 
 There is then a stoppage of four days, and again 
 the engine works for seven days more, with a sort 
 of " loud cheer " in the words added to the entry, 
 of " driv a-Heyd!" Other intervals occur, until, 
 on the 16th of April, we have the words " at woor 
 good ordor 3 da\ - s," when the entries come to a 
 sudden close. 
 
 The engine must certainly have given Brindley 
 a great deal of trouble, and almost driven him to 
 despair, as we now know how very imperfect an 
 engine with wooden hooped cylinders must have 
 been; and we are not therefore surprised at the 
 entry which he honestly makes in his pocket-book 
 on the 21st of April, immediately after the one 
 last mentioned, when the engine had, doubtless, a 
 second time broken down, "to Run about a Drink- 
 ing, 0:1: 6." Perhaps he intended the entry to 
 stand there as a warning against giving way to 
 
1 84 JAMES BRINDLEY [CHAP II 
 
 future despair ; for he underlined the words, as if 
 to mark them with unusual emphasis.* 
 
 Brindley did not remain long in this mood, but 
 set to work upon the contrivance and erection of 
 another engine upon a new and improved plan. 
 What his plan was, may be learnt from the speci- 
 fication lodged in the Patent Office, on the 26th 
 December, 1758, by "James Brindley, of Leek, 
 in the county of Stafford, Millwright." t In the 
 arrangement of this new steam-engine he provided 
 that the boiler should be made of brick or stone 
 arched over, and the stove over the fire-place of 
 cast-iron, fixed within the boiler. The feeding- 
 pipe for the boiler was to be made with a clack, 
 opening and shutting by a float upon the surface 
 of the water in the boiler, which would thus be 
 self-feeding. The great chains for the segments 
 at the extremity of the beams were of wood ; and 
 the pumps were also of wooden staves strongly 
 hooped together. 
 
 Brindley, as a millwright, seems to have long 
 
 * We find the following memorandum in Brindley's pocket- 
 book, relating to the expense of working the engine in the year 
 1760 : — 
 
 Miss Clare Maria Broad' fire engine at fentan vivian. 
 
 First yeer's work and repare night and day 
 
 Do. torn back 025 
 
 Due for t* first yeer *39 
 
 Due for the second yeer 102 
 
 t He describes it as "A Fire-Engine for Drawing Water out 
 of Mines, or for Draining of Lands, or for Supplying of Cityes, 
 Townes, or Gardens with Water, or which may be applicable to 
 many other great and useful! Purposes, in a better and more 
 effectual Manner than any Engine or Machine that hath hitherto 
 been made or used for the like Purpose." — ' Specifications of 
 Patents,' No. 730. 
 
CHAP II] ERECTS STEAM-ENGINE AT NEWCASTLE I S 5 
 
 retained his early predilection for wood, and to 
 have preferred it to iron wherever its use was 
 practicable. His plans were, however, subjected 
 to modification and improvement from time to 
 time, as experience suggested; and in the course 
 of a few years, brick, stone, and wood were alike 
 discarded in favour of iron; until, in 1763, we find 
 Brindley erecting a steam-engine for the Walker 
 Colliery, at Newcastle, wholly of iron, manufac- 
 tured at Coalbrookdale, which was pronounced 
 the most "complete and noble piece of ironwork" 
 that had up to that time been produced.* Hut 
 by this time Brindley's genius had been turned 
 in another direction ; the invention of the steam- 
 engine being now safe in the hands of Watt, 
 who was perseveringly occupied in bringing it to 
 completion. 
 
 * Stuart's ' Anecdotes of Steam-Engines,' p. 626. 
 
( 186 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE DUKE OE BRIDGE WATER — BRINDLEY EMPLOYED AS 
 THE ENGINEER OF HIS CANAL. 
 
 Very little had as yet been done to open up the 
 inland navigation of England, beyond dredging 
 and clearing out in a very imperfect manner the 
 channels of some of the larger rivers, so as to 
 admit of the passage of small barges. Several at- 
 tempts had been made in Lancashire and Cheshire, 
 as we have already shown, to open up the naviga- 
 tion of the Mersey and the Irwell from Liverpool 
 to Manchester. There were similar projects for 
 improving the Weaver from Frodsham, where it 
 joins the Mersey, to Winford Bridge above North- 
 wich; and the Douglas, from the Ribble to Wigan. 
 About the same time like schemes were started 
 in Yorkshire, with the object of opening up the 
 navigation of the Aire and Calder to Leeds and 
 Wakefield, and of the Don from Doncaster to near 
 Sheffield. 
 
 One of the Acts passed by Parliament in 1737 
 is worthy of notice, as the forerunner of the Bridge- 
 water Canal enterprise : we allude to the Act for 
 making navigable the Worsley Brook to its junc- 
 tion with the river Irwell, near Manchester. A 
 similar Act was obtained in 1755, for making navi- 
 gable the Sankey Brook from the Mersey, about 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 BEGINNINGS OF CANALS 
 
 two miles below Warring-ton, to St. Helens, Ger- 
 rard Bridge, and Penny Bridge. In this case the 
 canal was constructed separate from the brook, but 
 alongside of it; and at several points locks were 
 provided to adapt the canal to the level of the lands 
 passed through. 
 
 The same year in which application was made 
 to Parliament for powers to construct the Sankey 
 Canal, the Corporation of Liverpool had under 
 their consideration a much larger scheme — no less 
 than a canal to unite the Trent and the Mersey, 
 and thus open a water-communication between 
 the ports of Liverpool and Hull. It was proposed 
 that the line should proceed by Chester, Stafford, 
 Derby, and Nottingham. A survey was made, 
 principally at the instance of Mr. Hardman, a 
 public spirited merchant of Liverpool, and for 
 many years one of its representatives in Parlia- 
 ment. Another survey was shortly after made at 
 the instance of Pari Gower, afterwards Marquis 
 of Stafford, and it was probably in making this 
 survey that Brindley's attention was first directed 
 to the business of canal engineering. 
 
 We find his first entry relating to the subject 
 made On the 5th of February, 1758 — " novocion 
 [navigation] 5 da3 _ s;" the second, a little better 
 spelt, on the 19th of the same month — "a bout 
 the novogation 3 days;" and afterwards — "sur- 
 veing the novogation from Long brigg to Kinges 
 Milles 12 days I." It does not, however, appear 
 that the scheme made much progress, or that steps 
 were taken at that time to bring the measure be- 
 fore Parliament ; and Brindley continued to pursue 
 his other employments, more especially the erec- 
 tion of " fire-engines " after his new patent. This 
 
THE DUKE OF BRIDGE WATER [CHAP III 
 
 continued until the following year, when we find 
 him in close consultation with the Duke of Bridge- 
 water relative to the construction of his proposed 
 canal from Worsley to Manchester. 
 
 The early career of this distinguished nobleman 
 was of a somewhat remarkable character. He was 
 born in 1736, the fifth and youngest son of Scroop, 
 third Earl and first Duke of Bridgewater, by Lady 
 Rachel Russell. He lost his father when only 
 five years old, and all his brothers died by the 
 time that he had reached his twelfth year, at which 
 early age he succeeded to the title of Duke of 
 Bridgewater. He was a weak and sickly child, 
 and his mental capacity was thought so defective, 
 that steps were even in contemplation to set him 
 aside in favour of the next heir to the title and 
 estates. His mother seems almost entirely to have 
 neglected him. In the first year of her widowhood 
 she married Sir Richard Lyttleton, and from that 
 time forward took the least possible notice of her 
 boy. 
 
 The young Duke did not give much promise 
 of surviving his consumptive brothers, and his 
 mind was considered so incapable of improvement, 
 that he was left in a great measure without either 
 domestic guidance or intellectual discipline and 
 culture. Horace Walpole writes to Mann in 1761 : 
 "You will be happy in Sir Richard Lyttleton and 
 his Duchess ; they are the best-humoured people 
 in the world." But the good humour of this hand- 
 some couple was mostly displayed in the world of 
 gay life, very little of it being reserved for home 
 use. Possibly, however, it may have been even 
 fortunate for the young Duke that he was left so 
 much to himself, to profit by the wholesome neglect 
 
chap in] 
 
 HIS EARLY LIFE 
 
 of special nurses and tutors, who are not always 
 the most judicious in their bringing up of delicate 
 children. 
 
 At seventeen, the young Duke's guardians, the 
 Duke of Bedford and Lord Trentham, finding him 
 still alive and likely to live, determined to send 
 him abroad on his travels — the wisest thing they 
 could have done. They selected for his tutor the 
 celebrated traveller, Robert Wood, author of the 
 well-known work on Troy, Baalbec, and Palmyra; 
 afterwards appointed to the office of Under-Secre- 
 tary of State b}- the Earl of Chatham. Wood was 
 an accomplished scholar, a persevering traveller, 
 and withal a man of good business qualities. His 
 habits of intelligent observation could not fail to 
 be of service to his pupil, and it is not unnatural 
 to suppose that the great artificial watercourses 
 and canals which they saw in the course of their 
 travels had some effect in afterwards determining 
 the latter to undertake the important works of 
 a similar character by which his name became 
 so famous. While passing through the south of 
 France, the Duke was especially interested by his 
 inspection of the Grand Canal of Languedoc, a 
 magnificent work executed under great difficul- 
 ties, and which had promoted in an extraordinary 
 degree the prosperity of that part of the kingdom.* 
 Proceeding into Italy, the Duke and his companion 
 inspected all that was worthy of being seen there, 
 including the picture galleries at Florence, Venice, 
 and Rome. During their visit Mr. Wood sat to 
 Mengs for his portrait, which still forms part of the 
 Bridgewater collection. The Duke also purchased 
 
 * See Appendix, Grand Canal of Languedoc, and its execution 
 by Riquet de Bonrcpos. 
 
THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER [CHAP III 
 
 works of sculpture at Rome; but that he himself 
 entertained no great enthusiasm for art is evident 
 from the fact related by the late Earl of Elles- 
 mere, that these works remained in their original 
 packing-cases until after his death.* 
 
 Returned to England, he seems to have led the 
 usual life of a gay young nobleman of the time, 
 with plenty of money at his command. In 1756, 
 when only twenty years old, he appears from the 
 ' Racing Calendar ' to have kept race-horses; occa- 
 sionally riding them in matches himself. Though 
 in after life a very bulky man, he was so light as 
 a youth, that on one occasion Lord Ellesmere says 
 a bet was jokingly offered that he would be blown 
 off his horse. Dressed in a livery of blue silk and 
 silver, with a jockey cap, he once rode a race against 
 His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, on 
 the long terrace at the back of the wood in Trent- 
 ham Park, the seat of his relative, Earl Gower. 
 During His Royal Highness's visit, the large old 
 green-house, since taken down, was hastily run up 
 for the playing of skittles; and prison bars and 
 other village games were instituted for the recrea- 
 tion of the guests. Those occupations of the Duke 
 were varied by an occasional visit to his racing- 
 stud at Newmarket, where he had a house for some 
 time, and by the usual round of London gaieties 
 during the season. 
 
 A young nobleman of tender age, moving freely 
 in circles where were to be seen some of the finest 
 specimens of female beauty in the world, could 
 scarcely be expected to pass heart-whole ; and 
 hence the occurrence of the event in his London 
 
 * 'Essays in History, Biography, Geography, Engineering,' 
 &c. By the late Earl of Ellesmere. London, 1858. P. 226. 
 
chap m] 
 
 HIS LOVE AFFAIR 
 
 191 
 
 life which, singularly enough, is said to have driven 
 him in a great measure from society, and induced 
 him to devote himself to the construction of canals ! 
 We find various allusions in the letters of the 
 time to the intended marriage of the young Duke 
 of Bridgewater. One rumour pointed to the only 
 daughter and heiress of Mr. Thomas Revell, for- 
 merly M.P. for Dover, as the object of his choice. 
 But it appears that the lady to whom he became the 
 most strongly attached was one of the Gunnings — 
 the comparatively portionless daughters of an Irish 
 gentleman, who were then the reigning beauties 
 at Court. The object of the Duke's affection was 
 Elizabeth, the youngest daughter, and perhaps 
 the most beautiful of the three. She had been 
 married to the fourth Duke of Hamilton, in Keith's 
 Chapel, Mayfair, in 1752, "with a ring of the bed- 
 curtain, half-an-hour after twelve at night," * but 
 the Duke dying shortly after, she was now a gay 
 and beautiful widow, with many lovers in her 
 train. In the same year in which she had been 
 clandestinely married to the Duke of Hamilton, 
 her eldest sister was married to the sixth Earl 
 of Coventry. 
 
 The Duke of Bridgewater paid his court to the 
 young widow, proposed, and was accepted. The 
 arrangements for the marriage were in progress, 
 when certain rumours reached his ear reflecting 
 upon the character of Lady Coventry, his intended 
 bride's elder sister, who was certainly more fair 
 than she was wise. Believing the reports, he re- 
 quired the Duchess to desist from further intimacy 
 with her sister, a condition which her high spirit 
 would not brook, and, the Duke remaining firm, 
 
 * 'Walpole to Mann,' Feb. 27th, 1752. 
 
19- THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER - [CHAP II] 
 
 the match was broken off. From that time forward 
 he is said never to have addressed another woman 
 in the language of gallantry.* 
 
 The Duchess of Hamilton, however, did not re- 
 main long a widow. In the course of a few months 
 she was engaged to, and afterwards married, John 
 Campbell, subsequently Duke of Argyll. Horace 
 Walpole, writing of the affair to Marshal Conway, 
 January 28th, 1759, says : " You and M. de Bareil 
 do not exchange prisoners with half as much 
 alacrity as Jack Campbell and the Duchess of 
 Hamilton have exchanged hearts. ... It is the 
 prettiest match in the world since yours, and 
 everybody likes it but the Duke of Bridgewater 
 and Lord Conway. What an extraordinary fate 
 is attached to these two women ! Who could have 
 believed that a Gunning would unite the two great 
 houses of Campbell and Hamilton? For my part, 
 I expect to see my Lady Coventry Queen of 
 Prussia. I would not venture to marry either of 
 them these thirty years, for fear of being shuffled 
 out of the world prematurely to make room for the 
 rest of their adventures." 
 
 The Duke, like a wise man, sought consolation 
 for his disappointment by entering into active 
 and useful occupation. Instead of retiring to his 
 beautiful seat at Ashridge, we find him straight- 
 way proceeding to his estate at Worsley, on the 
 borders of Chat Moss, in Lancashire, and confer- 
 ring with John Gilbert, his land-steward, as to the 
 
 * Chalmers, in his ' Biographical Dictionary,' vol. xiii., 94, 
 gives another account of the rumoured cause of the Duke's sub- 
 sequent antipathy to women ; but the above statement of the late 
 Earl of Ellesmere, confirmed as it is by certain passages in 
 Walpolc's Letters, is more likely to be the correct one. 
 
Portrait of the Young Duke. 
 
 O 
 
CHAP III] MANCHESTER IN THE LAST CENTURY 195 
 
 practicability of cutting a canal by which the coals 
 found upon his Worsley estate might be readily 
 conveyed to market at Manchester. 
 
 Manchester and Liverpool at that time were 
 improving towns, gradually rising in importance 
 and increasing in population. The former place 
 had long been noted for its manufacture of coarse 
 cottons, or " coatings," made of wool, in imitation 
 of the goods known on the Continent by that name. 
 The Manchester people also made fustians, mixed 
 stuffs, and small wares, amongst which leather- 
 laces for women's bodices, shoe-ties, and points 
 were the more important. But the operations of 
 manufacture were still carried on in a clumsy way, 
 entirely by hand. The wool was spun into yarn 
 by means of the common spinning wheel, for the 
 spinning-jenny had not yet been invented, and the 
 yarn was woven into cloth by the common hand- 
 loom. There was no whirr of engine-wheels then 
 to be heard ; for Watt's steam-engine had not yet 
 come into existence. The air was free from 
 smoke, except that which arose from household 
 fires, and there was not a single factory-chimney 
 in Manchester. 
 
 In 1724, Dr. Stukeley says Manchester con- 
 tained no fewer than 2400 families, and that their 
 trade was "incredibly large" in tapes, ticking, 
 girth-webb, and fustians. In 1757 the united popu- 
 lation of Manchester and Salford was only 20,000;* 
 it is now, after the lapse of a century, 460,000! 
 The Manchester manufacturer was then a very 
 humble personage compared with his modern repre- 
 sentative. He was part chapman, part weaver, and 
 
 * Aikin's ' Description of the Country from Thirty to Forty 
 Miles round Manchester.' London, 1795. 
 
 O 2 
 
196 
 
 MANCHESTER IN 174O 
 
 [CHAP III 
 
 part merchant — working hard, living frugally, prin- 
 cipally on oatmeal, and usually contriving to save 
 a little money. 
 
 Dr. Aikin, writing in 1795, thus described the 
 Manchester manufacturer in the first half of the 
 eighteenth century: "An eminent manufacturer in 
 that age," said he, " used to be in his warehouse 
 before six in the morning, accompanied by his 
 children and apprentices. At seven they all came 
 
 View of Manchester in 1740. 
 [Fac-simile of an Engraving of the period.] 
 
 in to breakfast, which consisted of one large dish of 
 water-pottage, made of oatmeal, water, and a little 
 salt, boiled thick, and poured into a dish. At the 
 side was a pan or basin of milk, and the master and 
 apprentices, each with a wooden spoon in his hand, 
 without loss of time, dipped into the same dish, 
 and thence into the milk-pan, and as soon as it was 
 finished they all returned to their work." What 
 a contrast to the "eminent manufacturer" of our 
 own day ! 
 
 As trade increased, its operations became more 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 BAD ROADS AND FAMINE 
 
 199 
 
 of Lancashire were what were called "mill roads," 
 along which a horse with a load of oats upon its 
 back might proceed towards the mill where they 
 were to be ground. There was no private carriage 
 kept by any person in business in Manchester 
 until the year 1758, when the first was set up by 
 some specially luxurious individual. But wealth 
 led to increase of expenditure, and Aikin mentions 
 that there was "an evening club of the most 
 opulent manufacturers, at which the expenses of 
 each person were fixed at fourpence-halfpenny — 
 fourpence for ale, and a halfpenny for tobacco." 
 The progress of luxurj' was further aided by the 
 holding of a dancing assembly once a week in a 
 room situated about the middle of King Street, 
 now a busy thoroughfare, the charge for admission 
 to the nightly ball being half-a-crown the quarter. 
 The ladies had their maids to wait for them with 
 lanterns and pattens, and to conduct them home ; 
 " nor," adds Aikin, " was it unusual for their 
 partners also to attend them." 
 
 The imperfect state of the communications lead- 
 ing to and from Manchester rendered it a matter of 
 some difficulty at certain seasons to provide food 
 for so large a population. In winter, when the 
 roads were closed, the place was in the condition 
 of a beleaguered town ; and even in summer, the 
 land about Manchester itself being comparatively 
 sterile, the place was badl}- supplied with fruit, 
 vegetables, and potatoes, which, being brought 
 from considerable distances slung across horses' 
 backs, were so dear as to be beyond the reach of 
 the mass of the population. The distress caused by 
 this frequent dearth of provisions was not effec- 
 tual!}' remedied until the canal navigation became 
 
198 
 
 ROADS IN LANCASHIRE 
 
 [CHAP III 
 
 physical strength, not to be hoped for in a deputy ; 
 and a merchant then led a much more severe and 
 irksome life than a bagman afterwards, and still 
 more than a traveller of the present day. In the 
 earlier days of the merchant abovementioned, the 
 wine merchant who supplied Manchester, resided 
 at Preston, then always called Proud Preston, 
 because exclusively inhabited by gentry. The 
 wine was carried on horses, and a gallon was 
 considered a large order. Men in business con- 
 fined themselves generally to punch and ale, using 
 wine only as a medicine, or on extraordinary 
 occasions ; so that a considerable tradesman some- 
 what injured his credit amongst his neighbours 
 by being so extravagant as to send to a tavern for 
 wine, to entertain a London customer." * 
 
 The roads out of Manchester in different direc- 
 tions, like those in most districts throughout the 
 kingdom, were in a very neglected state, being for 
 the most part altogether impracticable for waggons. 
 Hence the use of pack-horses was an absolute 
 necessity ; and the roads were but ill-adapted even 
 for them. Indeed, it was more difficult then to 
 reach a village twenty miles out of Manchester 
 than it is to make the journey from thence to 
 London now. The only coach to London plied 
 but every second day, and it was four days and a 
 half in making the journey, there being a post only 
 three times a week.f The roads in most districts 
 
 * Thomas Walker: The Original, No. xi. Article entitled 
 " Change in Commerce." 
 
 t March 3rd, 1760, the Flying Machine was started, and adver- 
 tised to perform the journey, "if Cod permit," in three days, hy 
 John Hanforth Matthew Howe, Samuel Granville, and William 
 Richardson. Fare inside, 2/. j.r. ; outside, half-price. 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 TRADERS IN OLDEN TIMES 
 
 197 
 
 subdivided, and special classes and ranks began to 
 spring into importance. The manufacturers sent 
 out riders to take orders, and gangs of chapmen 
 with pack-horses to distribute the goods and bring 
 back wool, which they either used up themselves, 
 or sold to makers of worsted yarn at Manchester, 
 or to the clothiers of Rochdale, Saddleworth, or 
 the West Riding of Yorkshire. Mr. Walker, author 
 of the 'Original,' left the following interesting 
 reminiscence of the dealings of Manchester men 
 with the inhabitants of the Fen districts: — "I have- 
 by tradition," said he, " the following particulars of 
 the mode of carrying on the home trade by one of 
 the principal merchants of Manchester, who was 
 born at the commencement of the last century, and 
 who realised a sufficient fortune to keep a carriage 
 when not half a dozen were kept in the town by 
 persons connected with business. He sent the 
 manufactures of the place into Nottinghamshire, 
 Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, and the intervening 
 counties, and principally took in exchange feathers 
 from Lincolnshire, and malt from Cambridgeshire 
 and Nottinghamshire. All his commodities were 
 conveyed on pack-horses, and he was from home 
 the greater part of every year, performing his 
 journeys entirely on horseback. His balances 
 were received in guineas, and were carried with 
 him in his saddle-bags. He was exposed to the 
 vicissitudes of the weather, to great labour and 
 fatigue, and to constant danger. In Lincolnshire 
 he travelled chiefly along bridle-ways through fields 
 where frequent gibbets warned him of his perils, 
 and where flocks of wild fowl continually darkened 
 the air. Business carried on in this manner required 
 a combination of personal attention, courage, and 
 
200 
 
 RIOT IN BIRMINGHAM 
 
 [CHAP III 
 
 completely opened up. Thus a great scarcity 
 of food occurred in Manchester and the neighbour- 
 hood in 1757, which the common people attributed 
 to the millers and corndealcrs ; and unfortunately 
 the notion was not confined to the poor who were 
 starving, but was equally entertained by the well- 
 to-do classes who had enough to eat. An epigram 
 by Dr. Byrora, the town clergyman, written in 1737, 
 on two millers (tenants of the School corn-mills), 
 who, from their spare habits, had been nick-named 
 " Skin " and " Bone," was now revived, and tended to 
 fan the popular fury. It ran thus : — 
 
 " Bone and Skin, two millers thin, 
 Would starve the town, or near it ; 
 But be it known to Skin and Hone, 
 That Flesh and Blood can't bear it." 
 
 The popular hunger and excitement increasing, at 
 length broke out in open outrage ; and a riot took 
 place in 1758, long after remembered in Manchester 
 as the " Shude Hill fight," in which unhappily 
 several lives were lost. 
 
 For the same reasons, the supply of coals was 
 but scanty in winter; and though abundance of 
 the article lay underground, within a few miles of 
 Manchester, in nearly every direction, those few 
 miles of transport, in the then state of the roads, 
 were an almost insurmountable difficulty. The 
 coals were sold at the pit mouth at so much the 
 horse-load, weighing 280 lbs., and measuring two 
 baskets, each thirty inches by twenty, and ten 
 inches deep ; that is, as much as an average horse 
 could carry on its back.* The price of the coals at 
 
 * This "load" is still used as a measure of weight, though the 
 practice of carrying all sorts of commodities on horses' backs, in 
 which it originated, has long since ceased. 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSIT 
 
 20I 
 
 the pit mouth was ioe(. the horse-load ; but by the 
 time the article reached the door of the consumer 
 in Manchester, the price was usually more than 
 doubled, in consequence of the difficulty and cost 
 of conveyance. The carriage alone amounted to 
 about nine or ten shillings the ton. 
 
 There was as yet no connection of the naviga- 
 tion of the Mersey and Irwell with any of the 
 collieries situated to the eastward of Manchester, 
 by which a supply could reach the town in boats ; 
 and although the Duke's collieries were onlv a 
 comparatively short distance from the Irwell, the 
 coals had to be carried on horses' backs or in carts 
 from the pits to the river to be loaded, and after 
 reaching Manchester they had again to be carried 
 to the doors of the consumers, — so that there was 
 little if any saving to be effected by that route. 
 Besides, the minimum charge insisted on by the 
 Mersey Navigation Company of 35. qd, a ton for 
 even the shortest distance, proved an effectual 
 barrier against any coal reaching Manchester by 
 the river. 
 
 The same difficulty stood in the way of the 
 transit of goods between Manchester and Liverpool. 
 By road the charge was 405. a ton, and by river 
 12s. a ton; that between Warrington and Man- 
 chester being 10s. a ton : besides, there was great 
 risk of delay, loss, and damage by the way. Some 
 idea of the tediousness of the river navigation may 
 be formed from the fact, that the boats were dragged 
 up and down stream exclusively by the labour of 
 men, and that horses and mules were not employed 
 for this purpose until after the Duke's canal had 
 been made. It was, indeed, obvious that unless 
 some means could be devised for facilitating and 
 
202 
 
 BRIDGEWATER CANAL PROJECTS [CHAP III 
 
 cheapening the cost of transport between the sea- 
 port and the manufacturing towns, there was little 
 prospect of any considerable further development 
 being effected in the industry of the district. 
 
 Such was the state of things when the Duke of 
 Bridgewater turned his attention to the making 
 of a water-road for the passage of his coal from 
 Worsley to Manchester. The Old Mersey Com- 
 pany would give him no facilities for sending his 
 coals by their navigation, but levied the full charge 
 of 35. 4//. for every ton he might send to Manchester 
 by river even in his own boats. He therefore 
 perceived that to obtain a vend for his article, it 
 was necessary he should make a way for himself ; 
 and it became obvious to him that if he could but 
 form a canal between the two points, he would at 
 once be enabled to secure a read}' sale for all the 
 coals that he could raise from his Worsley pits. 
 
 We have already stated that, as early as 1737, 
 an Act had been obtained by the Duke's father, 
 giving power to make the Worsley Brook navigable 
 from the neighbourhood of the pits to the Irwell. 
 But the enterprise, and its cost, appear to have 
 been too formidable ; so the powers of the Act 
 were allowed to expire without anything being 
 done to carry them out. The young Duke now 
 determined to revive the Act in another form, and 
 in the early part of 1759 he applied to Parliament 
 for the requisite powers to enable him to cut a 
 navigable canal from Worsley Mill eastward to 
 Salford, and to carry the same westward to a 
 point on the river Mersey, called Hollin Ferry. He 
 introduced into the bill several important conces- 
 sions to the inhabitants of Manchester. He bound 
 himself not to exceed the freight of 25. 6d. per ton 
 
CHAP III] THE GILBERTS AND BRINDLEY 
 
 203 
 
 on all coals brought from Worsley to Manchester, 
 and not to sell the coal so brought from the mines 
 to that town at more than 4^. per hundred, which 
 was less than half the then average price. It was 
 clear that, if such a canal could be made and the 
 navigation opened as proposed, it would prove a 
 great public boon to the inhabitants of Manchester. 
 The bill was accordingly well supported, and it 
 passed the legislature without opposition, receiving 
 the Royal assent in March, 1759. 
 
 The Duke gave further indications of his 
 promptitude and energy, in the steps which he 
 adopted to have the works carried out without 
 loss of time. He had no intention of allowing the 
 powers of this Act to remain a dead letter, as the 
 former had done. Accordingly, no sooner had it 
 passed than he set out for his seat at Worsley to 
 take the requisite measures for constructing the 
 canal. The Duke was fortunate in having for his 
 land-agent a very shrewd, practical, and enterprising 
 person, in John Gilbert, whom he consulted on all 
 occasions of difficulty. 
 
 Mr. Gilbert was the brother of Thomas Gilbert, 
 the originator of the Gilbert Unions, then agent 
 to the Duke's brother-in-law, Lord Gower. That 
 nobleman had for some time been promoting the 
 survey of a canal to unite the Mersey and the Trent, 
 on which Brindley had been employed, and thus 
 became known to Gilbert as well as to his brother. 
 We find from an entry in Brindley's pocket-book 
 that the millwright had sundry interviews with 
 Thomas Gilbert on matters of business previous 
 to the passing of the first Bridgewater Canal Bill, 
 though there is no evidence that he was employed 
 in making the survey. Indeed, it is questionable 
 
204 
 
 THE DUKE S CANAL 
 
 [chap III 
 
 whether any survey was made of the first schema 
 Engineering projects were then submitted to Par- 
 liamentary Committees in a very rough state. 
 Levels were guessed at rather than surveyed and 
 calculated; and merely general powers were taken 
 enabling such property to be purchased as might 
 
 [Western Part.] 
 
 by possibility be required for the execution of 
 the works. In the case of the Bridgewater Canal, 
 the prices of land and compensation for damage 
 were directed to be assessed by a local committee 
 appointed by the Act for the purpose. 
 
 When the Duke proceeded to consider with 
 Gilbert the best mode of carrying out the proposed 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 THE DUKE'S CANAL 
 
 205 
 
 canal, it appeared clear to them that the plan origi- 
 nally contemplated was faulty in many respects, 
 and that an application must be made to Parlia- 
 ment for further powers. By the original Act it 
 was intended to descend from the level of the coal- 
 mines at Worsley by a series of locks into the river 
 
 Map of the Duke's Canal. 
 [Eastern Part.] 
 
 Irwell. This, it was found, would necessarily in- 
 volve a heavy cost both in the construction and 
 working of the canal, as well as considerable delay 
 in the conduct of the traffic, which it was most 
 desirable to avoid. Neither the Duke nor Gilbert 
 had any practical knowledge of engineering ; nor, 
 indeed, were there many men in the country at 
 
206 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP III 
 
 that time who knew much of the subject ; for it 
 must be remembered that this canal of the Duke's 
 was the very first project in England for cutting 
 a navigable trench through the dry land, and 
 carrying merchandise in it across the country, 
 independent of the course of the existing streams. 
 
 It was in this emergency that Gilbert advised 
 the Duke to call to his aid James Brindley, whose 
 fertility of resources and skill in overcoming 
 mechanical difficulties had long been the theme of 
 general admiration in his own district. Doubtless 
 the Duke was as much impressed by the native 
 vigour and originality of the unlettered genius 
 introduced to him by his agent, as were all with 
 whom he was brought in contact. Certain it is 
 that the Duke showed his confidence in Brindley 
 by entrusting him with the conduct of the proposed 
 work ; and, as the first step, he was desired to go 
 over the ground at once, and give his opinion as 
 to the best plan to be adopted for carrying it out 
 with despatch. 
 
 Brindley, accordingly, after making what he 
 termed an " ochilor [ocular] servey or a ricconitor- 
 ing," speedily formed his conclusion, and came back 
 to the Duke with his advice. It was that, instead 
 of carrying the canal down into the Irwell by a 
 flight of locks, and so up again on the other side 
 to the proposed level, it should be carried right 
 over the river, and constructed upon one uniform 
 level throughout. But this, it was clear, would 
 involve a series of formidable works, the like of 
 which had not before been attempted in England. 
 In the first place, the low ground on the north 
 side of the Irwell would have to be filled up by a 
 massive embankment, and to be united with the 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 brindley's plan 
 
 207 
 
 land on the other bank by means of a large aque- 
 duct of stone. Would it be practicable or possible 
 to execute works of such magnitude? Brindled- 
 expressed so strong and decided an opinion of 
 their practicability, that the Duke was won over 
 to his views, and determined again to go to Parlia- 
 ment for the requisite powers to enable him to 
 carry out the design. 
 
 Many were the deliberations which took place 
 about this time between the Duke, Gilbert, and 
 Brindley, in the Old Hall at Worsley, where the 
 Duke had now taken up his abode. We find from 
 Brindley's pocket-book memoranda, that in the 
 month of July, 1759, he had taken up his temporary 
 quarters at the Old Hall ; and from time to time, 
 in the course of the same year, while the details of 
 the plan were being prepared with a view to the 
 intended application to Parliament, he occasionally 
 sta3'ed with the Duke for weeks together. He 
 made a detailed survey of the new line, and at the 
 same time, in order to facilitate the completion of 
 the undertaking when the new powers had been 
 obtained, he proceeded with the construction of 
 the sough or level at Worsley Mill, and such other 
 portions of the work as could be executed under 
 the original powers. 
 
 During the same period Brindley travelled back- 
 wards and forwards a great deal, on matters con- 
 nected with his various business in the Pottery 
 district. We find, from his private record, that he 
 was occupied at intervals in carrying forward his 
 survey of the proposed canal through Stafford- 
 shire, visiting with this object the neighbourhood 
 of Newcastle-under-Lyne, Lichfield, and Tamworth. 
 He also continued to give his attention to mills, 
 
208 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP III 
 
 water-wheels, cranes, and fire-engines, which he 
 had erected, or which required repairs, in various 
 parts of the same district. In short, he seems at 
 this period to have been fully employed as a mill- 
 wright ; and although, as we have seen, the re- 
 muneration which he received for his skill was 
 comparatively small, being a man of frugal habits 
 he had saved a little money ; for about this time 
 we find him able to raise a sum of 543/. 65. Sd., being 
 his fourth share of the purchase-money of the 
 Turnhurst estate, situated near Golden Hill, in the 
 county of Stafford. 
 
 The principal part of this sum was no doubt 
 borrowed, as appears by his own memoranda, 
 from his friend Mr. Launcelot, of Leek ; but the 
 circumstance proves that, amongst his townsmen 
 and neighbours, who knew him best, he stood in 
 good credit and repute. His other partners in the 
 purchase were Mr. Thomas Gilbert (Earl Gower's 
 agent), Mr. Henshall (afterwards his brother-in- 
 law), and his brother John Brindley. The estate 
 was understood to be full of minerals, the know- 
 ledge of which had most probably been obtained by 
 Brindley in the course of his surveying of the. pro- 
 posed Staffordshire canal ; and we shall afterwards 
 find that he turned the purchase to good account. 
 
 At length the new plans of the canal from 
 Worsley to Manchester were completed and ready 
 for deposit ; and on the 23rd of January, after a 
 visit to the Duke and Gilbert at the Hall, we find 
 the entry in Brindley's pocket-book of "Sot out 
 for London." On the occasion of his visits to 
 London, Brindley adopted the then most con- 
 venient method of travelling on horseback, the 
 journey usually occupying five days. We find 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 PROGRESS OE THE WORKS 
 
 20Q 
 
 him varying his route according to the state of the 
 weather and of the roads. In summer he was accus- 
 tomed to go by Coventry, but in winter he made for 
 the Great North Road by Northampton, which was 
 usually in better condition for winter travelling. 
 
 The second Act passed like the first, without 
 opposition, early in the session of 1760. It enabled 
 the Duke to carry his proposed canal over the 
 river Irwell, near Barton Bridge, some five miles 
 westward of Manchester, by means of a series of 
 arches, and to vary its course accordingly; whilst 
 it further authorised him to extend a short branch 
 to Longford Bridge, near Stretford, — that to Hollin 
 Ferry, authorised by the original Act, being 
 abandoned. In the mean time the works near 
 Worsley had been actively pushed forward, and 
 considerable progress had been made by the time 
 the additional powers had been obtained. That 
 part of the canal which lay between Worsley Mill 
 and the public highway leading from Manchester 
 to Warrington had been cut; the sough or level 
 between Worsley Mill and Middlewood, for the 
 purpose of supplying water to the canal, was 
 considerably advanced ; and operations had also 
 been begun in the neighbourhood of Salford and 
 on the south of the river Irwell. 
 
 The most difficult part of the undertaking, how- 
 ever, was that authorised by the new Act ; and 
 the Duke looked forward to its execution with the 
 greatest possible anxiety. Although aqueducts of 
 a far more formidable description had been exe- 
 cuted abroad, nothing of the kind had until then 
 been projected in this country ; and many regarded 
 the plan of Brindley as altogether wild and imprac- 
 ticable. The proposal to confine and carry a body 
 1. r 
 
210 JAMES BRINDLEY [CHAP III 
 
 of water within a water-tight trunk of earth upon 
 the top of an embankment across the low grounds 
 on either side of the Irwell, was considered foolish 
 and impossible enough; but to propose to carry 
 ships upon a lofty bridge, "over the heads of other 
 ships navigating the Irwell which flowed under- 
 neath, was laughed at as the dream of a madman. 
 Brindley, by leaving the beaten path, thus found 
 himself exposed to the usual penalties which befall 
 originality and genius. 
 
 The Duke was expostulated with by his friends, 
 and strongly advised not to throw away his money 
 upon so desperate an undertaking. Who ever heard 
 of so large a body of water being carried over 
 another in the manner proposed? Brindley was 
 himself appealed to ; but he could only repeat his 
 conviction as to the entire practicability of his 
 design. At length, b}' his own desire and to allay 
 the Duke's apprehensions, another engineer was 
 called in and consulted as to the scheme. To 
 Brindley's surprise and dismay, the person con- 
 sulted concurred in the view so strongly expressed 
 by the public. He characterised the plan of the 
 Barton aqueduct and embankment as instinct with 
 recklessness and folly ; and after expressing his 
 unqualified opinion as to the impracticability of 
 executing the design, he concluded his report to 
 the Duke thus : " I have often heard of castles in 
 the air ; but never before saw where any of them 
 were to be erected."* 
 
 * We have heard the name of Smcaton mentioned as that of 
 the engineer consulted on the occasion, but are unable to speak 
 with certainty on the point. Excepting Smeaton, however, there 
 was then no other engineer in the country of recognised eminence 
 in the profession. 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 BARTON AQUEDUCT 
 
 21 I 
 
 It is to the credit of his Grace that, notwith- 
 standing these strong adverse opinions, he con- 
 tinued to give his confidence to the engineer 
 whom he had selected to carry out the work. 
 Brindley's common-sense explanations, though they 
 might not remove all his doubts, nevertheless 
 determined the Duke to give him the full oppor- 
 tunit}- of carrying out his design ; and he was 
 accordingly authorised to proceed with the erec- 
 tion of his "castle in the air." Its progress was 
 watched with great interest, and people flocked 
 from all parts to see it. 
 
 The Barton aqueduct is about two hundred 
 yards in length and twelve yards wide, the centre 
 part being sustained by a bridge of three semi- 
 circular arches, the middle one being of sixty-three 
 feet span. It carries the canal over the Irwell at 
 a height of thirty-nine feet above the river— this 
 head-room being sufficient to enable the largest 
 barges to pass underneath without lowering their 
 masts. The bridge is entirely of stone blocks, 
 those on the faces being dressed on the front, 
 beds, and joints, and cramped with iron. The 
 canal, in passing over the arches, is confined 
 within a puddled* channel to prevent leakage, 
 
 * The process of puddling is of considerable importance in 
 canal engineering. Puddle is formed by a mixture of well-tem- 
 pered clay and sand reduced to a semi-fluid state, and rendered 
 impervious to water by manual labour, as by working and chopping 
 it about with spades. It is usually applied in three or more strata 
 to a depth or thickness of about three feet : and care is taken at 
 each operation so to work the new layer of puddling stuff as to 
 unite it with the stratum immediately beneath. Over the top 
 course a layer of common soil is usually laid. It is only by the 
 careful employment of puddling that the filtration of the water of 
 canals into the neighbouring lower lands through which they pass 
 can be effectually prevented. 
 
 P 2 
 
212 JAMES BRINDI.EY |_ CIIAP 111 
 
 and is in as good a state now as on the day on 
 which it was completed. Although the Barton 
 aqueduct has since been thrown into the shade 
 by the vastly greater works of modern engineers, 
 
 Barton Aqueduct. 
 [By Percival Skelton, after his original Drawing.] 
 
 it was unquestionably a very bold and ingenious 
 enterprise, if we take into account the time at 
 which it was erected. Humble though it now 
 appears, it was the parent of the magnificent 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 THE DUKE's CANAL 
 
 213 
 
 aqueducts of Rennie and Telford, and of the 
 viaducts of Stephenson and Brunei, which rival 
 the greatest works of any age or country. 
 
 The embankments formed across the low 
 grounds on either side of the Barton viaduct 
 were also considered very formidable works at 
 that day. A contemporary writer speaks of the 
 embankment across Stretford Meadows as an 
 amazing bank of earth 900 yards long, 112 feet 
 in breadth across the base, 24 feet at top, and 
 17 feet high. The greatest difficulty anticipated, 
 was the holding of so large a body of water 
 within a hollow channel formed of soft materials. 
 It was supposed at first that the water would 
 soak through the bank, which its weight would 
 soon burst, and wash away all before it. But 
 Brindley, in the course of his experience, had 
 iearnt something of the powers of clay-puddle to 
 resist the passage of water. He had already 
 succeeded in stopping the breaches of rivers 
 flowing through low grounds by this means ; and 
 the thorough manner in which he finished the bed 
 of this canal, and made it impervious to water, 
 may be cited as a notable illustration of the 
 engineer's practical skill, taking into account the 
 early period at which this work was executed. 
 
 Not the least difficult part of the undertaking 
 was the formation of the canal across Trafford 
 Moss, where the weight of the embankment 
 pressed down and "blew up" the soft 00Z3' stuff 
 on each side ; but the difficulty was again over- 
 come by the engineer's specific of clay-puddle, 
 which proved completely successful. Indeed, the 
 execution of these embankments by Brindley 
 was regarded at the time as something quite as 
 
214 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP III 
 
 extraordinary in their way as the erection of the 
 Barton aqueduct itself. 
 
 The rest of the canal between Longford and 
 Manchester, being mostly on sidelong ground, was 
 cut down on the upper side and embanked up on 
 the other by means of the excavated earth. This 
 was comparatively easy work ; but a matter of 
 greater difficulty was to accommodate the streams 
 which flowed across the course of the canal. This 
 was, however, provided for in a highly ingenious 
 manner. For instance, a stream called Cornbrook 
 was found too high to pass under the canal at its 
 natural level. Accordingly, Brindley contrived a 
 weir, over which the stream fell into a large basin, 
 from whence it flowed into a smaller one open at 
 the bottom. From this point a culvert, constructed 
 under the bed of the canal, carried the waters 
 across to a well situated on its further side, 
 where the waters rising up to their natural level, 
 again flowed away in their proper channel. A 
 similar expedient was adopted at the Manchester 
 terminus of the canal, at the point at which it 
 joined the waters of the Medlock. 
 
 It was a principle of Brindley's never to permit 
 the waters of any river or brook to intermix 
 with those of the canal except for the purpose 
 of supply ; as it was clear that in a time of flood 
 such intermingling would be a source of great 
 danger to the navigation. In order, therefore, to 
 provide for the free passage of the Medlock with- 
 out causing a rush into the canal, a weir was 
 contrived 366 yards in circumference, over which 
 its waters flowed into a lower level, and from 
 thence into a well several yards in depth, down 
 which the whole river fell. It was received at 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 THE DL'KE'b CANAL 
 
 215 
 
 the bottom in a subterranean passage, by which 
 it passed into the river Irwell, near at hand. The 
 weir was very ingeniously contrived, though it was 
 afterwards found necessary to make considerable 
 alterations and improvements in it, as experience 
 suggested, in order effectually to accommodate the 
 flood-waters of the Medlock. Arthur Young, when 
 visiting the canal, shortly after it was opened up 
 to Manchester, says, " The whole plan of these 
 works shows a capacity and extent of mind which 
 foresees difficulties, and invents remedies in anti- 
 cipation of possible evils. The connection and 
 dependence of the parts upon each other are 
 happily imagined; and all are exerted in concert, to 
 command by every means the wished-for success."* 
 
 Brindley's labours, however, were not confined 
 to the construction of the canal, but his attention 
 seems to have been equally directed to the con- 
 trivance of the whole of the arrangements and 
 machinery by which it was worked. The open 
 navigation between Worsley Mill and Manchester 
 was 10] miles in length. A large basin was ex- 
 cavated at the former place, of sufficient capacity 
 to contain a great many boats, and to serve as a 
 head for the navigation. 
 
 It is at Worsley Basin that the canal enters 
 the bottom of the hill by a subterranean channel 
 which extends for a great distance, — connecting the 
 different workings of the mine, — so that the coals 
 can be readily transported in boats to their place 
 of sale. A representation of the basin is given on 
 page 217. It lies at the base of a cliff of sand- 
 stone, some hundred feet in height, overhung by 
 
 * ' Six Months' Tour through the North of England, 1 vol. iii., 
 p. 258. Ed. 1770. 
 
216 
 
 JAMES BRINDI.EY 
 
 [CHAP III 
 
 luxuriant foliage, beyond which is seen the graceful 
 spire of Worsley church. In contrast to this scenic 
 beaut}' above, lies the almost stagnant pool beneath. 
 The barges * laden with coal emerge from the mine 
 through the two low, semi-circular arches opening 
 at the base of the rock, such being the entrances to 
 the underground workings. The smaller aperture 
 is the mouth of a canal of only half a mile in length, 
 serving to prevent the obstruction which would 
 be caused by the entrance and egress of so many 
 barges through a single passage. The other arch- 
 way is the entrance of a wider channel, extending 
 nearly six miles in the direction of Bolton, from 
 which various other canals diverge in different 
 directions. 
 
 In Brindley's time, this subterranean canal, hewn 
 out of the rock, was only about a mile in length, 
 but it now extends to nearly forty miles in all 
 directions underground. Where the tunnel passed 
 through earth or coal, the arching was of brick- 
 work ; but where it passed through rock, it was 
 simply hewn out. This tunnel acts not only as a 
 drain and water-feeder for the canal itself, but as a 
 means of carrying the facilities of the navigation 
 through the very heart of the collieries ; and it will 
 readily be seen of how great a value it must have 
 proved in the economical working of the navigation, 
 as well as of the mines, so far as the traffic in 
 coals was concerned. 
 
 At every point Brindley's originality and skill 
 
 * The barges are narrow and long, each conveying about ten 
 tons of coal. They are drawn along the tunnels by means of 
 staples fastened to the sides. When they are empty, and con- 
 sequently higher in the water, they are so near the roof that the 
 bargemen, lying on their backs, can propel them with their feet. 
 
CHAP III] 
 
 217 
 
 WORSI.F.Y BASIN 
 
 were at work. He invented the cranes for the 
 purpose of more readily loading the boats with the 
 boxes filled with the Duke's " black diamonds." 
 
 Worsley Basin. 
 
 He also contrived and laid down within the mines 
 a svstem of underground railways, all leading from 
 the face of the coal, where the miners worked, to 
 
218 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CIIAP 111 
 
 the wells which he had made at different points 
 in the tunnels, through which the coals were shot 
 into the boats waiting below to receive them. At 
 Manchester, where they were unloaded for sale, 
 the contrivances which he employed were equally 
 ingenious. It was at first intended that the canal 
 should terminate at the foot of Castle Hill, up 
 which the coals were dragged by their purchasers 
 from the boats in wheelbarrows or carts. But the 
 toil of dragging the loads up the hill was found 
 very great ; and, to remedy the inconvenience, 
 Brindley contrived to extend the canal for some 
 way into the hill, opening a shaft from the surface 
 of the ground down to the level of the water. The 
 barges having made their way to the foot of this 
 shaft, the boxes of coal were hoisted to the surface 
 by a crane, worked by a box water-wheel of 30 feet 
 diameter and 4 feet 4 inches wide, driven by the 
 waterfall of the river Medlock. In this contriv- 
 ance Brindley was onl}' adopting a modification 
 of the losing and gaining bucket, moved on a 
 vertical pillar, which he had before successfully 
 employed in drawing water out of coal-mines. By 
 these means the coals were rapidly raised to the 
 higher ground, where they were sold and distri- 
 buted, greatly to the convenience of those who 
 came to purchase them. 
 
 Brindley's practical ability was equally displayed 
 in planning and building a viaduct or in fitting up 
 a crane — in carrying out an embankment or in con- 
 triving a coal-barge. The range and fertility of his 
 constructive genius were extraordinary. For the 
 Duke, he invented water-weights at Rough Close, 
 riddles to wash coal for the forges, raising dams, 
 and numerous other contrivances of well-adapted 
 
CHAP III] HIS VARIOUS CONTRIVANCES 
 
 mechanism. At Worsley he erected a steam-engine 
 for draining those parts of the mine which were 
 beneath the level of the canal, and consequently 
 could not be drained into it ; and he is said to have 
 erected, at a cost of only 150/., an engine which 
 until that time no one had known how to construct 
 for less than 500/. At the mouth of one of the 
 mines he erected a water-bellows for the purpose 
 of forcing fresh air into the interior, and thus ven- 
 tilating the workings.* At the entrance of the 
 underground canal he designed and built a mill of 
 a new construction, driven by an over-shot wheel 
 twenty-four feet in diameter, which worked three 
 pairs of stones for grinding corn, besides a dressing 
 or boulting mill, and a machine for sifting sand and 
 mixing mortar. 
 
 Brindley's quickness of observation and readi- 
 ness in turning circumstances to advantage were 
 equally displayed in the mode by which he con- 
 trived to obtain an ample supply of lime for build- 
 ing purposes during the progress of the works. 
 We give the account as related by Arthur Young : — ■ 
 "In carrying on the navigation," he observes, " a 
 vast quantity of masonry was necessary for building 
 
 * A writer in the 'St. James's Chronicle,' under date the 30th 
 of September, 1763, gives the following account of this apparatus, 
 long since removed : — " At the mouth of the cavern is erected a 
 water-bellows, being the body of a tree, forming a hollow cylinder, 
 standing upright. Upon this a wooden basin is fixed, in the form 
 of a funnel, which receives a current of water from the higher 
 ground. This water falls into the cylinder, and issues out at the 
 bottom of it, but at the same time carries a quantity of air with it, 
 which is received into the pipes and forced to the innermost 
 recesses of the coalpits, where it issues out as if from a pair of 
 bellows, and rarefies the body of thick air, which would otherwise 
 prevent the workmen from subsisting on the spot where the coals 
 are dug." 
 
220 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP III 
 
 aqueducts, bridges, warehouses, wharves, &c, and 
 the want of lime was felt severely. The search 
 that was made for matters that would burn into 
 lime was for a long time fruitless. At last Mr. 
 Brindley met with a substance of a chalky kind, 
 which, like the rest, he tried; but found (though it 
 was of a limestone nature — lime-marl, which was 
 found along the sides of the canal, about a foot 
 below the surface) that, for want of adhesion in 
 the parts, it would not make lime. This most in- 
 ventive genius happily fell upon an expedient to 
 remedy this misfortune. He thought of tempering 
 this earth in the nature of brick-earth, casting it in 
 moulds like bricks, and then burning it ; and the 
 success was answerable to his wishes. In that 
 state it burnt readily into excellent lime ; and this 
 acquisition was one of the most important that 
 could have been made. I have heard it asserted 
 more than once that this stroke was better than 
 twenty thousand pounds in the Duke's pocket ; 
 but, like most common assertions of the same kind, 
 it is probably an exaggeration. However, whether 
 the discovery was worth five, ten, or twenty 
 thousand, it certainly was of noble use, and for- 
 warded all the works in an extraordinary manner." * 
 It has been stated that Brindley's nervous ex- 
 citement was so great on the occasion of the letting 
 of the water into the canal, that he took to his bed 
 at the Wheatsheaf, in Stretford, and lay there until 
 all cause for apprehension was over. The tension 
 
 * ' Six Months' Tour,' vol. iii., pp. 270-1. Mr. Hughes, C.E., 
 says of this discovery : "The lime thus made would appear to be 
 the first cement of which we have any knowledge in this country ; 
 since the calcareous marl here spoken of would probably produce, 
 when burnt, a lime of strong hydraulic properties." 
 
CHAP III] HIS "CASTLE IN THE AIR " 221 
 
 on his brain must have been great, with so tremen- 
 dous a load of work and anxiety upon him; but 
 that he " ran away," * as some of his detractors have 
 alleged, is at variance with the whole character and 
 history of the man. 
 
 The Duke's canal, when finished, was for a long 
 time regarded as the wonder of the neighbourhood. 
 Strangers flocked from a distance to see Brindley's 
 " castle in the air ;" and contemporary writers spoke 
 in glowing terms of the surprise with which they 
 saw several barges of great burthen drawn by a 
 single mule or horse along "a river hung in the 
 air," over another river flowing underneath, by the 
 
 * This story was first set on foot, we believe, by the Earl of 
 Bridgewater, in his singularly incoherent publication entitled, 'A 
 Letter to the Parisians and the French Nation upon Inland 
 Navigation, containing a defence of the public character of His 
 Grace Francis Egerton, late Duke of Bridgewater. By the Hon. 
 Francis Henry Egerton.' The first part of this curious book 
 (published at Paris) was dated "Hotel Egerton, Paris, 21st Dec, 
 181S;" the second part was published two years later; and a 
 third part, consisting entirely of a note about Hebrew interpre- 
 tations, was published subsequently. He had in the mean time 
 become Earl of Bridgewater, in October, 1823, having formerly 
 been prebendary of Durham and rector of Whitchurch in Shrop- 
 shire. The late Earl of Ellesmere, in his * Essays on History, 
 Biography,' &c, says of this nobleman that " he died at Paris in 
 the odour of eccentricity." But this is a mild description of his 
 lordship, who had at least a dozen distinct crazes — about canals, 
 the Jews, punctuation, the wonderful merits of the Egertons, the 
 proper translation of Hebrew, the ancient languages generally, 
 but more especially about prophecy and poodle-dogs. When he 
 drove along the Boulevards in Paris, nothing could be seen of 
 his lordship for poodle-dogs looking out of the carriage windows. 
 The poodles sat at table with him at dinner, each being waited on 
 by a special valet. The most creditable thing the Earl did was to 
 leave the sum of 12,000/. to the British Museum, and 8000/. to 
 meritorious literary men for writing the well-known ' Bridgewater 
 Treatises.' He died in February, 1829. 
 
222 VALUABLE USES OF THE CANAL [CHAP III 
 
 side of which some ten or twelve men might be 
 seen slowly hauling a single barge against the 
 stream. A lad}- who writes a description of the 
 work in 1765, speaks of it as "perhaps the greatest 
 artificial curiosity in the world;" and she states 
 that "crowds of people, including those of the first 
 fashion, resort to it daily." 
 
 The chief importance of the work, however, con- 
 sisted in its valuable uses. Manchester was now 
 regularly and cheaply supplied with coals. The 
 average price was at once reduced by one-half— 
 from -jd. the cwt. to i\d. (six score being given to 
 the cwt.) — and the supply was regular instead of 
 intermitting, as it had formerly been. But the full 
 advantages of this improved supply of coals were 
 not experienced until many years after the opening 
 of the canal, when the invention of the steam-engine, 
 and its extensive employment as a motive power in 
 all manufacturing operations, rendered a cheap and 
 abundant supply of fuel of vital importance to 
 the growth and prosperity of Manchester and its 
 neighbourhood. 
 
( 22 3 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EXTENSION OF THE DUKE'S CANAL TO THE MERSEY. 
 
 The Canal had scarcely been opened to Manchester 
 when we find Brindley occupied, at the instance of 
 the Duke, in surveying the country between Stret- 
 ford and the river Mersey, with the view of carrying 
 out a canal in that direction for the accommodation 
 of the growing trade between Liverpool and Man- 
 chester. The first boat-load of coals sailed over 
 the Barton viaduct to Manchester on the 17th of 
 July, 1 761 ; on the 7th of September following we 
 find Brindley at Liverpool,* " rocconitoring ; " and, 
 by the end of the month, he was busily engaged 
 levelling for a proposed canal to join the Mersey at 
 
 * It would almost seem as if the extension of the canal to the 
 Mersey had formed part of the Duke's original plan ; for Brindley 
 was engaged in making a survey from Longford to Dunham in the 
 autumn of the preceding year, as appears from the following ac- 
 count, preserved at the Bridgcwater Canal Office at Manchester, 
 of his expenses in making the survey : — 
 
 " Expenses in Surveying from Longford Bridge to Dunham. 
 Oct r 21 st 1760. 
 
 Spent at Stretford 06 
 
 At Altringham all Night 6 o 
 
 Gave the Men to Drink that assisted 10 
 
 More at Altringham 26 
 
 P d Mr. lirinley this. 
 
 10 o 
 
224 
 
 MANCHESTER AND LIVERPOOL [CHAP IV 
 
 Hcmpstones, about eight miles below Warrington 
 Bridge, from whence there was a natural tideway 
 to Liverpool, about fifteen miles distant. 
 
 The project in question was a very important 
 one on public grounds. We have seen how the 
 community of Manchester had been hampered by 
 defective road and water communications, which 
 seriously affected its supplies of food and fuel, and, 
 at the same time, by retarding its trade, hindered 
 to a considerable extent the regular employment 
 of its population. The Duke of Bridgewater, by 
 constructing his canal, had opened up an abundant 
 supply of coal, but the transport of the raw materials 
 of manufacture was still as much impeded as before. 
 Liverpool was the natural port of Manchester, from 
 which it drew its supplies of cotton, wool, silk, and 
 other produce, and to which it returned them for 
 export when worked up into manufactured articles. 
 
 There were two existing modes by which the 
 communication was kept up between the two 
 places : one was by the ordinary roads, and the 
 other by the rivers Mersey and Irvvell. From a 
 statement published in December, 1761, it appears 
 that the weight of goods then carried by land from 
 Manchester to Liverpool was " upwards of forty 
 tons per week," or about two thousand tons a 
 year. This quantity, insignificant though it must 
 appear when compared with the enormous traffic 
 now passing between the two towns, was then 
 thought very large, as no doubt it was when the 
 limited trade of the country is taken into account. 
 But the cost of transport was the important feature ; 
 it was not less than two pounds sterling per ton — 
 this heavy charge being almost entirely attributable 
 to the execrable state of the roads. It was scarcely 
 
CHAP IV] 
 
 LIVERPOOL A VILLAGE 
 
 225 
 
 possible to drive waggons along the ruts and 
 through the sloughs which lay between the two 
 places at certain seasons of the _year, and even 
 pack-horses had considerable difficulty in making 
 the journey. 
 
 The other route between the towns was by the 
 navigation of the rivers Mersey and IrwelL The 
 raw materials used in manufacture were principally 
 transported from Liverpool to Manchester by this 
 route, at a cost of about twelve shillings per ton ; 
 the carriage of timber and such like articles costing 
 not less than twenty per cent, on their value at 
 Liverpool. But the navigation was also very 
 tedious and difficult. The boats could only pass 
 up to the first lock at the Liverpool end with the 
 assistance of a spring tide; and further up the river 
 there were numerous fords and shallows which the 
 boats could only pass in great freshes, or in dry 
 seasons, by drawing extraordinary quantities of 
 water from the locks above. Then, in winter, the 
 navigation was apt to be impeded by floods, and 
 occasionally it was stopped altogether. In short, 
 the growing wants of the population demanded an 
 improved means of transit between the two towns, 
 which the Duke of Bridgewater now determined to 
 supply. 
 
 The growth of Liverpool as a seaport has been 
 comparatively recent. At a time when Bristol and 
 Hull possessed thriving harbours, resorted to by 
 foreign ships, Liverpool was little better than a 
 fishing village, its only distinction being that it was 
 a convenient place for setting sail to Ireland. In 
 the war between France and England which broke 
 out in 1347, when Edward the Third summoned the 
 various ports in the kingdom to make contributions 
 i- Q 
 
226 
 
 RISE AND PROGRESS OF LIVERPOOL [CHAP IV 
 
 towards the naval power according to their means, 
 London was required to provide 25 ships and 
 662 men ; Bristol 22 ships and 608 men ; Hull, 
 16 ships and 466 men ; whilst Liverpool was only 
 asked to find 1 bark and 6 men ! In Queen 
 Elizabeth's time, the burgesses presented a petition 
 to Her Majesty, praying her to remit a subsidy 
 which had been imposed upon it and other seaport 
 towns, in which they styled their native place 
 " Her Majesty's poor decayed town of Liverpool." 
 Chester was then of considerably greater impor- 
 tance as a port. In 1634-5, when Charles I. made 
 his unconstitutional levy of ship-money throughout 
 England, Liverpool was let off with a contribution 
 of 15/., whilst Chester paid 100/., and Bristol not 
 less than 1000/. 
 
 The channel of the Dee, however, becoming 
 silted up, the trade of Chester decayed, and that of 
 Liverpool rose upon its ruins. In 1699 the excava- 
 tion of the Old Dock was begun ; but it was used 
 only as a tidal harbour (being merely an enclosed 
 space with a small pier) until the year 1709, when 
 an Act was obtained enabling its conversion into a 
 wet dock; since which time a series of docks have 
 been constructed, extending for about five miles 
 along the north shore of the Mersey, which are 
 among the greatest works of modern times, and 
 afford an almost unequalled amount of shipping 
 accommodation. 
 
 Erom that time forward the progress of the port 
 of Liverpool has kept steady pace with the trade 
 and wealth of the country behind it, and especially 
 with the manufacturing activity and energy of the 
 town of Manchester. Its situation at the mouth of 
 a deep and navigable river, its convenient proximity 
 
CHAP IV] 
 
 BAD STATE OF ROADS 
 
 22J 
 
 to districts abounding in coal and iron and inhabited 
 by an industrious and hardy population, were un- 
 questionably great advantages. But these of them- 
 selves would have been insufficient to account for 
 the extraordinary progress made by Liverpool 
 during the last century, without the opening up of 
 the great system of canals, which brought not only 
 the towns of Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire 
 into immediate connection with that seaport, but 
 also the manufacturing districts of Staffordshire, 
 Warwickshire, and the other central counties of 
 England situated at the confluence of the various 
 navigations.* Liverpool thus became the great 
 focus of import and export for the northern and 
 western districts. The raw materials of commerce 
 were poured into it from Ireland, America, and the 
 Indies. From thence they were distributed along 
 the canals amongst the various seats of manufac- 
 turing industry, and a large proportion was readily 
 returned by the same route to the same port, in a 
 manufactured state, for shipment to all parts of the 
 world. 
 
 At the time of which we speak, however, it 
 will be observed that the communication between 
 Liverpool and Manchester was very imperfect. It 
 was not only difficult to convey goods between the 
 two places, but it was also difficult to convey 
 persons. In fine weather, those who required to 
 travel the thirty miles which separated them, could 
 ride or w r alk, resting at Warrington for the night. 
 
 Years. 
 1 70 1 
 1760 
 1800 
 
 * Progress of Liverpool, 
 Vessels entered. Tonnage. 
 
 Duties paid. 
 
 102 8,619 
 
 1S5S 
 
 4,746 450,060 
 21,352 4,441,943 
 
 1,245 
 
 .£2,330 
 23,379 
 347,SS y 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 LIVERPOOL COACHES [CHAP IV 
 
 But in winter the roads, like most of the other 
 country roads at the time, were simply impassable. 
 Although an Act had been passed as early as the 
 year 1726 for repairing and enlarging the road 
 from Liverpool to Prescot, coaches could not come 
 nearer to the town than Warrington in 1750, the 
 
 Liverpool in 1650. 
 
 road being impracticable for such vehicles even in 
 summer.* 
 
 A stage-coach was not started between Liver- 
 pool and Manchester until the year 1767, performing 
 the journey only three times a week. It required 
 
 * Mr. Baines says : "Carriages were then very rare, and it is 
 mentioned as a singular fact that at the period in question (1750) 
 there was but one gentleman's carriage in the town of Liverpool, 
 and that carriage was kept by a lady of the name of Clayton." — 
 'History of Lancashire,' vol. iv., p. 90. 
 
CHAP IVj BRINDLEY'S SURVEY OF A CANAL 22Q 
 
 six and sometimes eight horses to draw the lumber- 
 ing vehicle and its load along the ruts and through 
 the sloughs, — the whole day being occupied in 
 making the journey. The coach was accustomed 
 to start early in the morning from Liverpool ; it 
 breakfasted at Prescot, dined at Warrington, and 
 arrived at Manchester usually in time for supper. 
 On one occasion, at Warrington, the coachman 
 intimated his wish to proceed, when the company 
 requested him to take another pint, as they had not 
 finished their wine, asking him at the same time if 
 he was in a hurry ? " Oh," replied the driver, " I'm 
 not partic'lar to an hour or so!" As late as 1775, 
 no mail-coach ran between Liverpool and any other 
 town, the bags being conveyed to and from it on 
 horseback ; and one letter-carrier was found suffi- 
 cient for the wants of the place. A heavy stage 
 then ran, or rather crawled, between Liverpool and 
 London, making only four journeys a week in the 
 winter time. It started from the Golden Talbot, in 
 Water-street, and was three days on the road. It 
 went by Middlewich, where one of its proprietors 
 kept the White Bear inn ; and during the Knutsford 
 race-week the coach was sent all the way round 
 by that place, in order to bring customers to the 
 Bear. 
 
 We have said that Brindley was engaged upon 
 the preliminary survey of a canal to connect Man- 
 chester with the Mersey, immediately after the 
 original Worsley line had been opened, and before 
 its paying qualities had been ascertained. But the 
 Duke, having once made up his mind as to the ex- 
 pediency of carrying out this larger project, never 
 halted nor looked back, but made arrangements 
 for prosecuting a bill for the purpose of enabling 
 
230 
 
 HIS NUMEROUS JOURNEYS 
 
 [CHAP IV 
 
 the canal to be made in the very next session of 
 Parliament. 
 
 We find that Brindlev's first visit to Liverpool 
 and the intervening district on the business of the 
 survey was made early in September, 1761. During 
 the remainder of the month he was principally 
 occupied in Staffordshire, looking after the work- 
 ing of his fire-engine at Fenton Vivian, carrying 
 out improvements in the silk-manufactory at Con- 
 gleton, and inspecting various mills at Newcastle- 
 under-Lyne and the neighbourhood. His only idle 
 day during that month seems to have been the 22nd, 
 which was a holiday, for he makes the entry in his 
 book of "crounation of Georg and Sharlot," the new 
 King and Queen of England. By the 25th we find 
 him again with the Duke at Worsley, and on the 
 30th he makes the entry, " set out at Dunham to 
 Level for Liverpool." The work then went on 
 continuously until the survey was completed ; and 
 on the 19th of November he set out for London, 
 with 7/. 185. in his pocket. 
 
 In the course of his numerous journeys, we 
 find Brindley carefully noting down the various 
 items of his expenses, which were curiously small. 
 Although he was four or five days on the road to 
 London, and stayed eight days there, his total ex- 
 penses, both going and returning, amounted to 
 only 4/. Ss. : it is most probable, however, that he 
 lived at the Duke's house whilst in town. On the 
 1st of December we find him, on his return journey 
 to Worsley, resting the first night at a place called 
 Brickhill ; the next at Coventry, where he makes 
 the entry, " Moy mar had a bad fall in the frasst;" 
 the third at Sandon ; the fourth at Congleton ; and 
 the fifth at Worsley. He had still some inquiries 
 
CHAP IV] HIS TRAVELLING CHARGES 23 1 
 
 to make as to the depth of water and the conditions 
 of the tide at Hempstones ; and for three days he 
 seems to have been occupied in traffic-taking', with 
 a view to the evidence to be given before Parlia- 
 ment ; for on the ioth of December we find him at 
 Stretford, "to count the caridgos," and on the 12th 
 he is at Manchester for the same purpose, "counting 
 the loded caridgos and horses." 
 
 The following bill refers to some of the work 
 done by him at this time, and is a curious specimen 
 of an engineer's travelling charges in those days — 
 the engineer himself being at the same time paid at 
 the rate of 3s. 6d. a day : — 
 
 Expenses for His Grace the Duk of Bridgwater to pay for traveling 
 Chareges by James Brindley. 
 
 18 Novem — 1761. 
 
 18 No masuring a Cros from Dunham to Warburton 
 
 Mercey and Thai wall, y- nd Dunham for 2 diners 
 is-yl for the man \s-od at Thalwall is -2d all 
 Night Warington 
 
 19 Novem Sat out from Chester for London & at Wors- 
 
 ley Septm 5 Ketorned back going to London and at 
 London and hors back to Worsley Charged Hors & 
 my salf 
 
 9 december Coming back from Mam Stone Charges at 
 
 Wilderspool all Night ... 
 
 at Warington to meet M r Ashley dining 
 10 to ataind the Turn pike Rode is -(3d & againe on t e 
 
 12 D e Rode 3J - 6d 
 
 21 Deem to inspect t e flux and Reflux at Ham Stone 
 
 2 dayes Charges ... 
 
 26 Dec r 1 761. Rec' 1 the Contents of the above Dill by 
 
 the Hands of John Gilbert. James Brindley ■■■£(> 00 o 
 
 In the early part of the month of January, 1762, 
 we find Brindley busy measuring soughs, gauging 
 
 074 
 
 480 
 
 080 
 042 
 
 060 
 
 066 
 
232 JAMES BRINDLEY [CHAP IV 
 
 the tides at Hempstones, and examining and alter- 
 ing the Duke's paper-mills and iron slitting-mills at 
 Worsley; and on the 7th we find this entry: "to 
 masuor the Duks pools I and Smeaton." On the 
 following day he makes "an ochilor survey from 
 Saldnoor [Sale Moor] to Stockport," with a view 
 to a branch canal being carried in that direction. 
 On the 14th, he sets out from Congleton, by way of 
 Ashbourne, Northampton, and Dunstable, arriving 
 in London on the fifth day. 
 
 Immediately on his arrival in town we find him 
 proceeding to rig himself out in a new suit of 
 clothes. His means were small, his habits thrift}-, 
 and his wardrobe scant}' ; but as he was about to 
 appear in an important character, as the principal 
 engineering witness before a Parliamentary Com- 
 mittee in support of the Duke's bill, he felt it 
 necessary to incur an extra expenditure on dress 
 for the occasion. Accordingly, on the morning of 
 the 1 8th we find him expending a guinea — an entire 
 week's pay — in the purchase of a pair of new 
 breeches : two guineas on a coat and waistcoat of 
 broadcloth, and six shillings for a pair of new 
 shoes. On the following page is a fac-simile of the 
 entry in his pocketbook. 
 
 It will be observed that an expenditure is here 
 entered of nine shillings for going to "the play." 
 It would appear that his friend Gilbert, who was 
 in London with him on the canal business, pre- 
 vailed on Brindley to go with him to the theatre to 
 see Garrick in the play of ' Richard III.,' and he 
 went. He had never been to an entertainment of 
 the kind before; but the excitement which it caused 
 him was so great, and it so completely disturbed 
 his ideas, that he was unfitted for business for 
 
CHAP IV] FAC-SIMILE OF HIS HAND-WRITING 233 
 
 several days after. He then declared that no con- 
 sideration should tempt him to go a second time, 
 and he held to his resolution. This was his first 
 and only visit to the play. The following week he 
 
 Fac-simile of Brindley's Hand-writing. 
 
 enters in his memorandum-book concerning himself 
 " ill in bed," and the first Sunda}- after his recovery 
 we find him attending service at "Sant Mary's 
 Church." The service did not make him ill, as the 
 
^34 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP IV 
 
 play had done, and on the following day he attended 
 the House of Commons on the subject of the Duke's 
 bill. 
 
 The proposed canal from Manchester to the 
 Mersey at Hempstones stirred up an opposition 
 which none of the Duke's previous bills had en- 
 countered. Its chief opponents were the pro- 
 prietors of the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, who 
 saw their monopoly assailed by the measure; and, 
 unable though they had been satisfactorily to 
 conduct the then traffic between Liverpool and 
 Manchester, they were unwilling to allow of any 
 additional water service being provided between 
 the two towns. Having already had sufficient 
 evidence of the Duke's energy and enterprise, 
 from what he had been able to effect in so short 
 a time in forming the canal between Worsley and 
 Manchester, the Navigation Company were not 
 without reason alarmed at his present project. 
 
 At first they tried to buy him off by conces- 
 sions. They offered to reduce the rate of 35. A,d. 
 per ton of coals, timber, &c, conveyed upon the 
 Irwell between Barton and Manchester, to 6(/. if 
 he would join their Navigation at Barton and 
 abandon the part of his canal between that point 
 and Manchester; but he would not now be diverted 
 from his plan, which he resolved to carry into 
 execution if possible. Again they tried to con- 
 ciliate his Grace by offering him certain exclusive 
 advantages in the use of their Navigation. But 
 it was again too late ; and the Duke having a clear 
 idea of the importance of his project, and being 
 assured by his engineer of its practicability and 
 the great commercial value of the undertaking, de- 
 termined to proceed with the measure. It offered 
 
CHAP IV] OPPOSITION TO PROPOSED CANAL 
 
 to the public the advantages of a shorter line of 
 navigation, not liable to be interrupted by floods 
 on the one hand or droughts on the other, and, 
 at the same time, a much lower rate of freight, 
 the maximum charge proposed in the bill being 
 6s. a ton against 125., the rate charged by the 
 Mersey and Irwell Navigation between Liverpool 
 and Manchester. 
 
 The opposition to the bill was led by Lord 
 Strange, son of the Earl of Derby, one of the 
 members for the county of Lancaster, who took 
 the part of the " Old Navigators," as they were 
 called, in resisting the bill. The question seems 
 also to have been treated as a political one ; and, 
 the Duke and his friends being Whigs, Lord Strange 
 mustered the Tory party strongly against him. 
 Hence we find this entry occurring in Brindley's 
 note-book, under date the 16th of February: "The 
 Toores [Tories] mad had [made head] agane ye 
 Duk." 
 
 The principal objections offered to the proposed 
 canal were, that the landowners would suffer by 
 it from having their lands cut through and covered 
 with water, by which a great number of acres 
 would be for ever lost to the public; that there 
 was no necessity whatever for the canal, the Mersey 
 and Irwell Navigation being sufficient to carry 
 more goods than the trade then existing required ; 
 that the new navigation would run almost parallel 
 with the old one, and offered no advantage to the 
 public which the existing river navigation did not 
 supply ; that the canal would drain away the waters 
 which supplied the rivers, and be very prejudicial 
 to them, if not totally destructive, in dry seasons; 
 that the proprietors of the old navigation had 
 
236 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [chap IV 
 
 invested their money on the faith of protection 
 by Parliament, and to permit the new canal to 
 be established would be a gross interference with 
 their vested rights; and so on. 
 
 To these objections there were very sufficient 
 answers. The bill provided for full compensation 
 being made to the owners of lands through which 
 the canal passed, and, in addition, it was provided 
 that all sorts of manure should be carried for 
 them without charge. It was also shown that the 
 Duke's canal could not abstract water from either 
 the Mersey or the Irwell, as the level of both 
 rivers was considerably below that of the intended 
 canal, which would be supplied almost entirely 
 from the drainage of his own coal - mines at 
 Worsley; and with respect to the plea of vested 
 rights set up, it was shown that Parliament, in 
 granting certain powers to the old navigators, 
 had regard mainly to the convenience and advan- 
 tage of the public ; and they were not precluded 
 from empowering a new navigation to be formed 
 if it could be proved to present a more convenient 
 and advantageous mode of conveyance. 
 
 On these grounds the Duke was strongly sup- 
 ported by the inhabitants of the localities proposed 
 to be served by the intended canal. The "Junto 
 of Old Navigators of the Mersey and Irwell Com- 
 pany" had for many years carried things with a 
 very high hand, extorted the highest rates, and, 
 in cases of loss by delay or damage to goods in 
 transit, refused all redress. A feeling very hos- 
 tile to them and their monopoly had accordingly 
 grown up, which now exhibited itself in a power- 
 ful array of petitions to Parliament in favour of 
 the Duke's bill. 
 
CHAT IV] HIS EVIDENCE BEFORE COMMITTEE 
 
 257 
 
 On the 17th of February, 1762, the bill came 
 before the Committee of the House of Commons, 
 and Brindley was examined in its support. We 
 regret that no copy of his evidence now exists * 
 from which we might have formed an opinion 
 of the engineer's abilities as a witness. Some 
 curious anecdotes have, however, been preserved 
 of his demeanour and evidence on canal bills be- 
 fore Parliament. When asked, on one occasion, 
 to produce a drawing of an intended bridge, he 
 replied that he had no plan of it on paper, but 
 he would illustrate it by a model. He went out 
 and bought a large cheese, which he brought into 
 the room and cut into two equal parts, saying, 
 " Here is my model." The two halves of the 
 cheese represented the semicircular arches of his 
 bridge ; and by laying over them some long rect- 
 angular object, he could thus readily communicate 
 to the Committee the position of the river flowing 
 underneath and the canal passing over it.f 
 
 On another occasion, when giving his evi- 
 dence, he spoke so frequently about "puddling," 
 describing its uses and advantages, that some of 
 the members expressed a desire to know what 
 this extraordinary mixture was, that could be 
 applied to such important purposes. Preferring 
 a practical illustration to a verbal description, 
 
 * Search has been made at the Bridgewater Estate Offices at 
 Manchester, and in the archives of the Houses of Parliament, but 
 no copy can be found. It is probable that the Parliamentary 
 papers connected with this application to Parliament were de- 
 stroyed by the fire which consumed so many similar documents 
 about twenty-five years ago. 
 
 t Stated by Mr. Hughes, in his 'Memoir of Brindley,' as 
 having been communicated to him by James Loch, Esq., M.P., 
 formerly agent for the Duke's Trustees. 
 
2 3 8 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP IV 
 
 Brindley caused a mass of clay to be brought 
 into the committee-room, and, moulding it in its 
 raw untempered state into the form of a trough, 
 he poured into it some water, which speedily ran 
 through and disappeared. He then worked the 
 clay up with water to imitate the process of pud- 
 dling, and again forming it into a trough, filled 
 it with water, which was now held in without a 
 particle of leakage. "Thus it is," said Brindley, 
 " that I form a water-tight trunk to carry water 
 over rivers and valleys, wherever they cross the 
 path of the canal." * 
 
 Again, when Brindley was giving evidence be- 
 fore a Committee of the House of Peers as to 
 the lockage of his proposed canal, one of their 
 Lordships asked him, "But what is a lock?" on 
 which the engineer took a piece of chalk from 
 his pocket and proceeded to explain it by means 
 of a diagram which he drew upon the floor, and 
 made the matter clear at once.f He used to be 
 so ready with his chalk for purposes of illustra- 
 tion, that it became a common saying in Lanca- 
 shire, that " Brindley and chalk would go through 
 the world." He was never so eloquent as when 
 with his chalk in hand, — it stood him in lieu of 
 tongue. 
 
 * 'Memoir of Brindley,' by S. Hughes, C.E., in 'Wcale's 
 Papers on Civil Engineering.' 
 
 t As the reader may possibly desire information on the same 
 point, we may here briefly explain the nature of a Canal Lock. It 
 is employed as a means of carrying navigations through an uneven 
 country, and raising the boats from one water level to another, or 
 vice versa. The lock is a chamber formed of masonry, occupying 
 the bed of the canal where the difference of level is to be over- 
 come. It is provided with two pairs of gates, one at each end ; 
 and the chamber is so contrived that the level of the water which 
 
CHAP IV] A CANAL LOCK DESCRIBED 
 
 239 
 
 On the day following Brindley's examination 
 before the Committee on the Duke's bill, that is, 
 on the 1 8th of February, we find him entering in 
 his note-book that the Duke sent out " 200 leators " 
 
 it contains may be made to coincide with either the higher level 
 above, or the lower level below it. The following diagrams will 
 explain the form and construction of the lock. A represents what 
 is called the upper pond, B the lower, C is the left wall, and DD 
 side culverts. When the gates at the lower end of the chamber 
 (E) are opened, and those at the upper end (F) are closed, the 
 
 
 
 
 
 '; .....J! 
 
 
 
 w 
 
 
 
 
 
 B 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Longitudinal Section and Plan of Lock. 
 
 water in the chamber will stand at the lower level of the canal ; 
 but when the lower gales are closed, and the upper gates are 
 opened, the water will naturally coincide with that in the upper 
 part of the canal. In the first case, a boat may be floated into the 
 lock from the lower part, and then, if the lower gates be closed 
 and water is admitted from the upper level, the canal-boat is 
 raised, by the depth of water thus added to the lock, to the upper 
 level, and on the complete opening of the gates it is thus floated 
 onward. By reversing the process, it will readily be understood 
 how the boat may, in like manner, be lowered from the higher to 
 
240 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [chap IV 
 
 to members — possible friends of the measure ; 
 containing his statement of reasons in favour of 
 the bill. On the 20th Mr. Tomkinson, the Duke's 
 solicitor, was under examination for four hours 
 and a half. Sunday intervened, on which day 
 Brindley records that he was "at Lord Harring- 
 ton's." On the following day, the 22nd, the evi- 
 dence for the bill was finished, and the Duke 
 followed this up by sending out 250 more letters 
 to members, with an abstract of the evidence 
 given in favour of the measure. On the 26th 
 there was a debate of eight hours on the bill, 
 followed by a division, in Committee of the whole 
 House, thus recorded by Brindley : — 
 
 "ad a grate Division of 127 fort Duk 
 
 98 nos 
 
 for t' Duk 29 Me Jorete : ' 
 
 But the bill had still other discussions and 
 divisions to encounter before it was safe. The 
 Duke and his agents worked with great assiduity. 
 On the 3rd of March he caused 250 more letters 
 to be distributed amongst the members ; and on 
 the day after we find the House wholly occupied 
 with the bill. We quote again from- Brindley's 
 
 the lower level. The greater the lift or the lowering, the more 
 water is consumed in the process of exchange from one level to 
 another ; and where the traffic of the canal is great, a large supply 
 of water is required to carry it on, which is usually provided by 
 capacious reservoirs situated above the summit level. Various 
 expedients are adopted for economising water : thus, when the 
 width of the canal will admit of it, the lock is made in two com- 
 partments, communicating with each other by a valve, which can 
 be opened and shut at pleasure ; and by this means one-half of 
 the water which it would otherwise be necessary to discharge to 
 the lower level may be transferred to the other compartment. 
 
CHAP IVJ HIS RETURN TO LANCASHIRE 24 1 
 
 record: "4 [March] ade bate at the Hous with 
 grate vigor 3 divisons the Duke carred by Num- 
 bers evory time a 4 division moved but Noos 
 yelded." On the next day we read " wont thro 
 the closos ; " from which we learn that the clauses 
 were settled and passed. Mr. Gilbert and Mr. 
 Tomkinson then set out for Lancashire : the bill 
 was safe. It passed the third reading, Brindley 
 making mention that " Lord Strange " was " sick 
 with geef [grief] on that affair Mr. Wellbron want 
 Rong god,"— which latter expression we do not 
 clearly understand, unless it was that Mr. Wilbra- 
 ham wanted to wrong God. The bill was carried 
 to the Lords, Brindley on the 10th March making 
 the entry, "Touk the Lords oath." But the bill 
 passed the Upper House "without opposishin," 
 and received the Royal Assent on the 24th of the 
 same month. 
 
 On the day following the passage of the bill 
 through the House of Lords (of which Brindley 
 makes the triumphant entry, " Lord Strange de- 
 fetted"), he set out for Lancashire, after nine weary 
 weeks' stay in London. To hang about the lobbies 
 of the House and haunt the office of the Parlia- 
 mentary agent, must have been excessively irksome 
 to a man like Brindley, accustomed to incessant 
 occupation and to see works growing under his 
 hands. During this time we find him frequently 
 at the office of the Duke's solicitor in " Mary Axs ; " 
 sometimes with Mr. Tomkinson, who paid him his 
 guinea a-week during the latter part of his stay ; 
 and on several occasions he is engaged with gentle- 
 men from the country, advising them about " salt- 
 works at Droitwitch" and mill-arrangements in 
 Cheshire. 
 
242 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP IV 
 
 Many things had fallen behind during his 
 absence and required his attention, so he at once 
 set out home ; but the first day, on reaching Dun- 
 stable, he was alarmed to find that his mare, so 
 long unaccustomed to the road, had " allmost lost 
 ye use of her Limes " [limbs]. He therefore went 
 on slowly, as the mare was a great favourite with 
 him — his affection for the animal having on one 
 occasion given rise to a serious quarrel between 
 him and Mr. Gilbert — and he did not reach Con- 
 gleton until the sixth day after his setting out from 
 London. He rested at Congleton for two days, 
 during which he "settled the geering of the silk- 
 mill," and then proceeded straight on to Worsley 
 to set about the working survey of the new 
 canal. 
 
 The course of this important canal, which unites 
 the mills of Manchester with the shipping of Liver- 
 pool, is about twenty-four miles in length.'"' From 
 Longford Bridge, near Manchester, its course lies 
 in a south-westerly direction for some distance, 
 crossing the river Mersey at a point about five 
 miles above its junction with the Irwell. At 
 Altrincham it proceeds in a westerly direction, 
 crossing the river Bollin about three miles further 
 on, near Dunham. After crossing the Bollin, it 
 describes a small semicircle, proceeding onward 
 
 * The following statement of the lengths of the different 
 portions of the Duke's canal, including" those originally executed, 
 is from the map published by Brindley in 1769 : — 
 
 Miles, furl, chains. 
 
 From Worsley to I.ongford Bridge ... ... 6 o o Level. 
 
 ,, Longford Bridge to Manchester ... 4 2 o 
 
 Longford Bridge to Preston Brook ... 19 o o 
 ,. Preston Brook to upper part of Runcorn 4 4 o ,, 
 ,. L'pper part of Runcorn to the Mersey ... 057 79 feet fall. 
 
CHAP IV] DIFFICULTIES OF THE UNDERTAKING 243 
 
 in the valley of the Mersey, and nearly in the direc- 
 tion of the river as far as the crossing of the high 
 road from Chester to Warrington. It then bends 
 to the south to preserve the high level, passing in 
 a southerly direction as far as Preston, in Cheshire, 
 from whence it again turns round to the north to 
 join the river Mersey. [For Map of the Canal, see 
 pp. 204-5.] 
 
 The canal lies entirely in the lower part of 
 the new red sandstone, the principal earthworks 
 consisting of the clays, marls, bog-earths, and 
 occasionally the sandstones of this formation. The 
 heaviest bog crossed in the line of the works was 
 Sale Moor, west of the Mersey, where the bottom 
 was of quicksand ; and the construction of the 
 canal at that part was probably an undertaking of 
 as formidable a character as the laying of the rail- 
 road over Chat Moss proved some sixty years 
 later. But Brindley, like Stephenson, looked upon 
 a difficulty as a thing to be overcome; and when 
 an obstruction presented itself, he at once set his 
 wits to work and studied how it was best to be 
 grappled with and surmounted. A large number 
 of brooks had to be crossed, and also two impor- 
 tant rivers, which involved the construction of 
 numerous aqueducts, bridges, and culverts, to pro- 
 vide for the surface water supply of the district. 
 It will, therefore, be obvious that the undertaking 
 was of a much more important nature — more diffi- 
 cult for the engineer to execute, and more costly 
 to the noble proprietor who found the means for 
 carrying it to a completion - than the comparatively 
 limited and inexpensive work between Worslcy 
 and Manchester, which we have above described. 
 
 The capital idea which Brindley early formed 
 
 R 2 
 
244 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [chap IV 
 
 and determined to carry out, was to construct a 
 level of dead water all the way from Manchester 
 to a point as near to the junction of the canal with 
 the Mersey as might be found practicable. Such 
 a canal, he clearly saw, would not be so expensive 
 to work as one furnished with locks at intermediate 
 points. Brindley's practice of securing long levels 
 of water in canals was in many respects similar to 
 that of George Stephenson with reference to flat 
 gradients upon railways ; and in all the canals that 
 he constructed, he planned and carried them out 
 as far as possible after this leading principle. 
 Hence the whole of the locks on the Duke's canal 
 were concentrated at its lower end near Runcorn, 
 where the navigation descended, as it were by a 
 flight of water steps, into the river Mersey. Lord 
 Ellesmere has observed that this uninterrupted 
 level of the Bridgewater Canal from Leigh and 
 Manchester to Runcorn, and the concentration of 
 its descent to the Mersey at the latter place, have 
 always been considered as among the most striking 
 evidences of the genius and skill of Brindley. 
 
 There was, as usual, considerable delay in 
 obtaining possession of the land on which to 
 commence the works. The tenants required a 
 certain notice, which must necessarily expire before 
 the Duke's engineer could take possession ; and 
 numerous obstacles were thrown in his way, both 
 by tenants and landlords hostile to the undertaking. 
 In many cases the Duke had to pay dearly for the 
 land purchased under the compulsory powers of 
 his Act. Near Lymm, the canal passed through a 
 little bit of garden belonging to a poor man's cot- 
 tage, the only produce growing upon the ground 
 being a pear-tree. For this the Duke had to pay 
 
CHAP IV] 
 
 AN INEFFECTIVE BLOW 
 
 245 
 
 thirty guineas, and it was thought a very extrava- 
 gant price at that time. Since the introduction of 
 railways, the price would probably be considered 
 ridiculously low. For the land on which the ware- 
 houses and docks were built at Manchester, the 
 Duke had to pay in all the much more formidable 
 sum of about forty thousand pounds. 
 
 The Old Quay Navigation, even at the last 
 moment, thought to delay if not to defeat the Duke's 
 operations, by lowering their rates nearly one-half. 
 Only a few days after the Royal Assent had been 
 given to the bill, they published an announcement, 
 appropriately dated the 1st of April, setting forth 
 the large sacrifices they were about to make, and 
 intimating that " from their Reductions in Carriage 
 a real and permanent Advantage will arise to the 
 Public, and the} 7 will experience that Utility so 
 cried up of late, but which has hitherto only existed 
 in promises." The Duke heeded not the ineffective 
 blow thus aimed at him : he was only more than 
 ever resolved to go forward with his canal. He 
 was even offered the Mersey Navigation itself at 
 the price of thirteen thousand pounds ; but lie 
 would not have it now at any price. 
 
 The public spirit and enterprise displayed by 
 many of the young noblemen of those days was 
 truly admirable. Brindley had for several years 
 been in close personal communication with Earl 
 Gower as to the construction of the canal intended 
 to unite the Mersey with the Trent and the Severn, 
 and thus connect the ports of Liverpool, Hull, and 
 Bristol, by a system of inland water-communication. 
 With this object, as we have seen, he had often 
 visited the Earl at his seat at Trentham, and dis- 
 cussed with him the plans by which this truly 
 
2 4-6 
 
 JAMES BRINDI.EY 
 
 [CHAP IV 
 
 magnificent enterprise was to be carried out ; and 
 he had frequently visited the Earl of Stamford at 
 his seat at Enville for the same purpose. But those 
 schemes were too extensive and costly to be carried 
 out by the private means of either of those noble- 
 men, or even by both combined. They were, 
 therefore, under the necessity of stirring up the 
 latent enterprise of the landed proprietors in their 
 respective districts, and waiting until they had 
 received a sufficient amount of local support to 
 enable them to act with vigour in carrying their 
 great design into effect. 
 
 The Duke of Bridgewater's scheme of uniting 
 Manchester and Liverpool by an entirely new line 
 of water-communication, cut across bogs and out 
 of the solid earth in some places, and carried over 
 rivers and valleys at others bj r bridges and embank- 
 ments, was scarcely less bold or costly. Though 
 it was spoken of as another of the Duke's " castles 
 in the air," and his resources were by no means 
 overflowing at the time he projected it, he neverthe- 
 less determined to go on alone with it, should no 
 one be willing to join him. The Duke thus proved 
 himself a real Dux or leader of industrial enterprise 
 in his district ; and by cutting his canal, and pro- 
 viding a new, short, and cheap water-way between 
 Liverpool and Manchester, which was afterwards 
 extended through the counties of Chester, Stafford, 
 and Warwick, he unquestionably paved the way 
 for the creation and development of the modern 
 manufacturing system existing in the north-western 
 counties of England. 
 
 We need scarcely say how admirably he was 
 supported throughout by the skill and indefatigable 
 energy of his engineer. Brindley's fertility in 
 
CHAP IV] 
 
 MANCHESTER TO LIVERPOOL 
 
 247 
 
 resources was the theme of general admiration. 
 Arthur Young, who visited the works during their 
 progress, speaks with enthusiastic admiration of 
 his "bold and decisive strokes of genius," his 
 " penetration which sees into futurity, and prevents 
 obstructions unthought of by the vulgar mind, 
 merely by foreseeing them : a man," says he, 
 " with such ideas, moves in a sphere that is to the 
 rest of the world imaginary, or at best a terra 
 incognita." 
 
 It would be uninteresting to describe the works 
 of the Bridgewater Canal in detail ; for one part of 
 a canal is usually so like another, that to do so were 
 merely to involve a needless amount of repetition 
 of a necessarily dry description. We shall accord- 
 ingly content ourselves with referring to the 
 original methods by which Brindley contrived to 
 overcome the more important difficulties of the 
 undertaking. 
 
 From Longford Bridge, where the new works 
 commenced, the canal, which was originally about 
 eight yards wide and four feet deep, was carried 
 upon an embankment of about a mile in extent 
 across the valley of the Mersey. One might 
 naturally suppose that the conveyance of such a 
 mass of earth must have exclusively employed all 
 the horses and carts in the neighbourhood for 
 years. But Brindley, with his usual fertility in 
 expedients, contrived to make the construction of 
 one part of the canal subservient to the completion 
 of the remainder. He had the stuff required to 
 make up the embankment brought in boats 
 partly from Worsley and partly from other parts 
 of the canal where the cutting was in excess ; and 
 the boats, filled with this stuff, were conducted from 
 
248 
 
 JAMES BRIXDLEY 
 
 [CHAP IV 
 
 the canal along which they had come into watertight 
 caissons or cisterns placed at the point over which 
 the earth and clay had to be deposited. 
 
 The boats, being double, fixed within two feet 
 of each other, had a triangular trough supported 
 between them of sufficient capacity to contain about 
 seventeen tons of earth. The bottom of this trough 
 consisted of a line of trap-doors, which flew open 
 at once on a pin being drawn, and discharged their 
 whole burthen into the bed of the canal in an 
 instant. Thus the level of the embankment was 
 raised to the point necessary to enable the canal 
 to be carried forward to the next length. Arthur 
 Young was of opinion that the saving effected by 
 
 Brindley's Ballast Boats. 
 
 constructing the Stretford embankment in this 
 way, instead of by carting the stuff, was equivalent 
 to not less than five thousand per cent. ! The 
 materials of the caissons employed in executing 
 this part of the work were afterwards used in 
 forming temporary locks across the valley of the 
 Bollin, whilst the embankment was being con- 
 structed at that point by a process almost the very 
 reverse, but of equal ingenuity. 
 
 In the same valley of the Mersey the canal 
 had to be carried over a large brook subject to 
 heavy floods, by means of a strong bridge of two 
 arches, adjoining which was a third, affording pro- 
 vision for a road. Further on, the canal was 
 
CHAP IV] CANAL TAKEN OVER SALE MOOR MOSS 249 
 
 carried over the Mersey itself upon a bridge with 
 one arch of seventy feet span. Westward of this 
 river lay a very difficult part of the work, occa- 
 sioned by the carrying of the navigation over the 
 Sale Moor Moss. Many thought this an altogether 
 impracticable thing; as not only had the hollow 
 trunk of earth in which the canal lay to be made 
 water-tight, but to preserve the level of the 
 water-way it must necessarily be raised consider- 
 ably above the level of the Moor across which it 
 was to be laid. Brindley overcame the difficult}- 
 in the following manner. He made a strong casing 
 of timber-work outside the intended line of em- 
 bankment on either side of the canal, by placing 
 deal balks in an erect position, backing and sup- 
 porting them on the outside with other balks laid 
 in rows, and fast screwed together ; and on the 
 front side of this woodwork he had his earth-work 
 brought forward, hard rammed, and puddled, to 
 form the navigable canal ; after which the casing 
 was moved onward to the part of the work further 
 in advance, and the bottom having previously been 
 set with rubble and gravel, the embankment was 
 thus carried forward by degrees, the canal was 
 raised to the proper level, and the whole was sub- 
 stantially and satisfactorily finished. 
 
 A steam-engine of Brindley's contrivance was 
 erected at Dunham Town Bridge to pump the 
 water from the foundations there. The engine 
 was called a Sawney, for what reason is not 
 stated, and, for long after, the bridge was called 
 Sawney's Bridge. The foundations of the under- 
 bridge, near the same place, were popularly sup- 
 posed to be set on quicksand ; and old Lord 
 Warrington, when he had occasion to pass under 
 
250 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [chap rv 
 
 it, would pretend cautiously to look about him, 
 as if to examine whether the piers were all right, 
 and then run through as fast as he could. A tall 
 poplar-tree stood at Dunham Banks, on which a 
 board was nailed showing the height of the canal 
 level; the people long after called the place "The 
 Duke's Folly," the name given to it while his 
 scheme was still believed to be impracticable. 
 But the skill of the engineer baffled these and 
 other prophets of evil ; and the success of his 
 expedients, in nearly every case of difficulty that 
 occurred, must certainly be regarded as remark- 
 able, considering the novel and unprecedented 
 character of the undertaking. 
 
 Brindley invariably contrived to economise 
 labour as much as possible, and many of his ex- 
 pedients with this object were very ingenious. 
 So far as he could, he endeavoured to make use 
 of the canal itself for the purpose of forwarding 
 the work. He had a floating blacksmith's forge 
 and shop, provided with all requisite appliances, 
 fitted up in one barge ; a complete carpenter's 
 shop in another; and a mason's shop in a third; 
 all of which were floated on as the canal ad- 
 vanced, and were thus always at hand to supply 
 the requisite facilities for prosecuting the opera- 
 tions with economy and despatch. Where there 
 was a break in the line of work, occasioned, for 
 instance, by the erection of some bridge not yet 
 finished, the engineer had similar barges con- 
 structed and carried by land to other lengths of 
 the canal which were in progress, where they 
 were floated and advanced in like manner for the 
 use of the workmen. When the bridge across 
 the Mersey, which was pushed on as rapidly as 
 
CHAP IV] CONSTRUCTION OF FI.OOD-GATES 25 I 
 
 possible with the object of economising labour 
 and cost of materials, was completed, the stone, 
 lime, and timber were brought along the canal 
 from the Duke's property at Worsley, as well as 
 supplies of clay for the purpose of puddling the 
 bottom of the waterway; and thus the work 
 rapidly advanced at all points. 
 
 As one of the great objections made to the 
 construction of the canal had been the danger 
 threatened to the surrounding districts by the 
 bursting of the embankments, Brindley made it 
 his object to provide against the occurrence of 
 such an accident by an ingenious expedient. He 
 had stops or flood-gates contrived and laid in 
 various parts of the bed of the canal, across its 
 bottom, so that, in the event of a breach occurring 
 in the bank and a rush of water taking place, the 
 current which must necessarily set in to that 
 point should have the effect of immediately raising 
 the valvular floodgates, and so shutting off the 
 stream and preventing the escape of more water 
 than was contained in the division between the 
 two nearest gates on either side of the breach. 
 At the same time, these flood-gates might be used 
 for cutting off the waters of the canal at different 
 points, for the purpose of making any necessary 
 repairs in particular lengths ; the contrivance of 
 waste tubes and plugs being so arranged that 
 the bed of any part of the canal, more especially 
 where it passed over the bridges, might be laid 
 bare in a few hours, and the repairs executed at 
 once. 
 
 In devising these ingenious expedients, it ought 
 to be remembered that Brindley had no previous 
 experience to fall back upon, and possessed no 
 
JAMES BRINDI.EY 
 
 [CHAP IV 
 
 knowledge of the means which foreign engineers 
 might have adopted to meet similar emergencies. 
 All had been the result of his own original think- 
 ing and contrivance ; and, indeed, many of these 
 devices were altogether new and original, and had 
 never before been tried by any engineer. 
 
 It is curious to trace the progress of the works 
 by Brindley's own memoranda, which, though brief, 
 clearly exhibit his marvellous industry and close 
 application to every detail of the business. He 
 settled with the farmers for their tenant-right, 
 sold and accounted for the wood cut down and 
 the gravel dug out along the line of the canal, 
 paid the workmen employed,* laid out the work, 
 measured off the quantities done from time to 
 time, planned and erected the bridges, designed 
 the canal boats required for conveying the earth 
 to form the embankments, and united in himself 
 the varied functions of land-surveyor, carpenter, 
 mason, brickmaker, boat-builder, paymaster, and 
 engineer. We find him even condescending to 
 count, bricks and sell grass. Nothing was too 
 
 * The following bill is preserved amongst the Bridgewater 
 Canal papers. Simcox was a skilled mechanic, and acted as 
 foreman of the carpenters : — 
 
 " His Grace the Duke of Bridgewater to Sam 1 Simcox. D r 
 
 £■ d. 
 
 23 Mar 1 ' 1760 To 12 days work at 2i d per ... ... 1 1 o 
 
 23 Aug 1 To 6 days more d° at d° ... ... o 10 6 
 
 6 Sep r To 8 days more d° at d° o 14 o 
 
 2 5 6 
 
 i Nov' 1760. Rec d the Contents above by the Hands of John 
 Gilbert for the Use of Sam 1 Simcox. P* 1 
 
 James Brindley." 
 The wages of what was called a "right-hand man "at that time 
 were from \\d. to i6d. a day, and of a "left-hand man " from is, 
 to 14V. 
 
CHAP LV] HIS ATTENTION TO SHALL DETAILS 253 
 
 small for him to attend to, nor too bold for him 
 to undertake, when necessity required. At the 
 same time we find him contriving a water-plane 
 for the Duke's collieries at Worsley, and occa- 
 sionally visiting Newchapel, Leek, and Congle- 
 ton, in Cheshire, for the purpose of attending 
 to the business on which he still continued to be 
 emplo} - ed at those places. 
 
 The heavy works at the crossing of the Mersey 
 occupied him almost exclusively towards the end 
 of the year 1763. He was there making dams 
 and pushing on the building of the bridge. Occa- 
 sionally he enters the words, "short of men at 
 Cornbrook." Indeed, he seems at that time to 
 have lived upon the works, for we find the almost 
 daily entry of "dined at the Bull, Sd." On the 
 10th of November he makes this entry: " Aftor 
 noon sattled about the size of the arch over the 
 river Marsee [Mersey] to be 66 foot span and 
 rise i6'4 feet." Next day he is "landing balk out 
 of the ould river in to the canal." Then he goes 
 on, " I prosceded to Worsley Mug was corking 
 ye boats the masons woss making the senter of 
 the waire [weir]. Whith e was osing to put the 
 lator side of the water-wheel srouds on I orderd 
 the pit for ye spindle of ye morter-mill to be sunk 
 level with ye canal Mr. Gilbert sade ye 20 Tun 
 Boat should be at ye water mitang [meeting] by 
 7 o'clock the next morn." Next morning he is 
 on the works at Cornhill, setting "a carpentar 
 to make scrwos" [screws], superintending the 
 gravelling of the towing-path, and arranging with 
 a farmer as to Mr. Gilbert's slack. And so he 
 goes on from day to day with the minutest 
 details of the undertaking. 
 
254 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [chap IV 
 
 He was not without his petty "werrets" and 
 troubles either. Brindley and Gilbert do not 
 seem to have got on very well together. They 
 were both men of strong tempers, and neither 
 would tolerate the other's interference. Gilbert, 
 being the Duke's factotum, was accustomed to 
 call Brindley's men from their work, which the 
 other would not brook. Hence we have this entry 
 on one occasion, — "A meshender [messenger] from 
 Mr G I retorned the anser No more sosiety." 
 In fact, they seem to have quarrelled.* 
 
 We find the following further entries on the 
 subject in Brindley's note-book : "Thursday 17 Novr 
 past 7 o'clock at night M Gilbert and sun Tom 
 caled on mee at Gorshill and I went with them to 
 ye Coik [sign of the Cock] tha stade all night and 
 the had balk [blank?] bill of parsill 18 F^'day 
 November 7 morn I went to the Cock and Bruck- 
 fast with Gilberts he in davred to implo3"e ye 
 carpinters at Cornhill in making door and window 
 frames for a Building in Castle field and shades for 
 the mynors in Dito and other things I want them 
 to Saill Moor Hee took upon him diriction of ye 
 back drains and likwaise such Lands as be twixt the 
 2 hous and ceep uper side the large farme and was 
 displesed with such raing as I had pointed out." 
 
 Those differences between Brindley and Gilbert 
 
 * The Earl of Bridgewater, in his rambling ' Letter to the 
 Parisians,' above referred to, alleges that the quarrel originated 
 in Gilbert's horse breaking into the field where Brindley's mare 
 was grazing, and doing her such injury that the engineer was for a 
 time prevented using the animal in the pursuit of his business. 
 The mare was a great favourite of Brindley's, and he is said to 
 have taken the thing very much to heart. The Earl alleges that 
 Brindley was under the Impression Gilbert had contrived the trick 
 out of spite. 
 
chap rv] 
 
 LONGFORD BRIDGE 
 
 -33 
 
 were eventually reconciled, most probably by the 
 mediation of the Duke, for the services of both 
 were alike essential to him ; and we afterwards 
 find them working cordially together and consult- 
 ing each other as before on any important part of 
 the undertaking. 
 
 During the construction of Longford Bridge, 
 Brindley seems, from his note-book, to have enter- 
 tained considerable apprehensions as to its ability to 
 resist the heavy floods with which it was threatened. 
 
 i 
 
 Longford Bridge. 
 
 Thus, on the 26th of November, 1763, he enters : — 
 "Grate Rains the canal rose 2 inches extra I dreed 
 fr [4?] clock at Longfoard;" and on the following 
 day, which was a Sunday, he writes : — " Lay in 
 Bad till noon floode and Raine." Then in the 
 afternoon he adds, " The water in Longfoord 
 Brook was withe in six inches of the high of the 
 santer [centre] of ye waire [weir ?]." The bridge, 
 however, stood firm ; and when the flood subsided, 
 the building was again proceeded with ; and by the 
 end of the year it was finished and gravelled over, 
 
256 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [chap IV 
 
 while the embankment was steadily proceeding 
 beyond the Mersey in the manner above described. 
 
 Brindley did not want for good workmen to 
 carry out his plans. He found plenty of labourers 
 in the neighbourhood accustomed to hard work, 
 who speedily became expert excavators ; and 
 though there was at first a lack of skilled car- 
 penters, blacksmiths, and bricklayers, they soon 
 became trained into such under the vigilant eye 
 of so able a master as Brindley was. We find 
 him, in his note-book, often referring to the men 
 by their names, or rather byenames ; for in Lan- 
 cashire proper names seem to have been little 
 used at that time. " Black David " was one of the 
 foremen most employed on difficult matters, and 
 "Bill o Toms" and " Busick Jack" seem also to 
 have been confidential workmen in their respective 
 departments. We are informed by a gentleman 
 of the neighbourhood* that most of the labourers 
 employed were of a superior class, and some of 
 them were " wise " or " cunning men," blood- 
 stoppers, herb-doctors, and planet-rulers, such as 
 are still to be found in the neighbourhood of Man- 
 chester. Their very superstitions, says our in- 
 formant, made them thinkers and calculators. The 
 foreman bricklayer, for instance, as his son used 
 afterwards to relate, always " ruled the planets to 
 find out the luck}- days on which to commence 
 any important work," and he added, "none of our 
 work ever gave way." The skilled men had their 
 trade-secrets, in which the unskilled were duly 
 initiated, — simple matters in themselves, but not 
 without their uses. The following may be taken 
 
 * R. Rawlinson, Esq., C.E., Engineer to the Bridgewater 
 Canal. 
 
CHAP IV] INTIMACY WITH LAWRENCE EARNSHAW 257 
 
 as specimens of the secrets of embanking in those 
 days : — 
 
 A wet embankment can be prevented from 
 slipping by dredging or dusting powdered lime 
 in layers over the wet clay or earth. 
 
 Sand or gravel can be made water-tight by 
 shaking it together with flat bars of iron run in 
 some depth, say two feet, and washing down 
 loam or soil as the bars are moved about, thus 
 obviating the necessity for clay puddle. 
 
 Dr3"-rot can be prevented in warehouses by 
 setting the bricks opposite the ends of the main 
 beams of the warehouse in dry sand. 
 
 Whilst constructing the canal, Brindley was 
 very intimate with one Lawrence Earnshaw, of 
 Mottram-in-Longdcndale, a kindred mechanical 
 genius, though in a smaller way. Lawrence was 
 a very poor man's son, and had served a seven 
 years' apprenticeship to the trade of a tailor, after 
 which he bound himself apprentice to a clothier 
 for seven years ; but these trades not suiting his 
 tastes, and being of a decidedly mechanical turn, 
 he finally bound himself apprentice to a clock- 
 maker, whom he also served for seven years. 
 This eccentric person invented many curious and 
 ingenious machines, which were regarded as of 
 great merit in his time. One of these was an 
 astronomical and geographical machine, beauti- 
 fully executed, showing the earth's diurnal and 
 annual motion, after the manner of an orrery. 
 The whole of the calculations were made by him- 
 self, and the machine is said to have been so 
 exactly contrived and executed that, provided 
 the vibration of the pendulum did not vary, the 
 machine would not alter a minute in a hundred 
 
JAMES BRINDI.EY 
 
 [CHAP IV 
 
 years ; but this might probably be an extravagant 
 estimate on the part of Earnshaw's friends. He 
 was also a musical instrument maker and music 
 teacher, a worker in metals and in wood, a painter 
 and glazier, an optician, a bellfounder, a chemist 
 and metallurgist, an engraver — in short, an almost 
 universal mechanical genius. But though he could 
 make all these things, it is mentioned as a remark- 
 able fact, that with all his ingenuity, and after many 
 efforts (for he made many), he never could make a 
 wicker-basket ! Indeed, trying to be a universal 
 genius was his ruin. He did, or attempted to do, 
 so much, that he never stood still and established 
 himself in any one thing ; and, notwithstanding 
 his great ability, he died "not worth a groat." 
 Amongst Earnshaw's various contrivances was a 
 piece of machiner}- to raise water from a coal- 
 mine at Hague, near Mottram, and (about 1753) 
 a machine to spin and reel cotton at one operation 
 — in fact, a spinning-jenny — which he showed to 
 some of his neighbours as a curiosit}', but, after 
 having convinced them of what might be done by 
 its means, he immediately destroyed it, saying 
 that " he would not be the means of taking bread 
 out of the mouths of the poor." * He was a total 
 abstainer from strong drink, long before the days 
 of Teetotal Societies. Towards the end of his life 
 he continued on intimate terms with Brindley ; and 
 when they met they did not readily separate. 
 
 * Mr, Bermct Woodcraft, of the Patent Office, writes us as 
 follows with reference to Earnshaw's alleged invention of a spin- 
 ning machine: — "The fact really is, that the machine in question 
 was invented by John Kay of Bury"; and when, in 1753, a mob 
 broke into Kay's house, and completely gutted it, the model of 
 the spinning machine was saved by Earnshaw, who subsequently 
 destroyed it." 
 
CHAP IV] A DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKS 
 
 While the undertaking was in full progress, 
 from four to six hundred men were employed ; 
 they were divided into gangs of about fifty, each 
 of which was directed by a captain and setter-out 
 of the works. One who visited the canal during 
 its construction in 1765, wrote thus of the busy 
 scene which the works presented : "I surveyed 
 the Duke's men for two hours, and think the 
 industry of bees or labour of ants is not to be 
 compared to them. Each man's work seems to 
 depend on and be connected with his neighbour's, 
 and the whole posse appeared as I conceive did 
 that of the Tyrians when they wanted houses to 
 put their heads in at Carthage." * At Stretford 
 the visitor found " four hundred men at work, 
 putting the finishing stroke to about two hundred 
 yards of the canal, which reached nearly to the 
 Mersey,' and which, on drawing up the floodgates, 
 was to receive a proper quantity of water and a 
 number of loaded barges. One of these appeared 
 like the hull of a collier, with its deck all covered, 
 after the manner of a cabin, and having an iron 
 chimney in the centre ; this, on inquiry, proved 
 to be the carpentry, but was shut up, being Sab- 
 bath-day, as was another barge, which contained 
 the smith's forge. Some vessels were loaded with 
 soil, which was put into troughs (see cut, p. 248), 
 fastened together, and rested on boards that lav 
 across two barges ; between each of these there 
 was room enough to discharge the loading by 
 loosening some iron pins at the bottom of the 
 troughs. Other barges lay loaded with the founda- 
 tion-stones of the canal bridge, which is to carry the 
 navigation across the Mersey. Near two thousand 
 * 'St. James's Chronicle,' July 1st, 1765. 
 
 S 2 
 
260 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP IV 
 
 oak piles arc already driven to strengthen the 
 foundations of this bridge. The carpenters on the 
 Lancashire side were preparing the centre frame, 
 and on the Cheshire side all hands were at work 
 in bringing down the soil and beating the ground 
 adjacent to the foundations of the bridge, which is 
 designed to be covered with stone in a month, and 
 finished in about ten days more." * 
 
 By these vigorous measures the works pro- 
 ceeded rapidly towards completion. Before, how- 
 ever, they had made any progress at the Liverpool 
 end, Earl Gower, encouraged and assisted by the 
 Duke, had applied for and obtained an Act to 
 enable a line of navigation to be formed between 
 the Mersey and the Trent ; the Duke agreeing with 
 the promoters of the undertaking to vary the course 
 of his canal and meet theirs about midway between 
 Prestonbrook and Runcorn, from which point it 
 was to be carried northward towards the Mersey, 
 descending into that river by a flight of ten locks, 
 the total fall being not less than 79 feet from the 
 level of the canal to low-water of spring-tides. 
 
 When this deviation was proposed, the bold 
 imagination of Brindley projected a bridge across 
 the tideway of the Mersey itself, which was there 
 some four hundred and sixty yards wide, with the 
 object of carrying the Duke's navigation directly 
 onward to the port of Liverpool on the Lancashire 
 side of the river.f This was an admirable idea, 
 
 * 'A History of Inland Navigations. Particularly those of 
 the Duke of Bridgewater in Lancashire and Cheshire.' 2nd Ed., 
 P- 39- 
 
 t This bold scheme, so earnestly advocated by Brindley, was 
 thus noticed by a Liverpool paper of the time : — " On Monday last, 
 Mr. Brindley waited upon several of the principal gentlemen of 
 
CHAP IV] THE DUKE'S DOCK, LIVERPOOL 
 
 26l 
 
 which, if carried out, would probably have redounded 
 more to the fame of Brindley than any other of 
 his works. But the cost of that portion of the 
 canal which had already been executed, had reached 
 so excessive an amount, that the Duke was com- 
 pelled to stop short at Runcorn, at which place a 
 dock was constructed for the accommodation of 
 the shipping employed in the trade connected with 
 the undertaking-. 
 
 From Runcorn, it was arranged that the boats 
 should navigate by the open tideway of the Mersey 
 
 The Duke's Dock, Liverpool. 
 
 to the harbour of Liverpool, at which place the 
 Duke made arrangements to provide another dock 
 for their accommodation. Brindley made frequent 
 
 this town and others at Runcorn, in order to ascertain the expense 
 that may attend the building- of a bridge over the river Mersey 
 at the latter place, which is estimated at a sum inferior to the 
 advantages that must arise both to the counties of Lancaster 
 and Chester from a communication of this sort." — Williamson's 
 ' Liverpool Advertiser,' July 19th, 1768. 
 
262 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [chap IV 
 
 visits to Liverpool for the purpose of directing its 
 excavation, and he superintended it until its com- 
 pletion. The Duke's Dock lies between the Salt- 
 house and Albert Docks on the north, and the 
 Wapping and King's Docks on the south. The 
 Salthouse was the only public dock near it at 
 the time that Brindley excavated this basin. There 
 were only three others in Liverpool to the north., 
 and not one to the south ; but the Duke's Dock is 
 now the centre of about five miles of docks, extend- 
 ing from it on either side along the Lancashire 
 shore of the Mersey; and it continues to this day 
 to be devoted to the purposes of the navigation 
 
( 263 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE DUKE'S DIFFICULTIES — COMPLETION OF THE 
 CANAL — GROWTH OF MANCHESTER. 
 
 Long before the Runcorn locks were constructed, 
 and the canal from Longford Bridge to the Mersey 
 was available for purposes of traffic, the Duke found 
 himself reduced to the greatest straits for want 
 of money. Numerous unexpected difficulties had 
 occurred, so that the cost of the works considerably 
 exceeded his calculations ; and though the engineer 
 carried on the whole operations with the strictest 
 regard to economy, the expense was nevertheless 
 almost more than any single purse could bear. 
 The execution of the original canal from Worsley 
 to Manchester cost about a thousand guineas a 
 mile, besides the outlay upon the terminus at 
 Manchester. There was also the expenditure in- 
 curred in building the requisite boats for the canal, 
 in opening out the underground workings of the 
 collieries at Worsley, and in erecting various mills, 
 workshops, and warehouses for carrying on the 
 new business. 
 
 The Duke was enabled to do all this without 
 severely taxing his resources, and he even enter- 
 tained the hope of being able to grapple with the 
 still greater undertaking of cutting the twenty-four 
 miles of new canal from Longford Bridge to the 
 
264 THE DL'KE OF BRIDGEWATER [CHAP V 
 
 Mersey. But before these works were half finished, 
 and whilst the large amount of capital invested in 
 them was lying entirely unproductive, he found that 
 the difficulties of the undertaking were likely to 
 prove too much for him. Indeed, it seemed an 
 enterprise beyond the means of any private person, 
 and more like that of a monarch with State revenues 
 at his command, than of a young English nobleman 
 with only his private resources. 
 
 But the Duke was possessed by a brave spirit. 
 He had put his hand to the work, and he would not 
 look back. He had become thoroughly inspired by 
 his great idea, and determined to bend his whole 
 energies to the task of carrying it out. He was 
 only thirty years of age — the owner of several 
 fine mansions in different parts of the country, 
 surrounded by noble domains — he had a fortune 
 sufficiently ample to enable him to command the 
 pleasures and luxuries of life, so far as money can 
 secure them ; yet he voluntarily denied himself 
 their enjoyment, and chose to devote his time to 
 consultations with an unlettered engineer, and 
 his whole resources to the cutting of a canal to 
 unite Liverpool and Manchester. 
 
 Taking up his residence at the Old Hall at 
 Worsley — a fine specimen of the old timbered 
 houses so common in South Lancashire and the 
 neighbouring counties, — he cut down ever}' un- 
 necessary personal expense ; denied himself every 
 superfluity, except perhaps that of a pipe of 
 tobacco; paid off his retinue of servants; put 
 down his carriages and town house ; and confined 
 himself and his Ducal establishment to a total ex- 
 penditure of 400/. a-year. A horse was, however, 
 a necessity, for the purpose of enabling him to 
 
CHAP V] THE DUKE'S DIFFICULTIES 
 
 265 
 
 visit the canal works during their progress at 
 distant points ; and he accordingly continued to 
 maintain one horse for himself and another for 
 his groom. 
 
 Notwithstanding this rigid economy, the Duke 
 still found his resources inadequate to meet the 
 heavy cost of vigorously carrying on the under- 
 taking, and on Saturday nights he was often put 
 to the greatest shifts to raise the requisite money 
 to pay his large staff of craftsmen and labourers. 
 
 Worsley Old Hall. 
 
 Sometimes their payment had to be postponed for 
 a week or more, until the cash could be raised by 
 sending round for contributions among the Duke's 
 tenantry. Indeed, his credit fell to the lowest ebb, 
 and at one time he could not get a bill for 500/. 
 cashed in either Liverpool or Manchester.* 
 
 * There is now to be seen at Worsley, in the hands of a private 
 person, a promissory note given by the Duke, bearing interest, 
 for as low a sum as five pounds. Amongst the persons known to 
 be lenders of money, to whom the Duke applied at the time, was 
 
266 
 
 THE DUKE OF BRIDGE WATER [CHAP V 
 
 He was under the necessity of postponing all 
 payments that could be avoided, and it went abroad 
 that the Duke was " drowned in debt." He tried 
 to shirk even the payment of his tithes, and turned 
 a deaf ear to all the applications of the collector. 
 At length the rector himself determined to waylay 
 him. But the Duke no sooner caught sight of him 
 coming across his path than he bolted ! The rector 
 was not thus to be baulked. He followed — pursued 
 — and fairly ran his debtor to earth in a saw-pit ! 
 The Duke was not a little amused at being hunted 
 in such a style by his parson, and so soon as he 
 found his breath, he promised payment, which 
 shortly followed. 
 
 When Mr. George Rennie, the engineer, was 
 engaged, in 1825, in making the revised survey of 
 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, he lunched 
 one day at Worsley Hall with Mr. Bradshaw, 
 manager of the Duke's property, then a very old 
 man. He had been a contemporary of the Duke, 
 and knew of the monetary straits to which his 
 Grace had been reduced during the construction 
 of the works. Whilst at table, Mr. Bradshaw 
 pointed to a small whitewashed cottage on the 
 Moss, about a mile and a half distant, and said 
 that in that cottage, formerly a public-house, the 
 Duke, Brindley, and Gilbert had spent many an 
 evening discussing the prospects of the canal while 
 in progress. One of the principal topics of conversa- 
 tion on those occasions was the means of raising 
 funds against the next pay night. "One evening 
 in particular," said Mr. Bradshaw, " the part}- was 
 
 Mr. C. Smith, a merchant at Rochdale ;. but he would not lend a 
 farthing, believing the Duke to be engaged in a perfectly ruinous 
 undertaking. 
 
CHAP V] BORROWS FROM HIS TENANTS 267 
 
 unusually dull and silent. The Duke's ready-money 
 was exhausted ; the canal was not nearly finished ; 
 his Grace's credit was at the lowest ebb ; and he 
 was at a loss what step to take next. There they 
 sat, in the small parlour of the little public-house, 
 smoking their pipes, with a pitcher of ale before 
 them, melancholy and silent. At last the Duke 
 broke the silence by asking in a querulous tone, 
 ' Well, Brindley, what's to be clone now? How are 
 we to get at the money for finishing this canal?' 
 Brindley, after a few long puffs, answered through 
 the smoke, ' Well, Duke, I can't tell ; I only know 
 that if the money can be got, I can finish the canal, 
 and that it will pay well.' ' Ay,' rejoined the Duke, 
 'but where are we to get the money?' Brindley 
 could only repeat what he had already said ; and 
 thus the little party remained in moody silence for 
 some time longer, when Brindley suddenly' started 
 up and said, ' Don't mind, Duke ; don't be cast 
 down ; we are sure to succeed after all ! ' The 
 party shortly after separated, the Duke going over 
 to Worsley to bed, to revolve in his mind the best 
 mode of raising money to complete his all-absorbing 
 project." 
 
 One of the expedients adopted was to send 
 Gilbert, the agent, upon a round of visits among 
 the Duke's tenants, raising five pounds here and 
 ten pounds there, until he had gathered together 
 enough to pay the week's wages. Whilst travelling 
 about among the farmers on one of such occasions, 
 Gilbert was joined by a stranger horseman, who 
 entered into conversation with him ; and it very 
 shortly turned upon the merits of their respective 
 horses. The stranger offered to swap with Gilbert, 
 who, thinking the other's horse better than his own, 
 
268 THE DUKE OF BRIDGE WATER [CHAP V 
 
 agreed to the exchange. On afterwards alighting 
 at a lonely village inn, which he had not before 
 frequented, Gilbert was surprised to be greeted by 
 the landlord with mysterious marks of recognition, 
 and still more so when he was asked if he had got 
 a good boot}'. It turned out that he had exchanged 
 horses with a highwayman, who had adopted this 
 expedient for securing a nag less notorious than 
 the one which he had exchanged with the Duke's 
 agent.* 
 
 At length, when the tenantiy could furnish no 
 further advances, and loans were not to be had 
 on any terms in Manchester or Liverpool, and the 
 works must needs come to a complete stand unless 
 money could be raised to pay the workmen, the 
 Duke took the road to London on horseback, at- 
 tended only by his groom, to try what could be 
 done with his London bankers. The house of 
 Messrs. Child and Co., Temple Bar, was then the 
 principal banking-house in the metropolis, as it is 
 the oldest ; and most of the aristocratic families 
 kept their accounts there. The Duke had deter- 
 mined at the outset of his undertaking not to mort- 
 gage his landed property, and he had held to this 
 resolution. But the time arrived when he could 
 not avoid borrowing money of his bankers on such 
 other security as he could offer them. He had 
 already created a valuable and lucrative property, 
 which was happily available for the purpose. The 
 canal from Worsley to Manchester had proved re- 
 munerative in an extraordinary degree, and was 
 already producing a large income. He had not the 
 same scruples as to the pledging of the revenues 
 
 * The Earl of Ellesmerc's ' Essays on History, Biography,' &c, 
 p. 236. 
 
CHAP v] NEW CANAL OPENED FOR TRAFFIC 269 
 
 of his canal that he had to the mortgaging of his 
 lands ; and an arrangement was concluded with 
 the Messrs. Child under which they agreed to 
 advance the Duke sums of money -from time to 
 time, by means of which he was eventually enabled 
 to finish the entire canal. 
 
 The Messrs. Child and Co. have kind I3' per- 
 mitted an examination of their books to be made 
 for the purposes of this memoir; and we are ac- 
 cordingly enabled to state that from them it 
 appears that the Duke obtained his first advance 
 of 3,800/. from the firm about the middle of the 
 year 1765, at which time he was in the greatest 
 difficulty; shortly after a further sum of 15,000/.; 
 then 2,000/., and various other sums, making a 
 total of 25,000/.; which remained owing until the 
 year 1769, when the whole was paid off — doubt- 
 less from the profits of the canal traffic as well as 
 the economised rental of the Duke's unburthened 
 estates. 
 
 The entire level length of the new canal from 
 Longford Bridge to the upper part of Runcorn, 
 nearly twenty-eight miles in extent, was finished 
 and opened for traffic in the year 1767, after the 
 lapse of about five years from the passing of the 
 Act. The formidable flight of locks, from the level 
 part of the canal down to the waters of the Mersey 
 at Runcorn, were not finished for several years 
 later, by which time the receipts derived by the 
 Duke from the sale of his coals and the local traffic 
 of the undertaking enabled him to complete them 
 with comparatively little difficulty. Considerable 
 delay was occasioned by the resistance of an obsti- 
 nate landowner near Runcorn, Sir Richard Brooke, 
 who interposed every obstacle which it was in his 
 
2/0 THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER [CHAP V 
 
 power to offer; but his opposition too was at length 
 overcome, and the new and complete line of water- 
 communication between Manchester and Liverpool 
 
 was finally 
 opened 
 
 . ■ through- 
 
 . • 1 1 ■. , .! out. 
 
 •>!S?S%S-is*P I -v.*. u- ■ Inalet- 
 
 '~ .. terwntten 
 
 ^^ZkS&gg mj r-'- from Run- 
 
 ' ">si^^ • corn, dated 
 i^iifeii the i st 
 
 St. . . January, 
 1773, we 
 find it stated that 
 "yesterday the locks 
 were opened, and 
 the ' Heart of Oak, ' 
 ■j '-, a vessel of 50 tons 
 . I burden, for Liver- 
 
 HBfvfr j - pool, passed 
 
 The Locks at Runcorn. 
 
CHAP v] UNDERGROUND CANALS AT WORSLEY 2" I 
 
 through them. This da}', upwards of six hundred 
 of his Grace's workmen were entertained upon the 
 lock banks with an ox roasted whole and plenty 
 of good liquor. The Duke's health and man}' other 
 toasts were drunk with the loudest acclamations 
 by the multitude, who crowded from all parts of 
 the country to be spectators of these astonishing 
 works. The gentlemen of the country for a long 
 time entertained a very unfavourable opinion of 
 this undertaking, esteeming it too difficult to be 
 accomplished, and fearing their lands would be cut 
 and defaced without producing any real benefit 
 to themselves or the public; but they now see with 
 pleasure that their fears and apprehensions were 
 ill-grounded, and they join with one voice in ap- 
 plauding the work, which cannot fail to produce 
 the most beneficial consequences to the landed 
 property, as well as to the trade and commerce of 
 this part of the kingdom." 
 
 Whilst the canal works had been in progress, 
 great changes had taken place at Worsley. The 
 Duke had year by year been extending the work- 
 ings of the coal ; and when the King of Denmark, 
 travelling under the title of Prince Travindahl, 
 visited the Duke in 1768, the tunnels had already 
 been extended for nearly two miles under the hill. 
 When the Duke began the works, he possessed 
 only such of the coal-mines as belonged to the 
 Worsley estate ; but he purchased by degrees the 
 adjoining lands containing seams of coal which run 
 under the high ground between Worsley, Bolton, 
 and Bury ; and in course of time the underground 
 canals connecting the different workings extended 
 for a distance of nearly forty miles. Both the 
 hereditary and the purchased mines are worked 
 
272 
 
 ADVANTAGES OF THE CANAL 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 upon two main levels, though in all there are four 
 different levels, the highest being a hundred and 
 twenty yards above the lowest. In opening up 
 the underground workings the Duke is said to have 
 expended about 168,000/. ; but the immense revenue 
 derived from the sale of the coals by canal rendered 
 this an exceedingly productive outlay. Besides the 
 extension of the canal along these tunnels, the Duke 
 subsequently carried a branch by the edge of Chat- 
 Moss to Leigh, by which means new supplies of 
 coal were introduced to Manchester from that 
 district, and the traffic was still further increased. 
 It was a saying of the Duke's, that "a navigation 
 should always have coals at the heels of it." 
 
 The total cost of completing the canal from 
 Worsley to Manchester, and from Longford Bridge 
 to the Mersey at Runcorn, amounted to 220,000/. 
 A truly magnificent undertaking, nobly planned and 
 nobly executed. The power imparted by riches 
 was probably never more munificently exercised 
 than in this case ; for, though the traffic proved 
 a source of immense wealth to the Duke, it also 
 conferred incalculable blessings upon the popula- 
 tion of the district. It added much to their com- 
 forts, increased their employment, and facilitated 
 the operations of industry in all ways. As soon 
 as the canal was opened its advantages began to 
 be felt. The charge for water-carriage between 
 Liverpool and Manchester was lowered one-half. 
 All sorts of produce were brought to the latter 
 town, at moderate rates, from the farms and gardens 
 adjacent to the navigation, whilst the value of agri- 
 cultural property was immediately raised by the 
 facilities afforded for the conveyance of lime and 
 manure, as well as by reason of the more ready 
 
CHAP v] BRINDI.EY'S LOW RATE OF PAY 
 
 access to good markets which it provided for the 
 farming classes. The Earl of Ellesmere has not 
 less truly than elegantly observed, that "the history 
 of Francis Duke of Bridgewater is engraved in 
 intaglio on the face of the country he helped to 
 civilise and enrich." 
 
 Probably the most remarkable circumstance 
 connected with the money history of the enter- 
 prise is this : that although the canal yielded an 
 income which eventually reached about 80,000/. a 
 year, it was planned and executed by Brindley at 
 a rate of pay considerably less than that of an 
 ordinary mechanic of the present day. The highest 
 wage he received whilst in the employment of the 
 Duke was 3s. 6d. a day. For the greater part of 
 the time he received only half-a-crown. Brindley, 
 no doubt, accommodated himself to the Duke's 
 pinched means, and the satisfactory completion of 
 the canal was with him as much a matter of disin- 
 terested ambition and of professional character as 
 of pay. He seems to have kept his own expenses 
 down to the very lowest point. Whilst super- 
 intending the works at Longford Bridge, we find 
 him making an entry of his day's personal charges 
 at only 6d. for " ating and drink." On other days 
 his outgoings were confined to " 2d. for the turn- 
 pike." When living at ' The Bull,' near the works 
 at Throstle Nest, we find his dinner costing 8</. 
 and his breakfast 6d. His expenditure throughout 
 was on an equally low scale, for he studied in all 
 ways to economise the Duke's means, that every 
 available shilling might be devoted to the prosecu- 
 tion of the works. 
 
 The Earl of Bridgewater, in his singular pub- 
 lication, the 'Letter to the Parisians,' above referred 
 
 1. T 
 
2/4 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 to, states that " Brindley offered to stay entirely 
 with the Duke, and do business for no one else, 
 if he would give him a guinea a week;" and this 
 statement is repeated by the late Earl of Ellesmere 
 in his ' Essays on History, Biography,' &c. But, 
 on the face of it, the statement looks untrue; and 
 we have since found, from Brindley's own note- 
 book, that on the 25th of May, 1762, he was re- 
 ceiving a guinea a day from the Earl of Warrington 
 for performing services for that nobleman; nor is 
 it at all likely that he would prefer the Duke's 
 three-and-sixpence a day to the more adequate rate 
 of payment which he was accustomed to charge and 
 to receive from other employers. It is quite true, 
 however — and the fact is confirmed by Brindley's 
 own record — that he received no more than a 
 guinea a week whilst in the Duke's service; which 
 only affords an illustration of the fact that eminent 
 constructive genius may be displayed and engi- 
 neering greatness achieved in the absence of any 
 adequate material reward. 
 
 In a statement of the claims of Brindley's repre- 
 sentatives, forwarded to the Earl of Bridgewater 
 on the 3rd of November, 1803, it was stated that 
 "during the period of his employ under His Grace, 
 many highly advantageous and lucrative offers were 
 made to him, particularly one from the Prince of 
 Hesse, in 1766, who at that time was meditating 
 a canal through his dominions in Germany, and 
 who offered to subscribe to any terms Mr. Brindley 
 might stipulate. To this engagement his family 
 strongly urged him, but the solicitation of the 
 Duke, in this as in every other instance, to remain 
 with him, outweighed all pecuniary considera- 
 tions ; relying upon such a remuneration from His 
 
chap v] 
 
 CLAIMS OX THE WIDOW 
 
 2/5 
 
 Grace as the profits of his work might afterwards 
 justify."* 
 
 The inadequate character of his remuneration 
 was doubtless well enough known to Brindley 
 himself, and rendered him very independent in his 
 bearing towards the Duke. They had frequent 
 
 * We regret to have to add that Brindley's widow (afterwards 
 the wife of -Mr. Williamson, of Longport) in vain petitioned the 
 Duke and his representatives, as well as the above Earl of Bridge- 
 water, for payment of a balance said to have been due to Brindley 
 for services, at the time of the engineers death. In her letter to 
 Robert Bradshaw, M.P., dated the 2nd May, 1S03, Mrs. William- 
 son says : " It will doubtless appear to you extraordinary that so 
 very late an application should now be made . . . but I must beg 
 leave to state that repeated applications were made by mc (after 
 Mr. Brindley's sudden and unexpected death) to the late Mr. 
 Thomas Gilbert and also to his brother, but without any other 
 effect than that of constant promises to lay the matter before His 
 Grace ; and I conceive it owing to this channel of application that 
 no settling ever took place. A letter was also written to His 
 Grace on this subject so late as the year 1801, but no answer was 
 received. From the year 1765 to 1772, Mr. Brindley received no 
 money on account of his salary. At that time he was frequently 
 in very great want, and made application to the Duke, whose 
 answer (to use the Duke's expression) was, ' I am much more 
 distressed for money than you ; however, as soon as I can recover 
 myself, your services shall not go unrewarded.' In consequence of 
 this, Mr. Brindley was under the necessity of borrowing several 
 sums to make good engagements he was then under to various 
 canal companies. In the year 1774, two years after Mr. Brindley's 
 death, the late Mr. John Gilbert paid my brother, Mr. Henshall, 
 the trifling sum of 100/. on account of Mr. Brindley's time, which 
 is all that has been received. I beg leave to suggest how small 
 and inadequate a return this is for his services during a period 
 of seven years. Mr. B.'S travelling expenses on His Grace's 
 account during that time were considerable, towards which, when 
 he had not sufficient money to carry him the whole journey, 
 he now and then received a small sum. How far his plans and 
 undertakings have been beneficial to His Grace's interest is well 
 known." 
 
276 
 
 THE DUKE OF BRIDGE WATER [CHAP V 
 
 differences as to the proper mode of canying on 
 the works; but Brindley was quite as obstinate as 
 the Duke on such occasions, and when he felt con- 
 vinced that his own plan was the right one he 
 would not yield an inch. It is said that, after long 
 evening discussions at the hearth of the old 
 timbered hall at Worsley, or at the Duke's house 
 at Liverpool, while the works there were in pro- 
 gress, the two would often part at night almost at 
 daggers-drawn. But next morning, on meeting 
 at breakfast, the Duke would very frankly say to 
 his engineer, " Well, Brindley, I have been think- 
 ing over what we were talking about last night. 
 I find you may be right after all ; so just finish the 
 work in 3-our own way." 
 
 The Duke himself, to the end of his life, took the 
 greatest personal interest in the working of his 
 coal-mines, his canals, his mills, and his various 
 branches of industry. These were his hobbies, 
 and he took pleasure in nothing else. He was 
 utterly lost to the fashionable world, and, as some 
 thought, to a sense of its proprieties. Shortly after 
 his canal had been opened for the conveyance of 
 coals, the Duke established a service of passage- 
 boats between Manchester and Worsley, and 
 between Manchester and a station within two 
 miles of Warrington, by which passengers were 
 conveyed at the rate of a penny a mile.* The boats 
 were fitted up like the Dutch treckschuyts, and, 
 
 * When the Duke had put on the boats and established the 
 service, he offered to let them for 60/. a year ; but not being 
 able to find any person to take them at that price, he was under 
 the necessity of conducting the service himself, by means of an 
 agent. In the course of a short time the boats were found to yield 
 a clear profit of i6co/. a year. 
 
CHAP V] ANECDOTES OF THE DUKE 277 
 
 bcing found cheap as well as convenient, were 
 largely patronized by the public. This service was 
 afterwards extended to Runcorn, and from thence 
 to Liverpool. 
 
 The Duke took particular pleasure in travelling 
 by his own boats, preferring them to any more 
 stately and aristocratic method. He often went by 
 them to Manchester to watch how the coal-trade 
 was going on. When the passengers alighted at 
 the coal-wharf, there were usually many poor 
 people about, wheeling away their barrow-loads 
 of coals. One of the Duke's regulations was, that 
 whenever any deficiency in the supply was appre- 
 hended, those people who came with their wheel- 
 barrows, baskets, and aprons for small quantities, 
 should be served first, and waggons, carts, and 
 horses sent away until the supply was more 
 abundant. The numbers of small customers who 
 thus resorted to the Duke's coal-yard rendered it 
 a somewhat busy scene, and the Duke liked to 
 look on and watch the proceedings. 
 
 One day a customer of the poorer sort, having 
 got his sack filled, looked about for some one to 
 help it on to his back. He observed a stoutish 
 man standing near, dressed in a spencer, with 
 dark drab smallclothes. "Heigh! mester!'' said 
 the man, "come, gic me a lift wi' this sack o' coal 
 on to my shouder.'' Without any hesitation, the 
 person in the spencer gave the man the required 
 " lift," and off he trudged with the load. Some one 
 near, who had witnessed the transaction, ran up to 
 the man and asked, " Dun yo know who's that yo've 
 been speaking tull ? " " Naw ! who is he ? " " Why, 
 it's th' Duke his-sen ! " " The Duke ! " exclaimed the 
 man, dropping the bag of coals from his shoulder, 
 
27 8 
 
 THE DUKE OE BRIDGEWATER 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 " Hey ! what'll he do at me ? Maun a goo an ax 
 his pardon?" But the Duke had disappeared.* 
 
 He was very fond of watching his men at work, 
 especially when any new enterprise was on foot. 
 When they were boring for coal at Worsley, the 
 Duke came every morning and looked on for a 
 long time together. The men did not like to 
 leave off work whilst he remained there, and they 
 became so dissatisfied at having to work so long 
 beyond the hour at which the bell rang, that 
 Brindley had difficulty in getting a sufficient 
 number of hands to continue the boring. On 
 inquiry, he found out the cause and communicated 
 it to the Duke, who from that time made a point 
 of immediately walking off when the bell rang, 
 returning when the men had resumed work, and 
 remaining with them usually until six o'clock. He 
 observed, however, that though the men dropped 
 work promptly as the bell rang, when he was not 
 by, they were not nearly so punctual in resuming 
 work, some straggling in many minutes after time. 
 He asked to know the reason, and the men's excuse 
 was, that though they could always hear the clock 
 when it struck twelve, they could not so readily 
 hear it when it struck only one. On this, the Duke 
 had the mechanism of the clock altered so as to 
 make it strike thirteen at one o'clock; which it 
 continues to do to this day. 
 
 * A similar story is told of him at Worsley. A boy had been 
 fetching some coal from the mouth of the tunnel, and having 
 rested his load could not get it cleverly on his back again. Seeing 
 but not knowing the Duke, he called out, " Here, felly, gie us a 
 hoist up." The Duke asked the boy a number of questions before 
 helping him up with the sack ; but when the youth felt it safe for 
 carrying, he expressed his acknowledgments by observing " Wa!. 
 thou's a big chap, but thou's a lazy un ! " 
 
CHAP V] ANECDOTES OF THE DUKE 279 
 
 On another occasion, going into the yard at 
 Worsle}', he saw two men employed in grinding 
 an axe, and three others looking on, probably 
 waiting their turn at the grindstone. The Duke 
 said nothing; but next morning he was in the yard 
 early, and said to the foreman that he had observed 
 it took five men to grind an axe. He then ordered 
 that a water-wheel should be put up to drive the 
 grindstone, and it was set about at once. The 
 Duke was often after seen grinding the ferrule of 
 his walking-stick against the self-acting machine. 
 
 His time was very fully occupied with his 
 various business concerns, to which he gave a 
 great deal of personal attention. Habit made him 
 a business man — punctual in his appointments, 
 precise in his arrangements, and economical both 
 ot money and time. When it was necessary for 
 him to see any persons about matters of business, 
 he preferred going to them instead of letting them 
 come to him ; " for," said he, "if they come to me, 
 they may stay as long as they please ; if I go to 
 them, I stay as long as / please." His enforced 
 habits of economy during the construction of the 
 canal had fully impressed upon his mind the value 
 of money. Vet, though " near," he was not penu- 
 rious, but was usually liberal, and sometimes muni- 
 ficent. When the Loyalty Loan was raised, he 
 contributed to it no less a sum than 100,000/. in 
 cash. He was thoroughly and strongly national, 
 and a generous patron of many public benevolent 
 institutions. 
 
 The employer of a vast number of workpeople, 
 he exercised his influence over them in such a 
 manner as to evoke their gratitude and blessings. 
 He did not "lord it" over them, but practically 
 
2 80 
 
 THE DUKE OF BRI DGEWATER [CHAP V 
 
 taught them, above all things, to help themselves. 
 He was the pattern employer of his neighbour- 
 hood. With a kind concern for the welfare of his 
 colliery workmen — then a half-savage class — he 
 built comfortable dwellings and established shops 
 and markets for them ; by which he ensured that 
 at least a certain portion of their weekly earnings 
 should go to their wives and families in housing, 
 food, and clothing, instead of being squandered in 
 idle dissipation and drunkenness. 
 
 In order to put a stop to idle Mondays, he im- 
 posed a fine of half-a-crown on any workman who 
 did not go down the pit at the usual hour on that 
 morning; and hence the origin of what is called 
 Half Crown Row at Worsley, as thus described 
 by one of the colliers: — " T'ould dook fined ony 
 mon as didn't go daown pit o' Moonday mornin auve 
 a craown, and abeaut thot toime he made a new 
 road to t'pit, so t'colliers caw'd it Auve Craown 
 Row." 
 
 Debts contracted by the men at public-houses 
 were not recognised by the pay-agents. The steadi- 
 est workmen were allowed to occupy the best and 
 pleasantest houses as a reward for their good con- 
 duct. The Duke also bound the men to contribute 
 so much of their weekly earnings to a general sick 
 club ; and he encouraged a religious tone of cha- 
 racter amongst his people by the establishment of 
 Sunday schools, which were directly superintended 
 by his agents, selected from the best available class. 
 The consequence was, that the Duke's colliers soon 
 held a higher character for sobriety, intelligence, 
 and good conduct, than the weavers and other 
 workpeople of the adjacent country. 
 
 He did not often visit London, where he had 
 
CHAP v] ANECDOTES OF THE DUKE 
 
 long ceased to maintain a house ; but when he went 
 there he made an arrangement with one of his 
 friends, who undertook for a stipulated sum to 
 provide a daily dinner for His Grace and a certain 
 number of guests whilst he remained in town. He 
 also made occasional visits to his fine estate of 
 Ashridge, in Buckinghamshire, taking the oppor- 
 tunity of spending a few days, going or coming, 
 with Earl Gower and his Countess, the Duke's only 
 sister, Lady Louisa Egerton, at Trentham Park. 
 During his visits at the latter place, the Duke 
 would get ensconced on a sofa in some distant 
 corner of the room in the evenings, and discourse 
 earnestly to those who would listen to him about 
 the extraordinary advantages of canals. There 
 was a good deal of fun made on these occasions 
 about " the Duke's hobby." But he was always 
 like a fish out of water until he got back to 
 Worsley, to John Gilbert, his coal-pits, his drainage, 
 his mills, and his canals. 
 
 No wonder he was fond of Worslev. It had 
 been the scene of his triumphs, and the foundation 
 of his greatness. Illustrious visitors from all parts 
 resorted thither to witness Brindley's "castle in 
 the air," and to explore the underground canals at 
 Worsley-hill. Frisi, the Italian, the King of Den- 
 mark, and others, regarded these subterranean 
 works with wonder and admiration when they 
 were only from i \ to 2 miles in length ; soon they 
 extended to nearly 40 miles. Among the visitors 
 entertained by the Duke was Fulton, the American 
 artist, with whose speculations he was much in- 
 terested. Fulton had given his attention to the 
 subject of canals, and was then speculating on the 
 employment of steam power for propelling canal 
 
282 
 
 THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER [CHAP V 
 
 boats. The Duke was so much impressed with 
 Fulton's ingenuity, that he urged him to give up 
 the profession of a painter and devote himself to 
 that of a civil engineer. Fulton acted on his 
 advice, and shortly after we find him residing at 
 Birmingham — the central workshop of England — 
 studying practical mechanics, and fitting himself 
 for superintending the construction of canals, on 
 which he was afterwards employed in the midland 
 counties.* 
 
 The Duke did not forget the idea which Fulton 
 had communicated to him as to the employment 
 of steam as a motive power for boats, instead of 
 horses; and when he afterwards heard that Syming- 
 ton's steam-boat, 'The Dundas,' had been tried suc- 
 cessfully on the Forth and Clyde Canal, he arranged 
 to have six canal boats constructed after Syming- 
 ton's model ; for he was a man to shrink from no 
 expense in carrying out an enterprise which, to 
 use his own words, had "utility at the heels of 
 it." The Earl of Ellesmere, in his ' Essay on Aque- 
 ducts and Canals,' states that the Duke made actual 
 experiment of a steam-tug, and quotes the following 
 from the communication of one of the Duke's ser- 
 vants, alive in 1844: "I well remember the steam- 
 tug experiment on the canal. It was between 1796 
 and 1799. Captain Shanks, R.N., from Deptford, 
 was at Worsley many weeks preparing it, by the 
 Duke's own orders and under his own eye. It 
 
 * The treatise which Fulton afterwards published, entitled ' A 
 Treatise on Canal Navigation, exhibiting the numerous advantages 
 to be derived from small Canals, Sec, with a description of the 
 machinery for facilitating conveyance by water through the most 
 mountainous countries, independent of Locks and Aqueducts,' 
 (London, 1796,) is well known amongst engineers. 
 
CHAP v] HIS STEAM-TUG EXPERIMENT 
 
 283 
 
 was set going and tried with coal-boats ; but it 
 went slowly, and the paddles made sad work with 
 the bottom of the canal, and also threw the water 
 on the bank. The Worsley people called it Bona- 
 parte."* But the Duke dying shortly after, the 
 trustees refused to proceed with the experiment, 
 and the project consequently fell through. Had 
 the Duke lived, canal steam-tugs would doubtless 
 have been fairly tried; and he might thus have 
 initiated the practical introduction of steam-navi- 
 gation in England, as he unquestionably laid the 
 foundations of the canal system. He lived long 
 enough, however, to witness the introduction of 
 tram-roads, and he saw considerable grounds for 
 apprehension in them. " We may do very well," 
 he once observed to Lord Kenyon, " if we can keep 
 
 clear of these tram-roads." 
 
 He was an admirable judge of character, and 
 was rarely deceived as to the men he placed con- 
 fidence in. John Gilbert was throughout his con- 
 fidential adviser — a practical out-doors man, full 
 of energy and perseverance. When any proposal 
 was made to the Duke, he would say, " Well, thou 
 must go to Gilbert and tell him all about it ; I'll 
 do nothing without I consult him." From living 
 so much amongst his people, he had contracted 
 their sryle of speaking, and "thee'd" and "thou'd" 
 those whom he addressed, after the custom of the 
 district. He was rough in his speech, and gruff and 
 emphatic in his manner, like those amidst whom he 
 lived; but with the rough word he meant and did 
 the kindly act. His early want of education de- 
 barred him in a measure from the refining influences 
 of letters; for he read Little, except perhaps an 
 * Lord Ellesmere's ' Essays,' p. 241. 
 
284 
 
 THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER [CHAP V 
 
 occasional newspaper, and he avoided writing when- 
 ever he could. He also denied himself the graces 
 of female society; and the seclusion which his early 
 disappointment in love had first driven him to, at 
 length grew into a habit. He lived wifeless and 
 died childless. He would not even allow a woman 
 servant to wait upon him. 
 
 In person he was large and corpulent; and the 
 slim youth on whom the bet had been laid that he 
 would be blown off his horse when riding the race 
 in Trentham Park so many years before, had grown 
 into a bulky and unwieldy man. His features 
 strikingly resembled those of George III. and other 
 members of the Roj'al Family. He dressed care- 
 lessly, and usually wore a suit of brown — some- 
 thing of the cut of Dr. Johnson's — with dark drab 
 breeches, fastened at the knee with silver buckles. 
 At dinner he rejected, with a kind of antipathy, all 
 poultry, veal, and such like, calling them "white 
 meats," and wondered that everybody, like himself, 
 did not prefer the brown. He was a great smoker, 
 and smoked far more than he talked. Smoking was 
 his principal evening's occupation when Brindley 
 and Gilbert were pondering with him over the 
 difficulty of raising funds to complete the naviga- 
 tion, and the Duke continued his solitary enjoy- 
 ment through life. One of the droll habits to which 
 he was addicted was that of rushing out of the 
 room every five minutes, with the pipe in his - 
 mouth, to look at the barometer. Out of doors 
 he snuffed, and he would pull huge pinches out of 
 his right waistcoat pocket and thrust the powder up 
 his nose, accompanying the operation with sundry 
 strong short snorts. 
 
 He would have neither conservatory, pinery, 
 
CHAP v] HIS DISLIKE OF FLOWERS 2S5 
 
 flower-garden, nor shrubbery at Worsley ; and 
 once, on his return from London, finding some 
 flowers which had been planted in his absence, he 
 
 Francis Duke of JI:idgewatcr (an. 70.) 
 
 whipped their heads off with his cane, and ordered 
 them to be rooted up. The only new things intro- 
 duced about the place were some Turkey oaks, 
 with which his character seemed to have more 
 
286 
 
 THE DUKE OF BRIDGEWATER 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 sympathy. But he took a sudden fancy for pic- 
 tures, and with his almost boundless means the 
 formation of a valuable collection of pictures was 
 easy.* 
 
 Lord Ellesmere says : " An accident laid the 
 foundation of the Bridgewater collection. Dining 
 one day with his nephew, Lord Gower, afterwards 
 Duke of Sutherland, the Duke saw and admired 
 a picture which the latter had picked up a bargain, 
 for some 10/., at a broker's in the morning. ' You 
 must take me,' he said, 'to that fellow to- 
 
 morrow.' Whether this impetuosity produced any 
 immediate result we are not informed, but plenty 
 of such 'fellows' were doubtless not wanting to 
 cater for the taste thus suddenly developed." 
 
 Fortunately the Duke's investments in paintings 
 appear to have been well directed ; and a discerning 
 eye seems to have guided a liberal hand in selecting 
 fine separate works, as well as the gems from Con- 
 tinental collections which were then dispersed and 
 found their way hither, thus enabling him to lay 
 the foundation of the famous Bridgewater Gallery, 
 one of the finest private collections in Europe. 
 At his death, in 1803, its value was estimated at 
 1 50,000/. 
 
 The Duke very seldom took part in politics, 
 but usually followed the lead of his relative Earl 
 Gower, afterwards Marquis of Stafford, who was 
 a Whig. In 1762, we find his name in a division 
 on a motion to withdraw the British troops from 
 
 * " His purchases from Italy and Holland were judicious and 
 important, and, finally, the distractions of France forcing the 
 treasures of the Orleans Gallery into this country, he became a 
 principal in the fortunate speculation of its purchase." — ' Essays 
 on History, Biography, 3 &c. 
 
CHAP V] A GREAT PUBLIC BENEFACTOR 287 
 
 German}', and on the loss of the motion he joined 
 in a protest on the subject. When the repeal of 
 the American Stamp Act was under discussion His 
 Grace was found in the ranks of the opposition to 
 the measure. He strongly supported Mr. Fox's 
 India Bill, and generally approved the policy of 
 that statesman. 
 
 The title of Duke of Bridgewater died with him. 
 The Earldom went to his cousin General Egerton, 
 seventh Earl of Bridgewater, and from him to his 
 brother the crazed Francis Henry, eighth Earl; and 
 on his death at Paris, in February, 1829, that title 
 too became extinct. The Duke bequeathed about 
 600,000/. in legacies to his relatives, General Egerton, 
 the Countess of Carlisle, Lady Anne Vernon, and 
 Lady Louisa Macdonald. He devised most of his 
 houses, his pictures, and his canals, to his nephew- 
 George Granville (son of Earl Gower), second Mar- 
 quis of Stafford and first Duke of Sutherland, with 
 reversion to his second son, Lord Francis Egerton, 
 first Earl of Ellesmere, who thus succeeded to the 
 principal part of the vast property created by the 
 Duke of Bridgewater. The Duke was buried in 
 the family vault at Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, 
 in the plainest manner, without any state, at his 
 own express request. On his monument was in- 
 scribed the simple and appropriate epitaph Impulit 
 illc rates itbi duxit aratra Colonus. 
 
 The Duke was a great public benefactor. The 
 boldness of his enterprise, and the salutary results 
 which flowed from its execution, entitle him to be 
 regarded as one of the most useful men of his age. 
 A Liverpool letter of 1765 says, "The services the 
 Duke has rendered to the town and neighbourhood 
 of Manchester have endeared him to the country, 
 
238 
 
 THE DUKE OF BRIDGE WATER 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 more especially to the poor, who, with grateful 
 benedictions, repay their noble benefactor."* If 
 he became rich through his enterprise, the public 
 grew rich with him and by him ; for his under- 
 taking was no less productive to his neighbours 
 than it was to himself. His memory was long 
 venerated by the people amongst whom he lived, 
 — a self-reliant, self-asserting race, proud of their 
 independence, full of persevering energy, and strong 
 in their attachments. The Duke was a man very 
 much after their own hearts, and a good deal after 
 their own manners. In respecting him, they were 
 perhaps but paying homage to those qualities 
 which they most cherished in themselves. Long 
 after the Duke had gone from amongst them, they 
 spoke to each other of his rough words and his 
 kindly acts, his business zeal and his indomitable 
 courage. He was the first great "Manchester man." 
 His example deeply penetrated the Lancashire 
 character, and his presence seems even yet to hover 
 about the district. "The Duke's canal" still carries 
 a large proportion of the merchandise of Manchester 
 and the neighbouring towns; "the Duke's horses" t 
 still draw "the Duke's boats;" "the Duke's coals" 
 
 * ' History of Inland Navigation,' p. 76. 
 
 t The Duke at first employed mules in hauling the canal-boats, 
 because of the greater endurance and freedom from disease of 
 those animals, and also because they could eat almost any descrip- 
 tion of provender. The Duke's breed of mules was for a long time 
 the finest that had been known in England. The popular im- 
 pression in Manchester is, that the Duke's Acts of Parliament 
 authorising the construction of his canals, forbade the use of 
 horses, in order that men might be employed ; and that the Duke 
 consequently dodged the provisions of the Acts by employing 
 mules. But this is not the case, there being no clause in any of 
 them prohibiting the use of horses. 
 
CHAP V] BENEFITS OF THE DUKE'S CANAL 
 
 289 
 
 still issue from " the Duke's levels;" and when any 
 question affecting the traffic of the district is under 
 consideration, the questions are still asked of "What 
 will the Duke say ? " " What will the Duke do ? " * 
 
 Manchester men of this day may possibly be 
 surprised to learn that they owe so much to a 
 Duke, or that the old blood has helped the new 
 so materially in the development of England's 
 modern industry. But it is nevertheless true that 
 the Duke of Bridgewater, more than any other 
 single man, contributed to lay the foundations of 
 the prosperity of Manchester, Liverpool, and the 
 surrounding districts. The cutting of the canal 
 from Worsley to Manchester conferred upon that 
 town the immediate benefit of a cheap and abun- 
 dant supply of coal ; and when Watt's steam-engine 
 became the great motive power in manufactures, 
 such supply became absolutely essential to its 
 existence as a manufacturing town. Being the first 
 to secure this great advantage, Manchester, thus got 
 the start forward which she has never since lost, t 
 
 But, besides being a waterway for coal, the 
 Duke's canal, when opened out to Liverpool, 
 immediately conferred upon Manchester the im- 
 mense advantage of direct connection with an 
 
 * There is even a tradition surviving at Worsley, that "the 
 Duke" rides through the village once in every year at midnight, 
 drawn by six coal-black horses ! 
 
 t The cotton trade was not of much importance at first, though 
 it rapidly increased when the steam-engine and spinning-jenny 
 had become generally adopted. It may be interesting to know 
 that sixty years since it was considered satisfactory if one cotton- 
 flat a day reached Manchester from Liverpool. In the Duke's 
 time the flats always " cast anchor " on their way, or at least laid 
 up for the night, at six o'clock precisely, starting again at six 
 o'clock on the following morning. 
 
 1 U 
 
290 
 
 GROWTH OF LIVERPOOL 
 
 [chap v 
 
 excellent seaport. New canals, supported by the 
 Duke and constructed by the Duke's engineer, 
 grew out of the original scheme between Man- 
 chester and Runcorn, which had the further effect 
 of placing the former town in direct water-com- 
 munication with the rich districts of the north- 
 west of England. Then the Duke's canal terminus 
 became so important, that most of the new naviga- 
 tions were laid out to join it ; those of Leigh, 
 Bolton, Stockport, Rochdale, and the West Riding 
 of Yorkshire, being all connected with the Duke's 
 system, whose centre was at Manchester. And thus 
 the whole industry of these districts was brought, 
 as it were, to the very doors of that town. 
 
 But Liverpool was not less directly benefited 
 by the Duke's enterprise. Before his canal was 
 constructed, the small quantity of Manchester 
 woollens and cottons manufactured for exporta- 
 tion was carried on horses' backs to Bewdley 
 and Bridgenorth on the Severn, from whence they 
 were floated down that river to Bristol, then the 
 chief seaport on the west coast. No sooner, how- 
 ever, was the new water-way opened out than the 
 Bridgenorth pack-horses were taken off, and the 
 whole export trade of the district was concen- 
 trated at Liverpool. The additional accommoda- 
 tion required for the increased business of the 
 port was promptly provided as occasion required. 
 New harbours and docks were built, and before 
 many years had passed Liverpool had shot far 
 ahead of Bristol, and became the chief port on the 
 west coast, if not in all England. Had Bristol 
 been blessed with a Duke of Bridgewater, the 
 result might have been altogether different ; and 
 the valleys of Wilts, the coal and iron fields of 
 
CHAP v] CROWTII OF MANCHESTER 291 
 
 Wales, and the estuary of the Severn, might have 
 been what South Lancashire and the Mersey are 
 now. Were statues any proof of merit, the Duke 
 would long since have had the highest statue in 
 Manchester as well as Liverpool erected to his 
 memory, and that of Brindley would have been 
 found standing by his side; for they were both 
 heroes of industry and of peace, though even in 
 commercial towns men of war are sometimes more 
 honoured. 
 
 We can only briefly glance at the extraordinary 
 growth of Manchester since the formation of the 
 Duke's canal, as indicated by the annexed plan. 
 
 Though Manchester was a place of some im- 
 portance about the middle of last century, it 
 was altogether insignificant in extent, trade, and 
 population, compared with what it is now. It 
 consisted of a few principal streets — narrow, dark, 
 and tortuous — one of them leading from the 
 Market Place to St. Ann's Square, being very 
 appropriately named " Dark Entry." Deansgate 
 was the principal original street of the town, 
 and so called because of its leading to the dean 
 or valley along which it partly extended. From 
 thence a few streets diverged in different direc- 
 tions into the open country. St. Ann's Square, 
 the fashionable centre of modern Manchester, was 
 in 1770 a corn-field surrounded with lofty trees, 
 and known by the name of " Acre's Field." The 
 cattle-fairs of the town were held there, the en- 
 trance from Deansgate being by Toll Lane, a 
 narrow, dirty, unpaved way, so called because toll 
 was there levied on the cattle proceeding towards 
 the fair. The ancient seat of the Radcliffe family 
 still stood at Pool I r old, close to the site of the 
 
 u 2 
 
292 
 
 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 modern Cross Street, and the water in the moat 
 was used as a ducking-pond for scolds. When 
 the pool became filled up, the ducking-pond was 
 removed to Daub Holes, then on the outskirts of 
 
 Plan of Manchester, showing its extent at three periods. 
 (The parts printed black A represent Manchester in 1770 ; those dark-shaded ^ show 
 its extent in 1S04 ; and the light-shaded parts r^j Manchester at the present day.) 
 
 the town, where the Infirmary now stands. The 
 site of King Street, now the very heart of Man- 
 chester, was as yet comparatively retired, a colony 
 of rooks having established themselves in the tall 
 
CHAP V] 
 
 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER 
 
 293 
 
 trees at its upper end, from which they were only 
 finally expelled about forty years ago. Cannon 
 Street was the principal place of business, the 
 merchants and their families living in the com- 
 paratively humble tenements fronting the street, 
 the equally humble warehouses in which their 
 business was done standing in the rear. The 
 ground on which the crowded thoroughfares of 
 Oldham Street, London Road, Mosley Street, and 
 their continuations, now exist, was as yet but 
 garden or pasture-land. Salford itself was only 
 a hamlet occupying the bend of the Irwell. It 
 consisted of a double line of mean houses, extend- 
 ing from the Old Bridge (now Victoria Bridge) 
 to about the end of Gravel Lane, then a country 
 road containing only a few detached cottages. 
 The comparatively rural character of Manchester 
 may be inferred from the circumstance that the 
 Medlock and the Irk, the Tib and Shooter's 
 Brook, were favourite fishing streams. Salmon 
 were caught in the Medlock and at the mouth 
 of the Irk ; and the others were well stocked with 
 trout. The Medlock and the Irk are now as black 
 as old ink, and as thick ; but the Tib and Shooter's 
 Brook are entirely lost, — having been absorbed, 
 like the London Fleet, in the sewage system of 
 the town. Tib Street and Tib Lane indicate the 
 former course of the Tib ; but of Shooter's Brook 
 not a trace is left. 
 
 The townships of Ardwick Green, Hulme, and 
 Chorlton-upon-Medlock (formerly called Chorlton 
 Row), were entirely rural. The old rate-books of 
 Chorlton Row exhibit some curious facts as to the 
 transformations effected in that township. In 1720, 
 a "lay "of 14a?. in the pound produced a sum of 
 
294 
 
 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER 
 
 [CHAP V 
 
 26/. iSs., the whole disbursements for the year 
 amounting to 28/. 8s. 5c/. From the highway rate 
 laid in 1722, it appears that the contributors were 
 only twenty persons in all, whose payments ranged 
 from %d. to \l. 135. 4d., producing a total levy of 
 61. 18s. xod. for the year. From the disbursements, 
 it appears that the regular wage paid to the work- 
 men employed was a shilling a-day. In 1750, a lay 
 of 3f/. in the pound produced only 61. 2s. \\d.; so 
 that the population and value of property in 
 Chorlton Row had not much increased during the 
 thirty years that had passed. In 1770, two levies 
 brought in 57/. 8s. 6d. ; and in 1794, four, made in 
 that year, produced 208/. 2s. 411'.* Among the list 
 of contributors in the latter year we find "Mrs. 
 Quincey 16s. 6d." — the mother of De Quincey, the 
 English opium-eater, who was brought up in 
 Chorlton Row. De Quincey describes the home 
 of his childhood as a solitary house, "beyond which 
 was nothing but a cluster of cottages, composing 
 the little hamlet of Greenhill." It was connected 
 by a winding lane with the Rusholme road. The 
 house, called Greenheys — the nucleus of an 
 immense suburban district — built by De Quincey's 
 father, " was then," he says, " a clear mile from the 
 outskirts of Manchester," Princess Street being 
 then the termination of the town on that side, f 
 Now it is enveloped by buildings in all directions, 
 and nothing of the former rural character of the 
 
 * Recent "poor-lays " exhibit a very different result from what 
 they did in former years. In 1 860-1 the poor-rate levied in 
 Chorlton-upon-Medlock yielded (at 2s. lod. in the pound) 18,798/.; 
 the property in the township being of the rateable value of 
 145,844/. 
 
 t De Quincey's ' Autobiographic Sketches,' pp. 34, 48. 
 
chap v] 
 
 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER 
 
 295 
 
 neighbourhood remains but the names of Grcenhill, 
 Rusholrne, and Greenheys. 
 
 Coming down to the second expansion of Man- 
 chester, as exhibited on our plan, it will be observed 
 that a considerable increase of buildings had taken 
 place in the interval between 1770 and 1804. The 
 greater part of the town was then contained in 
 the area bounded by Deansgate, the crooked lanes 
 leading to Princess Street, Bond Street, and David 
 Street, to the Rochdale Canal, and round by An- 
 coats Lane (now Great Ancoats Street) and Swan 
 Street, to Long Millgate, then a steep narrow lane 
 forming the great highway into North Lancashire. 
 Very few buildings existed outside the irregular 
 quadrangle indicated by the streets we have named. 
 The straggling houses of Deansgate, which were 
 principally of timber, ended at Knott Mill. A few- 
 dye-works stood at intervals along the Medlock, 
 now densely occupied by buildings for miles along 
 both banks. Salford had not yet extended to St. 
 Stephen's Street in one direction, nor above half- 
 way to Broughton Bridge in another.* The com- 
 paratively limited spaces thus indicated sufficed, 
 however, for places of business and habitations 
 for the population. Now the central districts are 
 almost exclusively occupied for business purposes, 
 and houses for dwellings have rapidly extended in 
 all directions. The populous districts of Brough- 
 ton, Higher and Low^er, did not exist thirty-five 
 
 * The corner of Invell Street, Salford, as recently as 182S, 
 was occupied by an old canal " flat," tenanted by an eccentric 
 character, after whom it was designated " Bannister's Ship." Op- 
 posite it was a row of cottages with gardens in front. Oldfield 
 and Ordsall Lanes were country roads, and the streets adjacent to 
 them were not yet in existence. 
 
296 
 
 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER 
 
 [chap v 
 
 years ago. They contained no buildings excepting 
 Strangeways Hall and a few cottages which lay 
 scattered beyond the bottom of the workhouse 
 brow ; the locality where the new Assize Courts 
 have been erected, which the citizens of Manchester 
 claim to be unequalled in the kingdom for magni- 
 ficence and accommodation. 
 
 But pastures, corn-fields, and gardens rapidly 
 gave place to streets and factory buildings.* The 
 suburban districts of Ardwick, Hulme, and Cheet- 
 ham, became wholly absorbed in the great city. 
 Stretford New Road, a broad street nearly a mile 
 and a half long, forms the main highway for a 
 district occupied during the life of the present 
 generation by a population greater than that of 
 many cities. Not fifty years since, a few farm- 
 houses and detached dwellings were all the build- 
 ings it contained, and Chester Road, the principal 
 one in the district, was a narrow winding lane, with 
 hedges on each side. Jackson's Lane, remembered 
 as a mere farm-road through corn-fields, has be- 
 come a spacious thoroughfare dignified with the 
 name of Great Jackson Street, that contains a relic 
 of rural Hulme in the remnant of "Jackson's Farm" 
 buildings, which gave the name, first to the " lane " 
 and then to the " street." It is a single-storey 
 building, covered with grey flags, and stands in an 
 oblique recess on the left-hand side, about half-way 
 between Chester Road and the recently formed 
 City Road. Higher up, at the junction of Chapman 
 
 * The growth of Manchester, and the sister borough of Salford, 
 will be more readily appreciated, perhaps, by a glance at the 
 population at different periods than by any other illustration : — 
 Population in 1774. i8or. 1821. 1861. 
 
 41,032 84,020 187,031 460,028 
 
CHAP v] 
 
 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER 
 
 297 
 
 and Preston Streets, the houses, also covered with 
 grey flags, still remain, which, within a compara- 
 tively recent period, stood amidst fields, and were 
 known as " Geary's Farm," — these buildings are 
 now surrounded by streets on every side. About 
 thirty years since, the part of Hulme nearest to 
 Manchester was occupied by "tea gardens," and 
 places of resort much used by the " town " popu- 
 lation. 'The principal of these was at the White 
 House ; and it is said of late roysterers at that 
 place, that unless they could form a party or secure 
 the services of "the patrol," they had frequently to 
 sojourn there all night. The officers constituting 
 the patrol* carried swords and horn lanterns ; and, 
 clad as they were in heavy greatcoats with many 
 capes, they were by no means light of foot, or at 
 all formidable adversaries to the footpads who 
 " worked " the district. 
 
 Among the most remarkable improvements in 
 Manchester of late years, have been the numerous 
 spacious thoroughfares which have been opened up 
 in all directions. In this respect, the public spirit of 
 Manchester has not been surpassed by any town in 
 the kingdom, — the new streets being laid out on a 
 settled plan with a view to future extension, and 
 executed with admirable judgment. Narrow, dark, 
 and crooked ways have been converted into wide 
 and straight streets, admitting light, air, and health 
 to the inhabitants, and affording spacious highways 
 for the great and growing traffic of the district. 
 
 * On the subject of watchmen, it may be mentioned that the 
 first watchman was appointed for Chorlton-on-Medlock in 1814. 
 In 1832 an Act was obtained for improving and regulating that 
 township, and so recently as 1833 it was first lighted with gas. 
 The Police Act for the Township of Hulme was obtained in 1834. 
 
298 GROWTH OF MANCHESTER [CHAP V 
 
 The important street-improvements executed in 
 Manchester during the last thirty years have cost 
 an aggregate of about 800,000/. The central and 
 oldest part of the town has thus undergone a com- 
 plete transformation. So numerous are the dark 
 and narrow entries that have been opened up — the 
 obstructive buildings that have been swept away, 
 the projecting angles that have been cut off, and 
 the crooked ways that have been made straight — 
 that the denizen of a former age would be very 
 unlikely to recognise the Manchester of to-day, 
 were it possible for him to revisit it. 
 
 Some of the street-improvements have their 
 peculiar social aspects, and call up curious remi- 
 niscences. The stocks, pillory, and Old Market 
 Cross, were removed from the Market Place in 
 1 S 16. The public whipping of culprits on the 
 pillory stage is within the recollection of the elder 
 portion of the present inhabitants. Another "social 
 institution," of a somewhat different character, was 
 extinguished much more recently, by the construc- 
 tion of the splendid piece of terrace-road in front of 
 the cathedral, known as the Hunt's Bank improve- 
 ment. This road swept away a number of buildings, 
 shown on the old plans of Manchester as standing 
 on the water's edge, close to the confluence of the 
 Irk with the Irwell. They were reached by a flight 
 of some thirty steps, and consisted of a dye-work, 
 employing three or four hands, two public-houses, 
 and about a dozen cottages and other buildings. 
 The public-houses, the ' Ring o' Bells ' and the 
 ' Blackamoor,' particularly the former, were famous 
 places in their day. On Mondays, wedding-parties 
 from the country, consisting sometimes of from 
 twenty to thirty couples, accompanied by fiddlers, 
 
CHAP V] 
 
 GROWTH OF MAN'CIIESTF.R 
 
 299 
 
 visited " t' Owd Church " to get married. The ' Ring 
 o' Bells' was the rendezvous until the parties were 
 duly married and ready to form and depart home- 
 wards, in a more or less orderly manner, headed by 
 their fiddlers as they had come. The ' Ring o' Bells' 
 was also a favourite resort of the recruiting-serjeant, 
 and more recruits, it is said, were enlisted there than 
 at any other public-house in the kingdom. But 
 these, and many curious characteristics of old Man- 
 chester, have long since passed away ; and not only 
 the town but its population have become entirely 
 new. 
 
 Bridgewater Halfpenny Token. 
 
( 300 ) 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BRINDLEY CONSTRUCTS THE GRAND TRUNK CANAL. 
 
 Long before the Duke's Canal was finished, Brindley 
 was actively employed in carrying out a still larger 
 enterprise, — a canal to connect the Mersey with the 
 Trent, and both with the Severn, — thus uniting by 
 a grand line of water-communication the ports of 
 Liverpool, Hull, and Bristol. He had, as we have 
 already seen, made a survey of such a canal, at the 
 instance of Earl Gower, before his engagement as 
 engineer for the Bridgewater undertaking. Thus, 
 in the beginning of February, 1758, before the Duke's 
 bill had been even applied for, we find him occupied 
 for days together " a bout the novogation," and he 
 then surveyed the country between Longbridge in 
 Staffordshire, and King's Mills in Derbyshire. 
 
 The enterprise, however, made very little pro- 
 gress. The success of canals in England was as yet 
 entirely problematical ; and this was of too formid- 
 able a character to be hastily undertaken. But again, 
 in 1759, we find Brindley proceeding with his survey 
 of the Staffordshire Canal ; and in the middle of the 
 following year he was occupied about twenty days 
 in levelling from Harecastle, at the summit of the 
 proposed canal, to Wilden, near Derby. During 
 that time he had many interviews with Earl Gower 
 
CHAP Vl] 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 301 
 
 at Trentham, and with the Earl of Stamford at 
 Enville, discussing the project. 
 
 The next step taken was the holding of a public 
 meeting at Sandon, in Staffordshire, as to the proper 
 course which the canal should take, if finally decided 
 upon. Considerable difference of opinion was ex- 
 pressed at the meeting, in consequence of which it 
 was arranged that Mr. Smeaton should be called 
 upon to co-operate with Brindley in making a joint 
 survey and a joint report. A second meeting was 
 held at Wolseley Bridge, at which the plans of the 
 two engineers were ordered to be engraved and 
 circulated amongst the landowners and others 
 interested in the project. Here the matter rested 
 for several years more, without any further action 
 being taken. Brindley was hard at work upon the 
 Duke's Canal, and the Staffordshire projectors were 
 disposed to wait the issue of that experiment ; but 
 no sooner had it been opened, and its extraordinary 
 success become matter of fact, than the project of 
 the canal through Staffordshire was again revived. 
 The gentlemen of Cheshire and Staffordshire, 
 especially the salt manufacturers of the former 
 county and the earthenware-manufacturers of the 
 latter, now determined to enter into co-operation 
 with the leading landowners in concerting the 
 necessary measures with the object of opening up 
 a line of water-communication with the Mersey and 
 the Trent. 
 
 The earthenware manufacture, though in its 
 infancy, had already made considerable progress ; 
 but, like every other branch of industry in England 
 at that time, its further development was greatly 
 hampered by the wretched state of the roads. 
 Throughout Staffordshire they were as yet, for the 
 
302 
 
 THE POTTERY DISTRICT 
 
 [chap VI 
 
 most part, narrow, deep, circuitous, miry, and 
 inconvenient ; barely passable with rude waggons 
 in summer, and almost impassable, even with pack- 
 horses, in winter. Yet the principal materials used 
 in the manufacture of pottery, especially of the best 
 kinds, were necessarily brought from a great dis- 
 tance — flint-stones from the south-eastern ports of 
 England, and clay from Devonshire and Cornwall. 
 The flints were brought by sea to Hull, and the 
 clay to Liverpool. From Hull the materials were 
 brought up the Trent in boats to Willington ; and 
 the clay was in like manner brought from Liverpool 
 up the Weaver to Winsford, in Cheshire. Con- 
 siderable quantities of clay were also conveyed in 
 boats from Bristol, up the Severn, to Bridgenorth 
 and Bewdley. From these various points the 
 materials were conveyed by land-carriage, mostly 
 on the backs of horses, to the towns in the Potteries, 
 where they were worked up into earthenware and 
 china. 
 
 The manufactured articles were returned for 
 export in the same rude way. Large crates of 
 pot-ware were slung across horses' backs, and thus 
 conveyed to their respective ports, not only at 
 great risk of breakage and pilferage, but also at a 
 heavy cost. The expense of carriage was not less 
 than a shilling a ton per mile, and the lowest charge 
 was eight shillings the ton for ten miles. Besides, 
 the navigation of the rivers above mentioned was 
 most uncertain, arising from floods in winter and 
 droughts in summer. The effect was, to prevent 
 the expansion of the earthenware manufacture, and 
 very greatly to restrict the distribution of the lower- 
 priced articles in common use. 
 
 The same difficulty and cost of transport checked 
 
CHAP Vl] DIFFICULTY AND COST OF TRANSPORT 303 
 
 the growth of nearly all other branches of industry, 
 and made living both dear and uncomfortable. The 
 indispensable article of salt, manufactured at the 
 Cheshire Wiches, was in like manner carried on 
 horses' backs all over the country, and reached 
 almost a fabulous price by the time it was sold two 
 or three counties off. About a hundred and fifty 
 pack-horses, in gangs, were occupied in going 
 weekly from Manchester, through Stafford, to 
 Bewdley and Bridgenorth, loaded with woollen 
 and cotton cloth for exportation ; * but the cost of 
 the carriage by this mode so enhanced the price, 
 that it is clear that in the case of many articles 
 it must have acted as a prohibition, and greatly 
 checked both production and consumption. Even 
 corn, coal, lime, and iron-stone were conveyed in 
 the same way, and the operations of agriculture, as 
 
 * In a curious book published in 1766, by Richard Whitworth, 
 of Balcham Grange, Staffordshire, afterwards Sir Richard Whit- 
 worth, member for Stafford, entitled 'The Advantages of Inland 
 Navigation,' he points to the various kinds of traffic that might 
 be expected to come upon the canal then proposed by him, and 
 amongst other items he enumerates the following: — "There are 
 three pot-waggons go from Newcastle and Burslem weekly, through 
 Eccleshall and Newport to Bridgenorth, and carry about eight 
 tons of pot-ware every week, at 3/. per ton. The same waggons 
 load back with ten tons of close goods, consisting of white clay, 
 grocery, and iron, at the same price, delivered on their road to 
 Newcastle. Large quantities of pot-ware are conveyed on horses 1 
 backs from Burslem and Newcastle to Bridgenorth and Bewdley 
 for exportation — about one hundred tons yearly, at 2l. 10s. per ton. 
 Two broad-wheel waggons (exclusive of 1 50 pack-horses) go from 
 Manchester through Stafford weekly, and may be computed to 
 carry 312 tons of cloth and Manchester wares in the year, at 
 3/. IOJ-. per ton. The great salt-trade that is carried on at North- 
 wich may be computed to send 6co tons yearly along this canal, 
 together with Nantwich 400, chiefly carried now on horses' backs, 
 at las. per ton on a medium." 
 
304 
 
 POPULATION OF THE POTTERIES [ciIAP VI 
 
 of manufacture, were alike injuriously impeded. 
 There were no shops then in the Potteries, the 
 people being supplied with wares and drapery by 
 packmen and hucksters, or from Newcastle-under- 
 Lyne, which was the only town in the neighbour- 
 hood worthy of the name. 
 
 The people of the district in question were 
 quite as rough as their roads. Their manners 
 were coarse, and their amusements brutal. Bull- 
 baiting, cock-throwing, and goose-riding were their 
 favourite sports. When Wesley first visited Burs- 
 lem, in 1760, the potters assembled to jeer and 
 laugh at him. They then proceeded to pelt him. 
 " One of them," he says, " threw a clod of earth 
 which struck me on the side of the head ; but it 
 neither disturbed me nor the congregation." At 
 that time the whole population of the Potteries 
 did not amount to more than about 7000 souls. 
 The villages in which they lived were poor and 
 mean, scattered up and down, and the houses were 
 mostly covered with thatch. Hence the Rev. Mr. 
 Middleton, incumbent of Stone — a man of great 
 shrewdness and quaintness, distinguished for his 
 love of harmless mirth and sarcastic humour — when 
 enforcing the duty of humility upon his leading 
 parishioners, took the opportunity, on one occasion, 
 after the period of which we speak, of reminding 
 them of the indigence and obscurity from which they 
 had risen to opulence and respectability. He said 
 they might be compared to so many sparrows, for 
 that all of them had been hatched under the thatch. 
 When the congregation of this gentleman, growing 
 rich, bought an organ and placed it in the church, he 
 persisted in calling it the hurdy-gurdy, and often took 
 occasion to lament the loss of his old psalm-singers. 
 
CHAP Vl] 
 
 THE CITY OF HUD " 
 
 305 
 
 The people towards the north were no better, 
 nor were those further south. When Wesley 
 preached at Congleton, four years later, he said, 
 " even the poor potters [though they had pelted 
 him] are a more civilised people than the better 
 sort (so called) at Congleton." Arthur Young visited 
 the neighbourhood of Neweastle-under-Lyne in 
 1770, and found poor-rates high, wages low, and 
 employment scarce. " Idleness," said he, " is the 
 chief employment of the women and children. 
 All drink tea, and fly to the parishes for relief 
 at the very time that even a woman for washing 
 is not to be had. By many accounts I received 
 of the poor in this neighbourhood, I apprehend 
 the rates are burthened for the spreading of lazi- 
 ness, drunkenness, tea-drinking, and debauchery, 
 — the general effect of them, indeed, all over the 
 kingdom." * 
 
 Button's account of the population inhabiting 
 the southern portion of the same county is even 
 more dismal. Between Hales Owen and Stour- 
 bridge was a district usually called the Lie 
 Waste, and sometimes the Mud City. Houses 
 stood about in ever}' direction, composed of clay 
 scooped out into a tenement, hardened by the 
 sun, and often destroyed by the frost. The males 
 were half-naked, the children dirty and hung over 
 with rags. " One might as well look for the moon 
 in a coal-pit," says Hutton, "as for stavs or white 
 linen in the City of Mud. The principal tool in 
 business is the hammer, and the beast of burden 
 the ass." f 
 
 The district, however, was not without its 
 
 * Young's 'Six Months' Tour.' Ed. 1770. Vol. Hi., p. 317. 
 t ' History of Birmingham.' Ed. 1836, p. 24. 
 
306 JOSIAH WEDGWOOD [CHAP VI 
 
 sprinkling of public-spirited men who were actively 
 engaged in devising new sources of employment 
 for the population ; and, as one of the most effec- 
 tive means of accomplishing this object, opening 
 up the communications, by road and canal, with 
 near as well as distant parts of the country. One 
 of the most zealous of such workers was the illus- 
 trious Josiah Wedgwood. He was one of those 
 indefatigable men who from time to time spring 
 from the ranks of the common people, and by their 
 energy, skill, and enterprise, not only practically 
 educate the working population in habits of in- 
 dustry, but, by the example of diligence and per- 
 severance which they set before them, largely 
 influence public action in all directions, and con- 
 tribute in a great measure to form the national 
 character. 
 
 Josiah Wedgwood was born in a humble position 
 in life; and though he rose to eminence as a man 
 of science as well as a manufacturer, he possessed 
 no greater advantages at starting than Brindley 
 himself did. His grandfather and granduncle were 
 both potters, as was also his father Thomas, who 
 died when Josiah was a mere boy, the youngest of 
 a family of thirteen children. He began his indus- 
 trial life as a thrower in a small pot-work, con- 
 ducted by his elder brother ; and he might have 
 continued working at the wheel but for an attack 
 of virulent small-pox, which, being neglected, 
 led to a disease in his right leg, which in a 
 great measure unfitted him for following even that 
 humble employment. When he returned to his 
 work, most probably before he was sufficiently 
 recovered from his illness, the pain in his limb was 
 such that he had to keep it almost constantly rested 
 
CHAP Vl] J0S1AII WEDGWOOD 307 
 
 upon a stool before him.* The disease continued 
 increasing as he advanced in years, and it was 
 greatly aggravated by an unfortunate bruise, which 
 kept him to his bed for months, and reduced him to 
 the last extremity of debility. At length the dis- 
 order reached the knee, and threatened to endanger 
 his life, when amputation was found necessary. 
 During the enforced leisure of his many illnesses 
 arising from this cause, Wedgwood took to read- 
 ing and thinking, and turned over in his mind 
 the various ways of making a living by his trade, 
 now that he could no longer work at the potter's 
 wheel. It has been no less elegantly than truthfully 
 observed by Mr. Gladstone, that " it is not often 
 that we have such palpable occasion to record our 
 obligations to the small-pox. But in the wonderful 
 ways of Providence, that disease, which came to 
 him as a twofold scourge, was probably the occasion 
 of his subsequent excellence. It prevented him 
 from growing up to be the active, vigorous English 
 workman, possessed of all his limbs, and knowing 
 right well the use of them ; but it put him upon 
 considering whether, as he could not be that, he 
 might not be something else, and something greater. 
 It sent his mind inwards ; it drove him to meditate 
 upon the laws and secrets of his art. The result 
 was, that he arrived at a perception and a grasp of 
 them which might, perhaps, have been envied, cer- 
 tainly have been owned, by an Athenian potter." t 
 
 * The Papers of Mr. Llewellynn Jewitt, F.S.A., on 'Wedg- 
 wood and Etruria,' published in the Art Journal, 1864, contain 
 many interesting particulars relating to the life and labours of 
 Wedgwood, and are well worthy of perusal. 
 
 + ' Wedgwood ; 1 an Address delivered at Burslem, Oct. 26, 
 1S63. By the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer. London : Murray. 
 
 X 2 
 
3oS 
 
 wedgwood's first pottery [chap vi 
 
 Wedgwood began operations on his own account 
 by making various ornamental objects out of pot- 
 ter's clay, such as knife-hafts, boxes, and sundry 
 curious little articles for domestic use. He joined 
 
 Ivy House, Bursleni, Wedgwood's first Pottery." 
 
 in several successive partnerships with other work- 
 men, but made comparatively small progress until 
 he began business for himself, in 1759, in a humble 
 cottage near the Market House in Burslem, known 
 by the name of the Ivy House. He there pursued 
 his manufacture of knife-handles and other small 
 wares, striving at the same time to acquire such a 
 knowledge of practical chemistry as might enable 
 him to improve the quality of his work in respect 
 
 * The Ivy House, in which Wedgwood began business on 
 his own account, is the cottage shown on the right-hand of the 
 engraving. The other house is the old 'Turk's Head.' 
 
CHAP Vl] EXTENSION OF HIS TRADE 
 
 309 
 
 of colour, glaze, and durability. Success attended 
 Wedgwood's diligent and persistent efforts, and 
 he proceeded from one stage of improvement to 
 another, until at length, after a course of about 
 thirty years' labour, he firmly established a new 
 branch of industry, which not only added greatly 
 to the conveniences of domestic life, but proved 
 a source of remunerative employment to many 
 thousand families throughout England. 
 
 His trade having begun to expand, an extensive 
 demand for his articles sprang up, not only in 
 London, but in foreign countries.* Hut there was 
 this great difficulty in his way,— that the roads in 
 his neighbourhood were so bad that he was at the 
 same time prevented from obtaining a sufficient 
 supply of the best kinds of clay and also from dis- 
 posing of his wares in distant markets. This great 
 evil weighed heavily upon the whole industry of 
 the district, and Wedgwood accordingly appears 
 to have bestirred himself at an early period in his 
 career to improve the local communications. In 
 conjunction with several of the leading potters he 
 promoted an application to Parliament for powers 
 to repair and widen the road from the ' Red Hull,' at 
 
 * Faujas Saint Fond, in his 'Travels in England,' thus writes 
 respecting Wedgwood's ware : — li Its excellent workmanship, its 
 solidity, the advantage which it possesses of standing the action of 
 fire, its fine glaze, impenetrable to acids, the beauty, convenience, 
 and variety of its forms, and its moderate price, have created a 
 commerce so active, and so universal, that in travelling from Paris 
 to St. Petersburg, from Amsterdam to the farthest point of Sweden, 
 from Dunkirk to the southern extremity of France, one is served 
 at every inn from English earthenware. The same fine article 
 adorns the tables of Spain, Portugal, and Italy; and it provides 
 the cargoes of ships to the East Indies, the West Indies, and 
 America." 
 
3io 
 
 PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT OF ROAD [CHAP VI 
 
 Lawton, in Cheshire, to Cliff Bank, in Staffordshire. 
 This line, if formed, would run right through the 
 centre of the Potteries, open them to traffic, and 
 fall at either end into a turnpike road. 
 
 The measure was, however, violently opposed 
 by the people of Newcastle-under-Lyne, on the 
 ground that the proposed new road would enable 
 waggons and pack-horses to travel north and south 
 from the Potteries without passing through their 
 town. The Newcastle innkeepers acted as if they 
 had a vested interest in the bad roads ; but the bill 
 passed, and the new line was made, stopping short 
 at Burslem. This was, no doubt, a great advan- 
 tage, but it was not enough. The heavy carriage 
 of clay, coal, and earthenware needed some more 
 convenient means of transport than waggons and 
 roads ; and, when the subject of water communica- 
 tion came to be discussed, Josiah Wedgwood at 
 once saw that a canal was the very thing for the 
 Potteries. Hence he immediately entered with 
 great spirit into the movement again set on foot for 
 the construction of Brindley's Grand Trunk Canal. 
 
 The field was not, however, so clear now as it 
 had been before. The success of the Duke's canal 
 led to the projection of a host of competing schemes 
 in the county of Chester, and it appeared that 
 Brindley's Grand Trunk project would have to run 
 the gauntlet of a powerful local opposition. There 
 were two other schemes besides his, which formed 
 the subject of much pamphleteering and contro- 
 versy at the time, one entering the district by the 
 river Weaver, and another by the Dee. Neither 
 of these proposed to join the Duke of Bridgewater's 
 canal, whereas the Grand Trunk line was laid out 
 so as to run into his at Preston-on-the-Hill near 
 
CHAP Vl] BRINDLEYS GRAND TRUNK CANAL 3 T I 
 
 Runcorn. As the Duke was desirous of placing his 
 navigation — and through it Manchester, Liverpool, 
 and the intervening districts — in connection with 
 the Cheshire Wiches and the Staffordshire Pot- 
 teries, he at once threw the whole weight of his 
 
 Josiah Wedgwood. 
 
 support upon the side of Brindley's Grand Trunk. 
 Indeed, he had himself been partly at the expense 
 of its preliminary survey, as we find from an entry 
 in Brindley's memorandum-book, under date the 
 12th of April, 1762, as follows: "Worsley — Rec' 1 
 
312 OPPOSITION TO GRAND TRUNK CANAL [CHAP VI 
 
 from Mr Tho Gilbert for ye Staffordshire survey, 
 on account, 33/. 16s. i\d." 
 
 The Cheshire gentlemen protested against the 
 Grand Trunk scheme, as calculated to place a 
 monopoly of the Staffordshire and Cheshire traffic 
 in the hands of the Duke; but they concealed the 
 fact, that the adoption of their respective measures 
 would have established a similar monopoly in the 
 hands of the Weaver Canal Company, whose line of 
 navigation, so far as it went, was tedious, irregular, 
 and expensive. Both parties mustered their forces 
 for a Parliamentary struggle, and Brindley exerted 
 himself at Manchester and Liverpool in obtain- 
 ing support and evidence on behalf of his plan. 
 The following letter from him to Gilbert, then at 
 Worsley, relates to the rival schemes. 
 
 "21 Deer. 1765 
 
 " On Tusdey Sr Georg [Warren] sent Nuton in to Man- 
 chester to make what intrest lie could for Sir Georg and to 
 gather ye old Navogtors togather to meet Sir Georg at Stoperd 
 to make Head a ganst His Grace 
 
 " I sawe Docter Seswige who sese Hee wants to see you 
 about pamant of His Land in Cheshire 
 
 " On Wednesday ther was not much transpired but was so 
 dark I could carse do aneything 
 
 " On Thursdey Wadgwood of Burslam came to Dunham & 
 sant for mee and wee dined with Lord Gree [Grey] & Sir Hare 
 Mainwering and others Sir Hare cud not ceep His Tamer 
 [temper] Mr. Wedgwood came to seliset Lord Gree in faver 
 of the Staffordshire Canal & stade at Mrs Latoune all night &: 
 I whith him & on frydey sat out to wate on Mr Edgerton to 
 seliset Him Hee sase Sparrow and others are indavering to 
 gat ye Land owners consants from Hare Castle to Agden 
 
 " I have ordered Simcock to ye Langth falls of Sanke 
 Xavegacion. 
 
CHAP Vl] MEETING OF BRINDI.F.y's SUPPORTERS 3 1 3 
 
 " Ryle wants to have coals sant faster to Alteringham that 
 Hee may have an opertunety dray of ye sale Moor Canal in a 
 bout a weeks time. 
 
 " I in tend being back on Tusdy at fardest." 
 
 The first public movement was made by the 
 supporters of Brindley's scheme. The}' held an 
 open meeting at Wolseley Bridge, Staffordshire, 
 on the 30th of December, 1765, at which the sub- 
 ject was fully discussed. Earl Gowcr, the lord- 
 lieutenant of the county, occupied the chair; and 
 Lord Grey and Mr. Bagot, members for the county, 
 — Mr. Anson, member for Lichfield,— Mr. Thomas 
 Gilbert, the agent for Earl Gower, then member 
 for Newcastle-under-Lyne, — Mr. Wedgwood, and 
 many other influential gentlemen, were present to 
 take part in the proceedings. Mr. Brindley was 
 called upon to explain his plans, which he did to the 
 satisfaction of the meeting; and these having been 
 adopted, with a few immaterial alterations, it was 
 determined that steps should be taken to apply for 
 a bill conferring the necessary powers in the next 
 session of Parliament. Mr. Wedgwood put his 
 name down for a thousand pounds towards the 
 preliminary expenses, and promised to subscribe 
 largely for shares besides." The promoters of the 
 measure proposed to designate the undertaking 
 "The Canal from the Trent to the Meresy;" but 
 Brindlej', with sagacious foresight, urged that it 
 
 * Wedgwood even entered the lists as a pamphleteer in aid of 
 the Grand Trunk project, and, in 1765, he and his partner, Mr. 
 Bentley, formerly of Liverpool, drew up a very able statement, 
 showing the advantages likely to be derived from the construction 
 of the proposed canal, under the title of 'A View of the Advantages 
 of Inland Navigation, with a plan of a Navigable Canal intended 
 for a communication between the ports of Liverpool and Hull.' It 
 
314 
 
 STAFFORDSHIRE CANAL SCHEMES [CHAP VI 
 
 should be called The Grand Trunk, because, in 
 his judgment, numerous other canals would branch 
 out from it at various points of its course, in like 
 manner as the arteries of the human system branch 
 out from the aorta ; and before many years had 
 passed, his anticipations in this respect were fully 
 realised. The Staffordshire potters were greatly 
 pleased with the decision of the meeting, and on 
 the following evening they assembled round a large 
 bonfire at Burslem, and drank the healths of Lord 
 Gower, Mr. Gilbert, and the other promoters of the 
 scheme, with fervent demonstrations of joy. 
 
 The opponents of the measure also held meet- 
 ings, at which they strongly declaimed against the 
 Duke's proposed monopoly, and set forth the supe- 
 rior merits of their respective schemes. One of 
 these was a canal from the river Weaver, by Nant- 
 wich, Eccleshall, and Stafford, to the Trent at 
 Wilden Ferry, without touching the Potteries at 
 all. Another was for a canal from the Weaver 
 at Northwich, passing by Macclesfield and Stock- 
 port, round to Manchester, thus completely sur- 
 rounding the Duke's navigation, and preventing its 
 extension southward into Staffordshire or any other 
 part of the Midland districts. 
 
 But there was also a strong party opposed to 
 all canals whatever — the party of croakers, who 
 are always found in opposition to improved com- 
 munications, whether in the shape of turnpike 
 
 pointed out in glowing language the advantages to be derived from 
 opening up the internal communications of a country by means of 
 roads, canals, &c. ; and showed how the comfort and even the 
 necessity of all classes must be so much better provided for 
 by a reduction in the cost of carriage of useful and necessary 
 commodities. 
 
CHAP Vl] PACK-HORSE AND WAGGON INTEREST 3 1 5 
 
 roads, canals, or railways. They prophesied that 
 if the proposed canals were made, the country 
 would be ruined, the breed of English horses would 
 be destroyed, the innkeepers would be made bank- 
 rupts, and the pack-horses and their drivers would 
 be deprived of their subsistence. It was even said 
 that the canals, by putting a stop to the coasting 
 trade, would destroy the race of seamen. It is 
 a fortunate thing for England that it has contrived 
 to survive these repeated prophecies of ruin. But 
 the manner in which our countrymen contrive to 
 grumble their way along the high road of enter- 
 prise, thriving and grumbling, is one of the pecu- 
 liar features in our character which perhaps only 
 Englishmen can understand and appreciate. 
 
 It is a curious illustration of the timidity with 
 which the projectors of those days entered upon 
 canal enterprise, that one of their most able advo- 
 cates, in order to mitigate the opposition of the 
 pack-horse and waggon interest, proposed that 
 "no main trunk of a canal should be carried nearer 
 than within four miles of any great manufacturing 
 and trading town; which distance from the canal 
 would be sufficient to maintain the same number of 
 carriers and to employ almost the same number of 
 horses as before." '" But as none of the towns in 
 the Potteries were as yet large manufacturing or 
 trading places, this objection did not apply to 
 them, nor prevent the canals from being carried 
 quite through the centre of what has since become 
 a continuous district of populous manufacturing 
 towns and villages. The vested interests of some 
 of the larger towns were, however, for this reason, 
 
 * 'The Advantages of Inland Navigation,' by R. Whitworth. 
 1766. 
 
3i6 
 
 JAMES BRIXDLEY 
 
 [chap VI 
 
 preserved, greatly to their own ultimate injury ; and 
 when the canal, to conciliate the local opposition, 
 was so laid out as to leave them at a distance, not 
 many years elapsed before they became clamorous 
 for branches to join the main trunk- but not until 
 the mischief had been done, and a blow dealt to 
 their own trade, in consequence of their being left 
 so far outside the main line of water communication, 
 from which many of them never after recovered. 
 
 It is not necessary to describe the Parliamentary 
 contest upon the Grand Trunk Canal Bill. There 
 was the usual muster of hostile interests, — the river 
 navigation companies uniting to oppose the new 
 and rival company — the array of witnesses on both 
 sides, — Brindley, Wedgwood, Gilbert, and many 
 more, giving their evidence in support of their 
 own scheme, and a powerful array of the Cheshire 
 gentry and Weaver Navigation Trustees appearing 
 on behalf of the others, — and the whipping-up 
 of votes, in which the Duke of Bridgewater and 
 Karl Gower worked their influence with the Whig 
 party to good purpose. 
 
 Brindley's plan was, on the whole, considered 
 the best. It was the longest and the most cir- 
 cuitous, but it appeared calculated to afford the 
 largest amount of accommodation to the public. 
 It would pass through important districts, urgently 
 in need of an improved communication with the 
 port of Liverpool on the one hand, and with Hull 
 on the other. But it was not so much the connec- 
 tion of those ports with each other that was needed, 
 as a more convenient means of communication be- 
 tween them and the Staffordshire manufacturing 
 districts ; and the Grand Trunk system — somewhat 
 in the form of a horse-shoe, with the Potteries lying 
 
CHAP Vl] COURSE OF GRAND TRUNK TUNNEL 317 
 
 along its extreme convex part — promised effectually 
 to answer this purpose, and to open up a ready 
 means of access to the coast on both sides of the 
 island. 
 
 A glance at the course of the proposed line will 
 show its great importance. Starting from the 
 Duke's canal at Preston-on-the-Hill, near Runcorn, 
 it passed southwards by Northwich and Middle- 
 wich, through the great salt-manufacturing districts 
 of Cheshire, to the summit at Harecastle. It was 
 alleged that the difficulties presented by the long 
 tunnel at that point were so great that it could 
 never be the intention of the projectors of the canal 
 to carry their "chimerical idea," as it was called, 
 into effect. Brindley however insisted, not only 
 that the tunnel was practicable, but that, if the 
 necessary powers were granted, he would cer- 
 tainly execute it.* Descending from the summit 
 level into the valley of the Trent, the canal pro- 
 ceeded southwards through the Pottery districts, 
 passing close to Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, and 
 Lane End. It then passed onward, still south, by 
 
 * In one of the many angry pamphlets published at the time, 
 the 'Supplement to a pamphlet entitled Seasonable Considerations 
 on a Navigable Canal intended to be cut from the Trent to the 
 Mersey,' &c, the following passage occurs: "When our all is at 
 stake, these gentlemen [the promoters of the Grand Trunk Canal] 
 must not be surprised at bold truths. We conceive more favour- 
 ably of their understanding than of their motive; we cannot 
 suspect them of entertaining the chimerical idea of cutting through 
 Hare Castle .' We rather believe that they are desirous of cutting 
 their canal at both ends, and of leaving the middle for the project 
 of a future day. Are these projectors jealous of their honour? 
 Let them adopt a clause (which reason and justice strongly enforce) 
 to restrain them from meddling with either end till they have 
 finished the great trunk. This, and this alone, will shield them 
 from suspicion." 
 
3 1 S MAP OF THE GRAND TRUNK TUNNEL [CHAP VI 
 
 Trentham, Stone, and Shutborough, to Haywood, 
 where it joined the canal projected to unite the 
 
 Severn 
 
 Manchester w i t It the 
 M e r s e y. 
 Still fol- 
 lowing the 
 valley cf 
 the Trent, the 
 canal near 
 Rugeley, turn- 
 i n g sharp 
 round, pro- 
 ceeded in a 
 north - easterly 
 direction, 
 nearly parallel 
 with the river, passing Bur- 
 ton and Ashton, toajunction 
 with the main stream at 
 Wilden Ferry, a little above 
 where the Derwent falls 
 into the Trent near Derby. 
 
 'WILDEN 
 K1NG6 MILLS 
 
 WCLVERHAMPTO 
 
 BIRMINGHAM ^ 
 
 From thence there 
 was a clear line of 
 navigation, by Not- 
 tingham, Newark, 
 and Gainsborough, 
 to the Humber. 
 
CHAP Vl] CUTTING FIRST SOD OF THE CANAL 319 
 
 Provided this admirable project could be carried 
 out, it appeared likely to meet all the necessities 
 of the case. Ample evidence was given in support 
 of the allegations of its promoters ; and the result 
 was, that Parliament threw out the bills promoted 
 by the Cheshire gentlemen on behalf of the old 
 river navigation interest, and the Grand Trunk 
 Canal Act passed into law. At the same time 
 another important Act was passed, empowering 
 the construction of the Wolverhampton Canal, from 
 the river Severn, near Bewdley, to the river Trent, 
 near Haywood Mill ; thus uniting the navigation 
 of the three rivers which had their termini at the 
 ports of Liverpool, Hull, and Bristol, on the opposite 
 sides of the island. 
 
 There was great rejoicing at Burslem on the 
 news arriving at that place of the passing of the 
 bill; and very shortly after, on the 26th of July, 
 1766, the works were formally commenced byjosiah 
 Wedgwood on the declivity of Bramhills, in a piece 
 of land within a few yards of the bridge which 
 crosses the canal at that place. Brindley was 
 present at the ceremony, when due honours were 
 paid him by the assembled potters. After Mr. 
 Wedgwood had cut the first sod, many of the lead- 
 ing persons of the neighbourhood followed his 
 example, putting their hand to the work by turns, 
 and each cutting a turf or wheeling a barrow of 
 earth in honour of the occasion. It was, indeed, a 
 great day for the Potteries, as the event proved. In 
 the afternoon a sheep was roasted whole in Burslem 
 market-place, for the good of the poorer class of 
 potters ; a feu de joic was fired in front of Mr. Wedg- 
 wood's house, and sundry other demonstrations of 
 local rejoicing wound up the day's proceedings. 
 
3^0 WEDGWOOD BUILDS 'ETRURIA' [CHAP VI 
 
 Wedgwood was of all others the most strongly 
 impressed with the advantages of the proposed 
 canal. He knew and felt how much his trade had 
 been hindered by the defective communications of 
 the neighbourhood, and to what extent it might be 
 increased provided a ready means of transit to 
 Liverpool, Hull, and Bristol could be secured ; and, 
 confident in the accuracy of his anticipations, he 
 proceeded to make the purchase of a considerable 
 estate in Shelton, intersected by the canal, on the 
 banks of which he built the celebrated Etruria — the 
 finest manufactory of the kind up to that time 
 erected in England, alongside of which he built a 
 mansion for himself and cottages for his work- 
 people. He removed his works thither from 
 Burslem, partially in 1769, and wholly in 177 1, 
 shortly before the works of the canal had been 
 completed. 
 
 The Grand Trunk was the most formidable 
 undertaking of the kind that had yet been attempted 
 in England. Its whole length, including the junc- 
 tions with the Birmingham Canal and the river 
 Severn, was 139] miles. In conformity with 
 Brindley's practice, he laid out as much of the 
 navigation as possible upon a level, concentrating 
 the locks in this case at the summit, near Hare- 
 castle, from which point the waters fell in both 
 directions, north and south. Brindley's liking 
 for long flat reaches of dead water made him 
 keep clear of rivers as much as possible. He 
 likened water in a river flowing down a declivity, 
 to a furious giant running along and overturning 
 everything; whereas (said he) "if you lay the 
 giant flat upon his back, he loses all his force, and 
 becomes completely passive, whatever his size may 
 
CHAP Vl] DIMENSIONS OF THE CANAL 321 
 
 be." Hence he contrived that from Middlewich, a 
 distance of seventeen miles, to the Duke's Canal at 
 Preston Brook, there should not be a lock ; but 
 goods might be conveyed from the centre of 
 Cheshire to Manchester, for a distance of about 
 seventy miles, along one uniform water level. He 
 carried out the same practice, in like manner, on the 
 Trent side of Harecastle, where he laid out the canal 
 in as many long lengths of dead water as possible. 
 
 The whole rise of the canal from the level of 
 the Mersey, including the Duke's locks at Runcorn, 
 to the summit at Harecastle, is 395 feet ; and the 
 fall from thence to the Trent at Wilden is 288 feet 
 8 inches. The locks of the Grand Trunk proper, 
 on the northern side of Harecastle, are thirty-five, 
 and on the southern side forty. The dimen- 
 sions of the canal, as originally constructed, were 
 twenty-eight feet in breadth at the top, sixteen at 
 the bottom, and four and a half feet in depth; but 
 from Wilden to Burton, and from Middlewich to 
 Preston-on-the-Hill, it was thirty-one feet broad 
 at the top, eighteen at the bottom, and five and 
 a half feet deep, so as to be navigable by large 
 barges ; and the locks at those parts of the canal 
 were of correspondingly large dimensions. The 
 width was afterwards made uniform throughout. 
 The canal was carried over the river Dove on an 
 aqueduct of twenty-three arches, approached by an 
 embankment on either side — in all a mile and two 
 furlongs in length. There were also aqueducts 
 over the Trent, which it crosses at four different 
 points — one of these being of six arches of twenty- 
 one feet span each — and over the Dane and other 
 smaller streams. The number of minor aqueducts 
 was about 160, and of road-bridges 109. 
 
 1. v 
 
322 
 
 GRAND TRUNK TUNNELS 
 
 [chap vi 
 
 But the most formidable works on the canal 
 were the tunnels, of which there _were five — the 
 Harecastle, 2880 yards long ; the Hermitage, 130 
 yards ; the Barnton, 560 yards ; the Saltenford, 
 350 yards; and the Preston-on-the-Hill, 1241 yards. 
 The Harecastle tunnel (subsequently duplicated by 
 Telford) was constructed only nine feet wide and 
 twelve feet high ; * but the others were seventeen 
 feet four inches high, and thirteen feet six inches 
 wide. The most extensive ridge of country to be 
 penetrated was at Harecastle, involving by far 
 the most difficult work in the whole undertaking. 
 This ridge is but a continuation of the high 
 ground, forming what is called the "back-bone of 
 England," which extends in a south-westerly direc- 
 tion from the Yorkshire mountains to the Wrekin 
 in Shropshire. The flat county of Cheshire, which 
 looks almost as level as a bowling-green when 
 viewed from the high ground near New Chapel, 
 seems to form a deep bay in the land, its innermost 
 point being almost immediately under the village 
 of Harecastle ; and from thence to the valley of the 
 Trent the ridge is at the narrowest. That Brindley 
 was correct in determining to form his tunnel at 
 this point has since been confirmed by the survey 
 of Telford, who there constructed his parallel 
 tunnel for the same canal, and still more recently 
 
 * lirindley's tunnel had only space for a narrow canal-boat to 
 pass through, and it was propelled by the tedious and laborious 
 process of what is called "legging." It still continues to be worked 
 in the same way, while horses haul the boats through the whole 
 length of Telford's wider tunnel. The men who "leg" the boat, 
 literally kick it along from one end to the other. They lie on their 
 backs on the boat-cloths, with their shoulders resting against some 
 package, and propel it along by means of their feet pressing 
 against the top or sides of the tunnel. 
 
CHAP Vl] BRINDLEYS SCHEME RIDICULED 
 
 323 
 
 by the engineers of the North Staffordshire Rail- 
 way, who have also formed their railway tunnel 
 almost parallel with the line of both canals. 
 
 When Brindley proposed to cut a navigable 
 way under this ridge, it was declared to be 
 chimerical in the extreme. The defeated pro- 
 moters of the rival projects continued to make 
 
 Northern Entrance of Harecastle Tunnels.* 
 
 war upon it in pamphlets, and in the exasperating 
 language of mock sympathy proclaimed Brindley's 
 proposed tunnel to be " a sad misfortune," t 
 
 * The smaller opening into the hill on the right-hand of the 
 view is Brindley's tunnel ; that on the left is Telford's, executed 
 some forty years since. Harecastle church and village occupy the 
 ground over the tunnel entrances. 
 
 t ' Seasonable Considerations,' &c. ; Canal pamphlet dated 1766. 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 
 
 HARECASTLE TUNNEL 
 
 [CHAP VI 
 
 inasmuch as it would utterly waste the capital raised 
 by the subscribers, and end in the inevitable ruin 
 of the concern. Some of the small local wits spoke 
 of it as another of Brindley's "Air Castles;" but 
 the allusion was not a happy one, as his first 
 " castle in the air," despite all prophecies to the 
 contrary, had been built, and continued to stand 
 firm at Barton ; and judging by the issue of that 
 undertaking, it was reasonable to infer that he 
 might equally succeed in this, difficult though it 
 was on all hands admitted to be. 
 
 The Act was no sooner passed than Brindley 
 set to work to execute the impossible tunnel. 
 Shafts were sunk from the hill-top at different 
 points down to the level of the intended canal. 
 The stuff was drawn out of the shafts in the usual 
 way by horse-gins ; and so long as the water was 
 met with in but small quantities, the power of 
 windmills and watermills working pumps over 
 each shaft was sufficient to keep the excavators 
 at work. But as the miners descended and cut 
 through the various strata of the hill on their 
 downward progress, water was met with in vast 
 quantities ; and here Brindley's skill in pumping 
 machinery proved of great value. The miners 
 were often drowned out, and as often set to work 
 again by his mechanical skill in raising water. 
 He had a fire-engine, or atmospheric steam-engine, 
 of the best construction possible at that time, 
 erected on the top of the hill, by the action of 
 which great volumes of water were pumped out 
 night and day. 
 
 This abundance of water, though it was a 
 serious hindrance to the execution of the work, 
 was a circumstance on which Brindley had 
 
CHAP Vl] BRINDLEY's ACTIVE SUPERINTENDENCE 325 
 
 calculated, and indeed depended, for the supply of 
 water for the summit level of his canal. When the 
 shafts had been sunk to the proper line of the 
 intended waterway, the excavation then proceeded 
 in opposite directions, to meet the other driftways 
 which were in progress. The work was also 
 carried forward at both ends of the tunnel, and the 
 whole line of excavation was at length united by 
 a continuous driftway — it is true, after long and 
 expensive labour — when the water ran freely out 
 at both ends, and the pumping apparatus on the 
 hilltop was no longer needed. At a general meet- 
 ing of the Company, held on the ist October, 1768, 
 after the works had been in progress about two 
 years, it appeared from the report of the Com- 
 mittee that four hundred and nine yards of the 
 tunnel w r ere cut and vaulted, besides the vast 
 excavations at either end for the purpose of 
 reservoirs; and the Committee expressed their 
 opinion that the work would be finished without 
 difficulty. 
 
 Active operations had also been in progress at 
 other parts of the canal. About six hundred men 
 in all were employed, and Brindley went from 
 point to point superintending and directing their 
 labours. A Burslem correspondent, in September, 
 1767, wrote to a distant friend thus: — "Gentlemen 
 come to view our eighth wonder of the world, the 
 subterraneous navigation, which is cutting by the 
 great Mr. Brindley, who handles rocks as easily as 
 you would plum-pies, and makes the four elements 
 subservient to his will. He is as plain a looking 
 man as one of the boors of the Peak, or as one 
 of his own carters ; but when he speaks, all ears 
 listen, and every mind is filled with wonder at the 
 
326 
 
 SLOW PROGRESS OF THE TUNNEL [CHAP VI 
 
 things he pronounces to be practicable. He has 
 cut a mile through bogs, which he binds up, cm- 
 banking them with stones which he gets out of 
 other parts of the navigation, besides about a 
 quarter of a mile into the hill Yelden, on the side 
 of which he has a pump worked by water, and a 
 stove, the fire of which sucks through a pipe the 
 damps that would annoy the men who are cutting 
 towards the centre of the hill. The clay he cuts 
 out serves for bricks to arch the subterraneous part, 
 which we heartily wish to see finished to Wilden 
 Ferry, when we shall be able to send Coals and 
 Pots to London, and to different parts of the 
 globe." 
 
 In the course of the first two years' operations, 
 twenty-two miles of the navigation had been cut and 
 finished, and it was expected that before eighteen 
 months more had elapsed the canal would be ready 
 for traffic by water between the Potteries and Hull 
 on the one hand, and Bristol on the other. It was 
 also expected that by the same time the canal 
 would be ready for traffic from the north end of 
 Harecastle Tunnel to the river Mersey. The 
 execution of the tunnel, however, proved so 
 tedious and difficult, and the excavation and build- 
 ing went on so slowly, that the Committee could 
 not promise that it would be finished in less than 
 five years from that time. As it was, the com- 
 pletion of the Harecastle Tunnel occupied nine 
 years more ; and it was not finished until the year 
 1 777< by which time the great engineer had finally 
 rested from all his labours. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to describe the benefits 
 which the canal conferred upon the inhabitants 
 of the districts through which it passed. As we 
 
CHAP VI j BENEFITS CONFERRED BY THE CANAL 327 
 
 have already seen, Staffordshire and the adjoining 
 counties had been inaccessible during the chief part 
 of each year. The great natural wealth which they 
 contained was of little value, because it could with 
 difficulty be got at ; and even when reached, there 
 was still greater difficulty in distributing it. Coal 
 could not be worked at a profit, the price of land- 
 carriage so much restricting its use, that it was 
 placed altogether beyond the reach of the great 
 body of consumers. 
 
 It is difficult now to realise the condition of 
 poor people situated in remote districts of England 
 less than a century ago. In winter time they 
 shivered over scanty wood-fires, for timber was 
 almost as scarce and as dear as coal. Fuel was 
 burnt only at cooking times, or to cast a glow 
 about the hearth in the winter evenings. The 
 fireplaces were little apartments of themselves, 
 sufficiently capacious to enable the whole family 
 to sit within the wide chimney, where they listened 
 to stories or related to each other the events of 
 the day. Fortunate were the villagers who lived 
 hard by a bog or a moor, from which they could cut 
 peat or turf at will. They ran all risks of ague and 
 fever in summer, for the sake of the read)' fuel in 
 winter. But in places remote from bogs, and 
 scantily timbered, existence was scarcely possible ; 
 and hence the settlement and cultivation of the 
 country were in no slight degree retarded until 
 comparatively recent times, when better commu- 
 nications were opened up. 
 
 When the canals were made, and enabled coals 
 to be readily conveyed along them at comparatively 
 moderate rates, the results were immediately felt in 
 the increased comfort of the people. Employment 
 
328 
 
 LAND AND CANAL CARRIAGE [CHAP VI 
 
 became more abundant, and industry sprang up 
 in their neighbourhood in all directions. The 
 Duke's canal, as we have seen, gave the first great 
 impetus to the industry of Manchester and that 
 district. The Grand Trunk had precisely the same 
 effect throughout the Pottery and other districts of 
 Staffordshire ; and their joint action was not only 
 to employ, but actually to civilise the people. The 
 salt of Cheshire could now be manufactured in 
 immense quantities, readily conveyed away, and 
 sold at a comparatively moderate price in all the 
 midland districts of England. The potters of 
 Burslem and Stoke, by the same mode of convey- 
 ance, received their gypsum from Northwich, their 
 clay and flints from the seaports now directly con- 
 nected with the canal, and returned their manu- 
 factures by the same route. The carriage of all 
 articles being reduced to about one-fourth of their 
 previous rates,* articles of necessity and comfort, 
 such as had formerly been unknown except 
 amongst the wealthier classes, came into common 
 use amongst the people. Employment increased, 
 and the difficulties of subsistence diminished. Led 
 by the enterprise of Wedgwood and others like 
 
 * The following comparison of the rates per ton at which goods 
 were conveyed by land-carriage before the opening of the Grand 
 Trunk Canal, and those at which they were subsequently carried 
 by it, will show how great was the advantage conferred on the 
 country by the introduction of navigable canals: — "The cost of 
 carrying a ton of goods from Liverpool to Etruria, the centre of 
 the Staffordshire Potteries, by land-carriage, was $os.; the Trent 
 and Mersey reduced it to ly. 41I The land-carriage from Liver- 
 pool to Wolverhampton was 5/. a ton ; the canal reduced it to 
 ll. 5 J. The land-carriage from Liverpool to Birmingham, and also 
 to Stourport, was 5/. a ton ; the canal reduced both to \l. 10s. . . . 
 Thus the cost of inland transport was reduced, on the average, to 
 
CHAP Vl] IMPROVED STATE OF INHABITANTS 
 
 329 
 
 him, new branches of industry sprang up, and the 
 manufacture of earthenware, instead of being in- 
 significant and comparatively unprofitable, which 
 it was before his time, became a staple branch of 
 English trade. Only about ten years after the 
 Grand Trunk Canal had been opened, Wedgwood 
 stated in evidence before the House of Commons, 
 that from 15,000 to 20,000 persons were then em- 
 ployed in the earthenware-manufacture alone, 
 besides the large number of labourers employed 
 in digging coals for their use, and the still larger 
 number occupied in providing materials at distant 
 parts, and in the carrying and distributing trade 
 by land and sea. The annual import of clay and 
 flints into Staffordshire at that time was from fifty 
 to sixty thousand tons ; and yet, as Wedgwood 
 truly predicted, the trade was but in its infancy. 
 The tonnage outwards and inwards at the Potteries 
 is now upwards of three hundred thousand tons 
 a-year. 
 
 The moral and social influences exercised by 
 the canals upon the Pottery districts were not less 
 remarkable. From a half-savage, thinly-peopled 
 district of some 7000 persons in 1760, partially 
 employed and ill-remunerated, we find them 
 increased, in the course of some twenty-five 
 years, to about treble the population, abundantly 
 
 about one-fourth of the rate paid previous to the introduction of 
 canal navigation. The advantages were enormous : wheat, for 
 example, which formerly could not be conveyed a hundred 
 miles, from corn-growing districts to the large towns and manu- 
 facturing districts, for less than 20J\ a quarter, could be conveyed 
 for about $s. a quarter. These facts show how great was the 
 service conferred on the country by Brindley and the Duke of 
 Bridgewater." — Barnes's ' History of the Commerce and Town of 
 Liverpool.' 
 
330 
 
 TESTIMONY OF WESLEY 
 
 [CHAP VI 
 
 employed, prosperous, and comfortable.* Civilisa- 
 tion is doubtless a plant of very slow growth, and 
 does not necessarily accompany the rapid increase 
 of wealth. On the contrary, higher earnings, 
 without improved morale, may only lead to wild 
 waste and gross indulgence. But the testimony 
 of Wesley to the improved character of the popu- 
 lation of the Pottery district in 1781, within a few 
 years after the opening of Brindley's Grand Trunk 
 Canal, is so remarkable, that we cannot do better 
 than quote it here ; and the more so, as we have 
 already given the account of his first visit in 1760, 
 on the occasion of his being pelted. "I returned 
 to Burslem," says Wesley; "how is the whole 
 face of the country changed in about twenty years 1 
 Since which, inhabitants have continually flowed in 
 from every side. Hence the wilderness is literally 
 become a fruitful field. Houses, villages, towns, 
 have sprung up, and the country is not more 
 improved than the people." 
 
 * The population of the same district in 1861 was found to be 
 upwards of 120,000. 
 
( 33i ) 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 BRIXDLEY'S LAST CANALS — HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 
 
 It is related of Brindley that, on one occasion, 
 when giving evidence before a Committee of the 
 House of Commons, in which he urged the supe- 
 riority of canals over rivers for purposes of inland 
 navigation, the question was asked by a member, 
 " Pray, Mr. Brindley, what then do you think is 
 the use of navigable rivers ? " " To make canal 
 navigations, to be sure," was his instant reply. It 
 is easy to understand the gist of the engineers 
 meaning. For purposes of trade he regarded regu- 
 larity and certainty of communication as essential 
 conditions of any inland navigation ; and he held 
 that neither of these could be relied upon in the 
 case of rivers, which are in winter liable to inter- 
 ruption by floods, and in summer by droughts. In 
 his opinion, a canal, with enough of water always 
 kept banked up, or locked up where the country 
 would not admit of the level being maintained 
 throughout, was absolutely necessary to satisfy 
 the requirements of commerce. Hence he held 
 that one of the great uses of rivers was to furnish 
 a supply of water for canals. It was only another 
 illustration of the "nothing like leather" principle ; 
 Brindley's head being so full of canals, and his 
 labours so much confined to the making of canals, 
 that he could think of little else. 
 
332 
 
 brindley's other canals [chap VII 
 
 In connection with the Grand Trunk — which 
 proved, as Brindley had anticipated, to be the 
 great aorta of the canal system of the mid- 
 land districts of England — numerous lines were 
 projected and afterwards carried out under our 
 engineer's superintendence. One of the most im- 
 portant of these was the Wolverhampton Canal, 
 connecting the Trent with the Severn, and author- 
 ised in the same year as the Grand Trunk itself. It 
 is now known as the Staffordshire and Worcester- 
 shire Canal, passing close to the towns of Wolver- 
 hampton and Kidderminster, and falling into the 
 Severn at Stourport. This branch opened up 
 several valuable coal-fields, and placed Wolver- 
 hampton and the intermediate districts, now teem- 
 ing with population and full of iron manufactories, 
 in direct connection with the ports of Liverpool, 
 Hull, and Bristol. Two years later, in 1768, three 
 more canals, laid out by Brindley, were authorised 
 to be constructed : the Coventry Canal to Oxford, 
 connecting the Grand Trunk system by Lichfield 
 with London and the navigation of the Thames ; 
 the Birmingham Canal, which brought the advan- 
 tages of inland navigation to the very doors of the 
 central manufacturing town in England ; and the 
 Droitwich Canal, to connect that town by a short 
 branch with the river Severn. In the following 
 year a further Act was obtained for a canal laid out 
 by Brindley, from Oxford to the Coventry Canal at 
 Longford, eighty-two miles in length. 
 
 These were highly important works ; and 
 though they were not all carried out strictly after 
 Brindley's plans, they nevertheless formed the 
 groundwork of future Acts, and laid the foun- 
 dations of the midland canal system. Thus, the 
 
CHAP Vll] 
 
 DROITWICH CANAL 
 
 Coventry Canal was never fully carried out after 
 Brindley's designs ; a difference having arisen 
 between the engineer and the Company during 
 the progress of the undertaking, in consequence, 
 as is supposed, of the capital provided being alto- 
 gether inadequate to execute the works considered 
 by Brindley as indispensable. He probably fore- 
 saw that there would be nothing but difficulty, and 
 very likely there might be discredit attached to 
 himself by continuing connected with an under- 
 taking the proprietors of which would not provide 
 him with sufficient means for carrying it forward 
 to completion ; and though he finished the first 
 fourteen miles between Coventry and Atherstone, 
 he shortly after gave up his connection with the 
 undertaking, and it remained in an unfinished 
 state for many years, in consequence of the 
 financial difficulties in which the Company had 
 become involved through the insufficiency of their 
 capital. The connection of the Coventry Canal with 
 the Grand Trunk was afterwards completed, in 1785, 
 by the Birmingham and Fazely and Grand Trunk 
 Companies conjointly, and the property eventually 
 proved of great value to all parties concerned. 
 
 The Droitwich Canal, though only a short branch 
 five and a half miles in length, was a very impor- 
 tant work, opening up as it did an immense trade 
 in coal and salt between Droitwich and the Severn. 
 The works of this navigation were wholly executed 
 by Brindley, and are considered superior to those 
 of any others on which he was engaged. Whilst 
 residing at Droitwich, we find our engineer actively 
 engaged in pushing on the subscription to the Bir- 
 mingham Canal, the capital of which was taken 
 slowly. Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham, was one 
 
334 
 
 JOS I AH WEDGWOOD 
 
 [CHAP VII 
 
 of the most active promoters of the scheme, and 
 JosiahWedgw r ood also bestirred himself in its behalf. 
 In a letter written by him about this time, we find 
 him requesting one of his agents to send out plans 
 to gentlemen whom he names, in the hope of com- 
 pleting the subscription list.* Brindley did not 
 live to finish the Birmingham Canal ; it was carried 
 out by his successors, — partly by his pupil, Mr. 
 Whitworth, and partly by Smeaton and Telford. 
 Brindley's plan was, as usual, to cut the canal as 
 flat as possible, to avoid the necessity for lockage ; 
 but his successors, in order to relieve the capital 
 expenditure, as they supposed, constructed it with 
 a number of locks to carry it over the summit at 
 Smithwick. Shortly after its opening, however, 
 the Company found reason to regret their rejection 
 
 * The letter is so characteristic of Josiah Wedgwood that we 
 here insert it at length, as copied from the original in the posses- 
 sion of Mr. Mayer of Liverpool : — 
 
 " Burslem, 12th July, 1769. 
 "Dear Sir, —I should have wrote to you about young Wilson, but the 
 multiplicity of branches you wrote me he was expected to learn, made me 
 despair of teaching him any. Pray give my compliments to his father, and if 
 he chooses to have his son to learn to be a warehouseman and book-keeper, 
 which is quite sufficient and better than more for any one person, 1 will learn 
 him those in the best manner; but, even then, Mr. Wilson must not expect 
 him to be set on the top of a ladder without setting his feet upon the lowermost 
 steps ; and unless he will let the Hoy pursue that method, I would not be con- 
 cerned with him on any account. I will not attempt to teach him any more 
 trades; it would injure the Boy, and do me no good. If lie has a mind at his 
 leisure time to amuse himself with drawing I have no objection, and would 
 encourage him in it, as an innocent amusement, and what may be of use to 
 him, but would not make this a branch of his business. If the business I pro- 
 pose is too humble for Mr. Wilson's son, I would not by any means have him 
 accept of it. 
 
 " Mr. Brindley desires you'll send 30 plans to each of the undermentioned 
 Gentlemen by the first Waggons, and let us know when they are sent, as we 
 shall advertise them in several of the Country papers : Mr. Walker, of Oxford, 
 Steward to D. of Marlbro'— you may perhaps get them sent from Mnrlbro' 
 house; Mr. Dudley, Attorney-at-Law, Coventry; Mr. Richardson, Silver- 
 smith, in Chester; Mr. Perry, Wolverhampton. 
 
 " We shall send you this week end, double salts, creams, pott'y potts, table 
 plates of all sorts, sallad dishes, covered do., pierced desert plates, &c. We 
 cannot get Sadler to send us any pierced desert ware, &c. Pay Addison 5 or 6 
 
CHAP VI i] 
 
 CHESTERFIELD CANAL 
 
 of Mr. Brindley's advice, and they lowered the 
 summit by cutting a tunnel, as he had originally 
 recommended, thereby incurring an extra expense 
 of about 30,000/. 
 
 Another of Brindley's canals, authorised in 1769, 
 was that between Chesterfield and the river Trent, 
 at Stockwith, about forty-six miles in length, in- 
 tended for the transport of coal, lime, and lead from 
 the rich mineral districts of Derbyshire, and the 
 return trade of deals, corn, and groceries to the 
 same districts. It would appear that Mr. Grundy, 
 another engineer, of considerable reputation in his 
 day, was consulted about the project, and that he 
 advised a much more direct route than that pointed 
 out by Brindley, who looked to the accommodation 
 of the existing towns, rather than shortness of route, 
 as the main thing to be provided for. Brindley, in 
 this respect, took very much the same view in laying- 
 out his canals as was afterwards taken by George 
 Stephenson — a man whom he resembled in many 
 respects — in laying out railways. He would rather 
 go round an obstacle in the shape of an elevated 
 range of country, than go through it, especially if in 
 going round and avoiding expense he could accom- 
 modate a number of towns and villages. Besides, 
 by avoiding the hills and following the course of 
 the valleys, along which the population usually lies, 
 he avoided expense of construction and secured 
 flatness of canal ; just as Stephenson secured flat- 
 ness of railway gradient. Although the length of 
 canal to be worked was longer, yet the cost of 
 tunnelling and lockage was avoided. The popula- 
 tion of the district was also fully accommodated, 
 which could not have been accomplished by the 
 more direct route through unpopulated districts 
 
33^ 
 
 BRINDLEY S CANALS 
 
 [CHAP VII 
 
 or under barren hills. The proprietors of the 
 Chesterfield Canal concurred in Brindley's view, 
 adopting his plan in preference to Grundy's, and it 
 was accordingly carried into effect. This naviga- 
 tion was, nevertheless, a work of considerable diffi- 
 culty, proceeding, as it did, across a very hilly 
 country, the summit tunnel at Hartshill being 2850 
 yards in extent. Like many of Brindley's other 
 works projected about this time, it was finished by 
 his brother-in-law, Mr. Henshall, and opened for 
 traffic several years after the great engineer's death.* 
 The whole of these canals were laid out by 
 Brindley, though they were not all executed by 
 him, nor precisely after his plans. No record of 
 any kind has been preserved of the manner in 
 which the works were carried out. Brindley him- 
 self made few reports, and these merely stated 
 results, not methods ; yet he had doubtless many 
 formidable difficulties to encounter, and must have 
 overcome them by the adoption of those ingenious 
 expedients, varying according to the circumstances 
 of each case, in which he was always found so 
 fertile. He had no treasury of past experience, as 
 recorded in books, to consult, for he could scarcely 
 read English ; and certainly he could neither read 
 French nor Italian, in which languages the only 
 
 * The following were the canals laid out and principally exe- 
 cuted by Brindley : — 
 
 Miles, furl, chains. 
 
 The Duke's / Worsley to Manchester 10 2 o 
 
 Canals t. Longford Bridge to the Mersey below Runcorn 24 I 7 
 Grand Trunk Canal Proper, from Wilden Ferry to Preston 
 
 Brook 88-7 9 
 
 Wolverhampton Canal 46 4 0 
 
 Coventry 36 7 ^ 
 
 Birmingham 24 2 o 
 
 Droitwich ... ... ... ... --5 4 9 
 
 Oxford 82 7 3 
 
 Chesterfield 46 o o 
 
CHAP VIl] OBSTACLES TO BRINDLEY's SUCCESS 
 
 337 
 
 engineering works of any value were then written ; 
 nor had he any store of native experience to draw 
 from, he himself being the first English canal engi- 
 neer of eminence, and having all his methods and 
 expedients to devise for himself. 
 
 It would doubtless have been most interesting 
 could we have had some authentic record of this 
 strong original man's struggles with opposition and 
 difficulty, and the means by which he contrived not 
 only to win persons of high station to support him 
 with their influence but also with their purses, at a 
 time when money was comparatively a much rarer 
 commodity than it is now. " That want of records, 
 journals, and memoranda," says Mr. Hughes, 
 "which is ever to be deplored when we seek to 
 review the progress of engineering works, is par- 
 ticularly felt when we have to look back upon those 
 undertakings which first called for the exercise of 
 engineering skill in many new and untried depart- 
 ments. In Brindley's day, the entire absence of 
 experience derived from former works, the obscure 
 position which the engineer occupied in the scale 
 of society, the imperfect communication between 
 the profession in this country and the engineers and 
 works of other countries, and, lastly, the backward 
 condition of all the mechanical arts and of the 
 physical sciences connected with engineering, may 
 all be ranked in striking contrast with the vast 
 appliances which are placed at the command of 
 modern engineers." * 
 
 Moreover, the great canal works upon which 
 Brindley was engaged during the later part of his 
 career, were as yet scarcely appreciated as respects 
 
 * 'Memoir,' by Samuel Hughes, C.E. Weale's 'Quarterly 
 Papers,' 1844. 
 
 I- z 
 
338 
 
 CONSULTED ON ENGINEERS' PLANS [CHAP VII 
 
 the important influences which they were calcu- 
 lated to exercise upon society at larger The only 
 persons who seem to have regarded them with 
 interest were far-sighted men like Josiah Wedg- 
 wood, who saw in them the means not only of 
 promoting the trade of his own county, but of de- 
 veloping the rich natural resources of the kingdom, 
 and diffusing amongst the people the elements of 
 comfort, intelligence, and civilisation. The literary 
 and scientific classes as yet took little or no interest 
 in them. The most industrious and observant 
 literary man of the age, Dr. Johnson, though he 
 had a word to say upon nearly every subject, 
 never so much as alluded to them, though all 
 Brindley's canals were finished in Johnson's life- 
 time, and he must have observed the works in 
 progress when passing on his various journeys 
 through the midland districts. The only reference 
 which he makes to the projects set on foot for 
 opening up the country by means of better roads, 
 was to the effect, that whereas there were before 
 cheap places and dear places, now all refuges were 
 destroyed for elegant or genteel poverty. 
 
 Before leaving this part of the subject, it is 
 proper to state that during the latter part of 
 Brindley's life, whilst canals were being projected 
 in various directions, he was, on many occasions, 
 called upon to give his opinion as to the plans 
 which other engineers had prepared. Among the 
 most important of the new projects on which he 
 was thus consulted were, the Leeds and Liverpool 
 Canal ; the improvement of the navigation of the 
 Thames to Reading ; the Calder Navigation ; the 
 Forth and Clyde Canal ; the Salisbury and South- 
 ampton Canal; the Lancaster Canal; and the 
 
CHAP VIl] LEEDS AND LIVERPOOL CANAL 
 
 339 
 
 Andover Canal. Many of these schemes were of 
 great importance in a national point of view. The 
 Leeds and Liverpool Canal, for instance, brought the 
 whole manufacturing district of Yorkshire along the 
 valley of the Aire into communication with Liver- 
 pool and the intermediate districts of Lancashire. 
 The advantages of this navigation to Leeds, Brad- 
 ford, Keighley, and the neighbouring towns, are 
 felt to this day, and their extraordinary prosperity 
 is doubtless in no small degree attributable to the 
 facilities which the canal has provided for the ready 
 conveyance of raw materials and manufactured pro- 
 duce between those places and the towns and sea- 
 ports of the west. Brindley surveyed and laid out the 
 whole line of this navigation, 130 miles in length, 
 and he framed the estimate on which the Company 
 proceeded to Parliament for their bill. On the 
 passing of the Act in 1768-9, the Directors ap- 
 pointed him their engineer ; but, being almost 
 overwhelmed with other business at the time, and 
 feeling that he could not give the proper degree of 
 personal attention to carryizig out so extensive an 
 undertaking, he was under the necessity of declining 
 the appointment. The works were immediately 
 begun at both ends of the canal, and portions 
 were speedily made use of; but the difficulty and 
 expensiveness of the remaining works greatly de- 
 layed their execution, and the canal was not finished 
 until the year 18 16. Twenty miles, extending from 
 near Bingley to the neighbourhood of Bradford, 
 were opened on 21st March, 1774. A correspon- 
 dent of ' Williamson's Liverpool Advertiser' thus 
 describes the opening: "From Bingley and about 
 three miles down, the noblest works of the kind 
 that perhaps are to be found in the universe 
 
 /. 2 
 
340 LIVERPOOL END OF CANAL OPENED [CHAP VII 
 
 arc exhibited, namely, a five-fold, a three-fold, a 
 two-fold, and a single lock, making together a fall 
 of 120 feet; a large aqueduct-bridge of seven arches 
 over the river Aire, and an aqueduct on a large 
 embankment over Shipley valley. Five boats of 
 burden passed the grand lock, the first of which 
 descended through a fall of sixty-six feet in less 
 than twenty-nine minutes. This much-wished-for 
 event was welcomed with ringing of bells, a band 
 of music, the firing of guns by the neighbouring 
 militia, the shouts of spectators, and all the marks 
 of satisfaction that so important an acquisition 
 merits." On the 21st October of the same year the 
 following paragraph appeared: — "The Liverpool 
 end of the canal was opened from Liverpool to 
 Wigan on Wednesday, the 19th instant, with great 
 festivity and rejoicings. The water had been led 
 into the basin the evening before. At nine a.m. 
 the proprietors sailed up the canal in their barge, 
 preceded by another with music, colours flying, &c, 
 and returned to Liverpool about one. They were 
 saluted with two royal salutes of twenty-one guns 
 each, besides the swivels on board the boats, and 
 welcomed with the repeated shouts of the numerous 
 crowds assembled on the banks, who made a most 
 cheerful and agreeable sight. The gentlemen then 
 adjourned to a tent, on the quay, where a cold colla- 
 tion was set out for themselves and their friends. 
 From thence they went in procession to George's 
 coffee-house, where an elegant dinner was provided. 
 The workmen, 215 in number, walked first, with their 
 tools on their shoulders, and cockades in their hats, 
 and were afterwards plentifully regaled at a dinner 
 provided for them. The bells rang all day, and the 
 greatest joy and order prevailed on the occasion," 
 
CHAP VIl] BRINDLEY'S SURVEY OF THE THAMES 341 
 
 Brindley being now the recognised head of his 
 profession, and the great authority on all ques- 
 tions of navigation, he was, in 1770, employed bv 
 the Corporation of London to make a survey of 
 the Thames above Battersea, with the object of 
 having it improved for purposes of navigation. 
 As usual, Brindley strongly recommended the con- 
 struction of a canal in preference to carrying on 
 the navigation by the river, where it was liable 
 to be interrupted by the tides and floods, or by 
 the varying deposits of silt in the shallow places. 
 In his first report to the Common Council, dated 
 the 16th of June, 1770, he pointed out that the 
 cost of hauling the barges was greatly in favour 
 of the canal. For example, he stated that the 
 expense of taking a vessel of 100 or 120 tons from 
 Isleworth to Sunning, and back again to Isleworth, 
 was 80/., and sometimes more; whilst the cost by 
 the canal would only be 16/. The saving in time 
 would be still greater, for the double voyage might 
 easily be performed in fifteen hours ; whereas by 
 the river the boats were sometimes three weeks 
 in going up, and almost as much in coming down. 
 He estimated that there would be a saving to the 
 public of at least 64/. on every voyage, besides 
 the saving of time in performing it. After making 
 a further detailed examination of the district, and 
 maturing his views on the whole subject, he sent 
 in a report, accompanied by a profile of the river 
 about seven feet long, which is still to be seen 
 amongst the records of the Corporation of London. 
 His plan was not, however, carried out ; the pro- 
 posal to construct a canal parallel with the Thames 
 having been abandoned so soon as the Grand 
 Junction Canal was undertaken. 
 
342 
 
 brindley's numerous schemes [chap vn 
 
 These and numerous other schemes in various 
 parts of the country — at Stockton, at Leeds, at 
 Cambridge, at Chester, at Salisbury and South- 
 ampton, at Lancaster, and in Scotland — fully oc- 
 cupied the attention of Brindley ; in addition to 
 which, there was the personal superintendence 
 which he must necessarily give to the canals in 
 active progress, and for the execution of which 
 he was responsible. In fact, there was scarcely 
 a design of a canal navigation set on foot through- 
 out the kingdom during the later years of his life, 
 on which he was not consulted, and the plans of 
 which he did not entirely make, revise, or improve. 
 
 In addition to his canal works, Brindley was 
 also consulted as to the best means of draining 
 the low lands in different parts of Lincolnshire, 
 and the Great Level in the neighbourhood of the 
 Isle of Ely. He supplied the corporation of 
 Liverpool with a plan for cleansing the docks 
 and keeping them clear of mud, which is said to 
 have proved very effective ; and he pointed out 
 to them an economical method of building walls 
 against the sea without mortar, which long con- 
 tinued to be employed with complete success. In 
 such cases he laid his plans freely open to the 
 public, not seeking to secure them by patent, nor 
 shrouding his proceedings in any mystery. He was 
 perfectly open with professional men, harbouring 
 no petty jealousy of rivals. His pupils had free 
 access to all his methods, and he took a pride in so 
 training them that they should reflect credit on the 
 engineer's profession, then rising into importance, 
 and be enabled, after he left the scene, to carry on 
 those great industrial enterprises which he probably 
 foresaw clearly enough in England's future. 
 
CHAP VIl] 
 
 BRIXDLEY AND HENSHALL 
 
 343 
 
 It will be observed, from what we have said, 
 that Brindley's engagements as an engineer ex- 
 tended over a very wide district. Even before 
 his employment by the Duke of Bridgewater, he 
 was under the necessity of travelling great dis- 
 tances to fit up water-mills, pumping-engines, and 
 manufacturing machinery of various kinds, in the 
 counties of Stafford, Cheshire, and Lancashire. 
 But when he had been appointed to superintend 
 the construction of the Duke's canals, his engage- 
 ments necessarily became of a still more engross- 
 ing character, and he had very little leisure left 
 to devote to the affairs of private life. He lived 
 principally at inns, in the immediate neighbourhood 
 of his work ; and though his home was at Leek, he 
 sometimes did not visit it for weeks together. 
 
 Brindley had very little time for friendship, 
 and still less for courtship. Nevertheless, he did 
 contrive to find time for marrying, though at a 
 comparatively advanced period of his life. In lay- 
 ing out the Grand Trunk Canal, he was necessarily 
 brought into close connection with Mr. John 
 Henshall, of the Bent, near New Chapel, land- 
 surveyor, who assisted him in making the survey. 
 He visited Henshall at his house in September, 
 1762, and then settled with him the preliminary 
 operations. During his visits Brindley seems to 
 have taken a special liking for Mr. Henshall's 
 daughter Anne, then a girl at school, and when 
 he went to see her father, he was accustomed to 
 take a store of gingerbread for Anne in his pocket. 
 She must have been a comely girl, judging by the 
 portrait of her as a woman, which we have seen. 
 
 In due course of time, the liking ripened into 
 an attachment ; and shortly after the girl had 
 
344 
 
 BRINDLEY S MARRIAGE 
 
 [chap vii 
 
 left school, at the age of only nineteen, Brindley 
 proposed to her, and was accepted. By that time 
 he was close upon his fiftieth year, so that the 
 union may possibly have been guite as much a 
 matter of convenience as of love on his part. He 
 had now left the Duke's service for the purpose 
 of entering upon the construction of the Grand 
 Trunk Canal, and with that object resolved to 
 transfer his home to the immediate neighbour- 
 hood of Harecastle, as well as of his collier}- at 
 Golden Hill. Shortly after the marriage, the old 
 mansion of Turnhurst fell vacant, and Brindley 
 with his young wife became its occupants. The 
 marriage took place on the 8th December, 1765, 
 in the parish church of Wolstanton, Brindley 
 being described in the register as " of the parish 
 of Leek, engineer;" but from that time until the 
 date of his death his home was at Turnhurst. 
 
 The house at Turnhurst was a comfortable, 
 roomy, old-fashioned dwelling, with a garden and 
 pleasure-ground behind, and a little lake in front. 
 It was formerly the residence of the Bellot family, 
 and is said to have been the last mansion in 
 England in which a family fool was maintained. 
 Sir Thomas Bellot, the last of the name, was a 
 keen sportsman, and the panels of several of the 
 upper rooms contain pictorial records of some of 
 his exploits in the field. In this way Sir Thomas 
 seems to have squandered his estate, and it shortly 
 after became the property of the Alsager family, 
 from whom Brindley rented it. A little summer- 
 house, standing at the corner of the outer court- 
 yard, is still pointed out as Brindley's office, where 
 he sketched his plans and prepared his calcula- 
 tions. As for his correspondence, it was nearly all 
 
CHAP VIl] ] IIS HOUSE AT TURNHURST 345 
 
 conducted, subsequent to his marriage, by his wife, 
 who, notwithstanding her youth, proved a most 
 clever, useful, and affectionate partner. 
 
 Turnhurst was conveniently near to the works 
 then in progress at Harecastle Tunnel, which was 
 within easy walking distance, whilst the colliery at 
 Golden Hill was only a few fields off. From the 
 elevated ground at Golden Hill, the whole range 
 
 Brindley's House at Turnhurst 
 
 of high ground may be seen under which the 
 tunnel runs — the populous Pottery towns of Tun- 
 stall and Burslem filling the valley of the Trent 
 towards the south. At Golden Hill, Brindley 
 carried out an idea which he had doubtless brought 
 with him from Worsley. He and his partners 
 had an underground canal made from the main 
 line of the Harecastle Tunnel into their coal-mine, 
 
346 brindley's fatal illness [chap vii 
 
 about a mile and a half in length ; and by that 
 tunnel the whole of the coal above that level was 
 afterwards worked out, and conveyed away for 
 sale in the Pottery and other districts, to the great 
 profit of the owners and much to the convenience 
 of the public. 
 
 These various avocations involved a great 
 amount of labour as well as anxiety, and probably 
 considerable tear and wear of the vital powers. 
 But we doubt whether mere hard work ever killed 
 any man, or whether Brindley's labours, extra- 
 ordinary though they were, would have shortened 
 his life, but for the far more trying condition of 
 the engineer's vocation — irregular living, exposure 
 in all weathers, long fasting, and then, perhaps, 
 heavy feeding when the nervous system was ex- 
 hausted, together with habitual disregard of the 
 ordinary conditions of physical health. These are 
 the main causes of the shortness of life of most 
 of our eminent engineers, rather than the amount 
 and duration of their labours. Thus the constitu- 
 tion becomes strained, and is ever ready to break 
 down at the weakest place. Some violation of the 
 natural laws more flagrant than usual, or a sudden 
 exposure to cold or wet, merely presents the 
 opportunity for an attack of disease which the 
 ill-used physical system is found unable to resist. 
 
 Such an accidental exposure unhappily proved 
 fatal to Brindley. While engaged one day in 
 surveying a branch canal between Leek and 
 Froghall, he got drenched near Ipstones, and 
 went about for some time in his wet clothes. 
 This he had often before done with impunit}', 
 and he might have done so again ; but, unfortu- 
 nately, he was put into a damp bed in the inn at 
 
CHAP vn] 
 
 HIS DEATH 
 
 347 
 
 Ipstones, and this proved too much for his con- 
 stitution, robust though he naturally was. He 
 became seriously ill, and was disabled from all 
 further work. Diabetes shortly developed itself, 
 and, after an illness of some duration, he expired 
 at his house at Turnhurst, on the 27th of Sep- 
 tember, 1772, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, 
 and was interred in the burying-ground at New 
 Chapel, a few fields distant from his dwelling. 
 
 James Brindley was probably one of the most 
 remarkable instances of self-taught genius to be 
 found in the whole range of biography. The 
 impulse which he gave to social activity, and the 
 ameliorative influence which he exercised upon 
 the condition of his countrymen, seem out of all 
 proportion to the meagre intellectual culture which 
 he had received in the course of his laborious and 
 active career. We must not, however, judge him 
 merely by the literary test. It is true, he could 
 scarcely read, and he was thus cut off, to his own 
 great loss, from familiar intercourse with a large 
 class of cultivated minds, living and dead; for he 
 could with difficulty take part in the conversa- 
 tion of educated men, and he was unable to profit 
 by the rich stores of experience treasured up in 
 books. Neither could he write, except with diffi- 
 culty and inaccurately, as we have shown by the 
 extracts above quoted irom his note-books, which 
 are still extant. 
 
 Brindley was, nevertheless, a highly-instructed 
 man in many respects. He was full of the results 
 of careful observation, ready at devising the best 
 methods of overcoming material difficulties, and 
 possessed of a powerful and correct judgment in 
 
34* 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [chap vii 
 
 matters of business. When any emergency arose, 
 his quick invention and ingenuity, cultivated by 
 experience, enabled him almost at once unerringly 
 to suggest the best means of providing for it. His 
 ability in this way was so remarkable, that those 
 about him attributed the process by which he 
 arrived at his conclusions rather to instinct than 
 reflection— the true instinct of genius. " Mr. 
 Brindley," said one of his contemporaries, "is one 
 of those great geniuses whom Nature sometimes 
 rears by her own force, and brings to maturity 
 without the necessity of cultivation. His whole 
 plan is admirable, and so well concerted that he 
 is never at a loss ; for, if any difficulty arises, he 
 removes it with a facility which appears so much 
 like inspiration, that you would think Minerva was 
 at his fingers' ends." 
 
 His mechanical genius was indeed most highly 
 cultivated. From the time when he bound himself 
 apprentice to the trade of a millwright — impelled 
 to do so by the strong bias of his nature — he had 
 been undergoing a course of daily and hourly 
 instruction. There was nothing to distract his 
 attention, or turn him from pursuing his favourite 
 study of practical mechanics. The training of his 
 inventive faculty and constructive skill was, indeed, 
 a slow but a continuous process ; and when the 
 time and the opportunity arrived for turning these 
 to account — when the silk-throwing machinery of 
 the Congleton mill, for instance, had to be per- 
 fected and brought to the point of effectively per- 
 forming its intended work — Brindley was found 
 able to take it in hand and carry out the plan, 
 when even its own designer had given it up in 
 despair. But it must also be remembered that this 
 
CHAP VII J HIS QUICKNESS OF OBSERVATION 
 
 349 
 
 extraordinary ability of Brindley was in a great 
 measure the result of close observation, painstaking 
 study of details, and the most indefatigable industry. 
 
 The same qualities were displayed in his im- 
 provements of the steam-engine, and his arrange- 
 ments to economise power in the pumping of water 
 from drowned mines. It was often said of his 
 works, as was said of Columbus's discovery, " How 
 easy ! how simple ! " but this was after the fact. 
 Before he had brought his fund of experience and 
 clearness of vision to bear upon a difficulty, every 
 one was equally ready to exclaim " How difficult ! 
 how absolutely impracticable!" This was the case 
 with his "castle in the air," the Barton Viaduct — 
 such a work as had never before been attempted in 
 England, though now any common mason would 
 undertake it. It was Brindley's merit always to be 
 ready with his simple, practical expedient ; and he 
 rarely failed to effect his purpose, difficult although 
 at first sight its accomplishment might seem to be. 
 
 Like men of a similar stamp, Brindley had great 
 confidence in himself and in his powers and 
 resources. Without this, it had been impossible 
 for him to have accomplished so much as he did. 
 It is said that the King of France, hearing of his 
 wonderful genius, and the works he had performed 
 for the Duke of Bridgewater at Worsley, expressed 
 a desire to see him, and sent a message inviting 
 him to view the Grand Canal of Languedoc. But 
 Brindley's reply was characteristic : " I will have 
 no journeys to foreign countries," said he, " unless 
 to be employed in surpassing all that has been 
 already done in them." 
 
 His observation was remarkably quick. In sur- 
 veying a district, he rapidly noted the character of 
 
35o 
 
 JAMES BRINDLEY 
 
 [CHAP VII 
 
 the country, the direction of the hills and the valleys, 
 and, after a few journeys on horseback, he clearly 
 settled in his mind the best line to be selected for a 
 canal, which almost invariably proved to be the right 
 one. In like manner he would estimate with great 
 rapidity the fall of a brook or river while walking 
 along the banks, and thus determined the height of 
 his cuttings and embankments, which he afterwards 
 settled by a more systematic survey. In these 
 estimates he was rarely, if ever, found mistaken. 
 
 His brother-in-law, Mr. Henshall, has said of 
 him, " when any extraordinary difficulty occurred 
 to Mr. Brindley in the execution of his works, 
 having little or no assistance from books or the 
 labours of other men, his resources lay within 
 himself. In order, therefore, to be quiet and unin- 
 terrupted whilst he was in search of the necessary 
 expedients, he generally retired to his bed ; * 
 and he has been known to be there one, two, or 
 three days, till he had attained the object in view. 
 He would then get up and execute his design, 
 without any drawing or model. Indeed, it was 
 never his custom to make either, unless he was 
 obliged to do it to satisfy his employers. His 
 memory was so remarkable that he has often 
 declared that he could remember, and execute, all 
 the parts of the most complex machine, provided 
 he had time, in his survey of it, to settle in his 
 mind the several parts and their relations to each 
 other. His method of calculating the powers of 
 
 * The younger Pliny seems to have adopted almost a similar 
 method: "Clausse fenestra; manent. Mire enim silentio et tene- 
 bris animus alitur. Ab iis qu;c avocant abductus, et liber, et mihi 
 relictus, non oculos animo sed animum oculis sequor, qui eadem 
 qiue mens vident quoties non vident alia." — Epist. lib. ix.. cp. 36. 
 
CHAP VII~| MECHANICS HIS ONLY PLEASURE 
 
 351 
 
 any machine invented by him was peculiar to 
 himself. He worked the question for some time 
 in his head, and then put down the results in 
 figures. After this, taking it up again at that 
 stage, he worked it further in his mind for a 
 certain time, and set down the results as before. 
 In the same way he still proceeded, making use 
 of figures only at stated parts of the question. Yet 
 the ultimate result was generally true, though the 
 road he travelled in search of it was unknown to 
 all but himself, and perhaps it would not have been 
 in his power to have shown it to another." * 
 
 The statement about his taking to bed to study 
 his more difficult problems is curiously confirmed 
 by Brindley's own note-book, in which he occa- 
 sionally enters the words " lay in bed," as if to 
 mark the period, though he does not particularise 
 the object of his thoughts on such occasions. It 
 was a great misfortune for Brindley, as it must 
 be to every man, to have his mental operations 
 confined exclusively within the limits of his pro- 
 fession. Anthony Trollope well observes, that 
 " industry is a good thing, and there is no bread 
 so sweet as that which is eaten in the sweat of a 
 man's brow; but the sweat that is ever running 
 makes the bread bitter." Brindley thought and 
 lived mechanics, and never rose above them. He 
 found no pleasure in anything else; amusement of 
 every kind was distasteful to him ; and his first 
 
 * ' Biographia Britannica,' 2nd Ed. Edited by Dr. Kippis. 
 The materials of the article are acknowledged to have been ob- 
 tained principally from Mr. Henshall by Messrs. Wedgwood and 
 Bentley, who wrote and published the memoir in testimony of their 
 admiration and respect for their deceased friend, the engineer of 
 the Grand Trunk Canal. 
 
352 
 
 brindley's private character [chap VII 
 
 visit to the theatre, when in London, was also his 
 last. Shut out from the humanising influence of 
 books, and without any taste for the politer arts, 
 his mind went on painfully grinding in the mill of 
 mechanics. " He never seemed in his element," 
 said his friend Bentley, " if he was not either 
 planning or executing some great work, or con- 
 versing with his friends upon subjeets of impor- 
 tance." To the last he w T as full of projects and full 
 of work ; and then the wheels of life came to a 
 sudden stop, when he could work no longer. 
 
 It is related of him that, when dying, some 
 eager canal undertakers insisted on having an 
 interview with him. They had encountered a 
 serious difficulty in the course of constructing 
 their canal, and they must have the advice of Mr. 
 Brindley on the subject. They were introduced to 
 the apartment where he lay scarce able to gasp, yet 
 his mind was clear. They explained their difficulty 
 — they could not make their canal hold water. 
 " Then puddle it," said the engineer. They ex- 
 plained that the}' had already done so. "Then 
 puddle it again — and again." This was all he could 
 say, and it was enough. 
 
 It remains to be added that, in his private 
 character, Brindley commanded general respect 
 and admiration. His integrity was inflexible ; his 
 manner, though rough and homely, was kind ; and 
 his conduct unimpeachable.* He was altogether 
 
 * It has, indeed, been stated in the strange publication of the 
 last Earl of Bridgewater, to which we have already alluded, that 
 when in the service of the Duke, Brindley was " drunken.'' But 
 this is completely contradicted by the testimony of Brindley's own 
 friends ; by the evidence of Brindley's note-book, from repeated 
 entries in which it appears that his "ating and drink "at dinner 
 cost no more than S<7. ; by the confidence generally reposed in him, 
 
CHAP VI l] 
 
 HIS FAMILY 
 
 353 
 
 unassuming and unostentatious, and dressed and 
 lived with great plainness. His was the furthest 
 possible from a narrow or jealous temper, and 
 nothing gave him greater pleasure than to assist 
 others with their inventions, and to train up a 
 generation of engineers in his pupils, qualified to 
 carry out the works he had himself designed, when 
 he should be no longer able to conduct them. The 
 principal undertakings in which he was engaged up 
 to the time of his death were carried on by his 
 brother-in-law, Mr. Henshall, formerly his clerk of 
 the works on the Grand Trunk Canal, and by his 
 able pupil, Mr. Robert Whitworth, for both of 
 whom he had a peculiar regard, and of whose 
 integrity and abilities he had the highest opinion. 
 
 Brindley left behind him two daughters, one of 
 whom, Susannah, married Mr. Bettington, of Bristol, 
 merchant, afterwards the Honourable Mr. Betting- 
 ton, of Brindley's Plains, Van Diemen's Land, where 
 their descendants still live. His other daughter, 
 Anne, died unmarried, on her passage home from 
 Sydney, in 1838. His widow, still young, married 
 again, and died at Longport in 1826. Brindley had 
 the sagacity to invest a considerable portion of his 
 savings in Grand Trunk shares, the great increase 
 in the value of which, as well as of his colliery 
 property at Golden Hill, enabled him to leave his 
 family in affluent circumstances. 
 
 Before finally dismissing the subject of Brindley's 
 
 and the friendship entertained for him, by such men as Josiah 
 Wedgwood ; and by the fact of the vast amount of w ork that he 
 subsequently contrived to get through. No man of "drunken" 
 habits could possibly have done this. We should not have referred 
 to this topic but for the circumstance that the late Mr. Baines, of 
 Leeds, has quoted the Earl's statement, without contradiction, in 
 his excellent ' History of Lancashire.' 
 
354 INFLUENCE OF BRINDLEY's CANALS [CHAP VII 
 
 canals, we may briefly allude to the influence which 
 thej' exercised upon the enterprise as well as the 
 speculation of the time. "When these fellows," 
 says Sheridan in the ' Critic,' " have once got hold 
 of a good thing, they do not know when to stop." 
 This might be said of the speculative projectors 
 of canals, as afterwards of railways. The com- 
 mercial success which followed the opening of the 
 Duke's Canal, and shortly after it the Grand Trunk, 
 soon infected the whole country, and canal schemes 
 were projected in great numbers for the accom- 
 modation even of the most remote and unlikely 
 places. 
 
 In those districts where the demand for im- 
 proved water communication grew out of an actual 
 want — as, for instance, where it was necessary to 
 open up a large coal-field for the supply of a popu- 
 lation urgently in need of fuel — or where two large 
 towns, such as Manchester and Liverpool, required 
 to be provided with a more cheap and convenient 
 means of trading intercourse than had formerly 
 existed — or where districts carrying on extensive 
 and various manufactures, such as Birmingham, 
 Wolverhampton, and the Potteries, needed a more 
 ready means of communication with other parts of 
 the kingdom — there was no want of trade for the 
 canals ; and those constructed for such purposes 
 very soon had as much traffic as they could carry. 
 The owners of land discovered that their breed 
 of horses was not destroyed, and that their estates 
 were not so cut up as to be rendered useless, as 
 many of them had prognosticated. On the con- 
 trary, the demand for horses to carry coals, lime, 
 manure, and goods to and from the canal depots, 
 rapidly increased. The canals meandering through 
 
CHAF VI i] ON ENTERPRISE AND SPECULATION 355 
 
 their green fields were no such unsightly objects 
 after all, and they very soon found that inasmuch 
 as the new water-ways readily enabled agricultural 
 produce to reach good markets in the large 
 towns, they were likely even to derive considerable 
 pecuniary advantages from their formation. 
 
 Another objection alleged against canals, on 
 public grounds, was alike speedily disproved. It 
 was said that inland navigation, by reason of its 
 greater cheapness, ease, and certainty, must neces- 
 sarily diminish the coasting trade, and consequently 
 discourage the training of seamen, who formed the 
 constitutional bulwark of the kingdom. But the 
 extraordinarily rapid growth of the shipping-trade 
 of Liverpool, and the vastly increased number of sea- 
 going vessels required to accommodate the traffic 
 converging on that seaport, very soon showed that 
 canals, instead of diminishing, w T ere calculated 
 immensely to promote the naval power and 
 resources of England. Thus it was found that in 
 the thirty years which elapsed subsequent to the 
 opening of the Duke's Canal between Worsley and 
 Manchester, — during which time the navigation had 
 also been opened to the Mersey, and the Grand 
 Trunk and other main canals had been constructed, 
 connecting the principal inland towns with the sea- 
 ports, — the tonnage of English ships had increased 
 threefold, and the number of sailors been more 
 than doubled. 
 
 So great an impulse had thus been given to the 
 industry of the country, and it had become so clear 
 that facility of communication must be an almost 
 unmixed good, that a desire for the extension of 
 canals sprang up in all districts ; and instead of being 
 resisted and denounced, they became everywhere 
 
356 INFLUENCE OF BRINDLEY's CANALS [CHAP VII 
 
 the rage. They were advocated in pamphlets, in 
 newspapers, and at public meetings. One enthu- 
 siastic pamphleteer, advocating the formation of a 
 canal between Kendal and Manchester, denounced 
 the wretched state of the turnpike-roads, which 
 were maintained by " an enormous tax," and ex- 
 claimed, " May we all scorn to plod through the 
 dirt as we long have done at so large an expense ; 
 and for the support of our drooping manufactories, 
 let canals be made through the whole nation as 
 common as the public highways." * 
 
 There seemed, indeed, to be every probability 
 that this desire would be shortly fulfilled ; for so 
 soon as the canals which had been made began to 
 pay dividends, the strong motive of personal gain 
 became superadded to that of public utility. The 
 rapid increase of wealth which they promoted 
 served to stimulate the projection of new schemes; 
 and in a very few years after Brindley's death we 
 find an immense number of Navigation Acts re- 
 ceiving the sanction of the legislature, and canal 
 works in progress in all parts of the country. The 
 shares were quoted upon 'Change, where they be- 
 came the subject of commerce, and very shortly of 
 wild speculation. 
 
 By the year 1792, the country was in a perfect 
 ferment about canal shares. Notices of eighteen 
 new canals were published in the ' Gazette' of the 
 1 8th August in that year. The current premiums 
 on single shares in those companies for which Acts 
 had been obtained were as follows : Grand Trunk, 
 350/.; Birmingham and Fazeley, 1170/. ; Coventry, 
 
 * " A Cursory View of a proposed Canal from Kendal to the 
 Duke of Bridgewater's Canal, leading to the great manufacturing 
 town of Manchester.' 1785. 
 
CHAP VIl] ON ENTERPRISE AND SPECULATION 
 
 357 
 
 350/.; Leicester, 155/.; and so on. There was a 
 rush to secure allotments in the new schemes, and 
 the requisite capitals were at once eagerly sub- 
 scribed. At the first meeting, held in 1790, of the 
 promoters of the Ellesmere Canal, 112 miles in 
 extent, to connect the Mersey, the Dee, and the 
 Severn, applications were made for four times the 
 disposable number of shares. 
 
 A great number of worthless and merely specu- 
 lative schemes were thus set on foot, which brought 
 ruin upon many, and led to waste both of labour 
 and capital. But numerous sound projects were 
 at the same time launched, and an extraordinary 
 stimulus was given to the prosecution of measures, 
 too long delayed, for effectually opening up the 
 communications of the country. The movement 
 extended to Scotland, where the Forth and Clyde 
 Canal, and the Crinan Canal, were projected ; and 
 to Ireland, where the Grand Canal and Royal Canal 
 were undertaken. But, as Arthur Young pithily 
 remarked, in reference to these latter projects, 
 " a history of public works in Ireland would be a 
 history of jobs." 
 
 In the course of the four years ending in 1794, 
 not fewer than eighty-one Canal and Navigation 
 Acts were obtained: of these, forty-five were passed 
 in the two latter years, authorising the expendi- 
 ture of not less than 5,300,000/. As in the case of 
 the railways at a subsequent period, works which 
 might, without pressure upon the national re- 
 sources, easily have been executed if spread over a 
 longer period, were undertaken all at once ; and the 
 usual consequences followed, of panic, depreciation, 
 and loss. 
 
 But though individuals lost, the public were 
 
35« 
 
 CANALS AND RAILWAYS 
 
 [CHAP VII 
 
 eventually the gainers. Many projects fell through, 
 but the greater number were commenced, and after 
 passing through the usual financial difficulties, were 
 finished and used for traffic. The country became 
 thoroughly opened up in all directions by about 
 2600 miles of navigable canals in England, 276 miles 
 in Ireland, and 225 miles in Scotland. The cost 
 of executing these great water-ways is estimated 
 to have amounted to about fifty millions sterling. 
 There was not a place in England south of Durham, 
 more than fifteen miles from water communica- 
 tion ; and most of the large towns, especially in the 
 manufacturing districts, were directl} - accommo- 
 dated with the means of easy transport of their 
 goods to the principal markets. "At the beginning 
 of the present century," says Dr. Aiken, writing- 
 in 1795, "it was thought a most arduous task to 
 make a high road practicable for carriages over the 
 hills and moors which separate Yorkshire from 
 Lancashire, and now they are pierced through by 
 three navigable canals!" 
 
 Notwithstanding the great additional facilities 
 for conveyance of merchandise which have been 
 provided of late years by the construction of rail- 
 ways, a very large proportion of the heavy carrying 
 trade of the country still continues to be conducted 
 upon canals. It was indeed at one time proposed, 
 during the railway mania, and that by a somewhat 
 shrewd engineer, to fill up the canals and make 
 railways of them. It was even predicted, during 
 the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester 
 Railway, that "within twelve months of its opening, 
 the Bridgewater Canal would be closed, and the 
 place of its waters be covered over with rushes." 
 But canals have stood their ground, even against 
 
CHAP VI l] 
 
 MODERN CANAL TRAFFIC 
 
 359 
 
 railways ; and the Duke's Canal, instead of being 
 closed, continues to carry as much traffic as ever. 
 It has lost the conveyance of passengers by the 
 fly-boats,* it is true ; but it has retained and in 
 many respects increased its traffic in minerals and 
 merchandise. The canals have stood the competi- 
 tion of railways far more successfully than the old 
 turnpike-roads, though these too are still, in their 
 way, as indispensable as canals and railways them- 
 selves. Not less than twenty millions of tons of 
 traffic are estimated to be carried annually upon 
 the canals of England alone, and this quantity is 
 steadily increasing. In 1835, before the opening of 
 the London and Birmingham Railway, the through 
 tonnage carried on the Grand Junction Canal was 
 310,475 tons; and in 1845, after the railway had 
 been open for ten years, the tonnage carried on the 
 canal had increased to 480,626 tons. At a meeting 
 of proprietors of the Birmingham Canal Naviga- 
 tions, held in October, i860, the chairman said, 
 " the receipts for the last six months were, with 
 one exception, the largest they had ever had." 
 
 Railways are a great invention, but in their 
 day canals were as highly valued, and indeed quite 
 as important; and it is fitting that the men by 
 
 * The following curious paragraph is from the ' Times ' of the 
 19th December, 1806. It relates to the despatching of troops from 
 London for Ireland, during a time of great excitement : — " The 
 first division of the troops that are to proceed by Paddington 
 Canal for Liverpool, and thence by transports for Dublin, will 
 leave Paddington to-day, and will be followed by others to-morrow, 
 and on Sunday. By this mode of conveyance the men will be 
 only seven days in reaching Liverpool, and with comparatively 
 little fatigue, and it would take them above fourteen days to march 
 that distance. Relays of fresh horses for the canal-boats have 
 been ordered to be in readiness at all the stations." 
 
360 
 
 MODERN CANAL TRAFFIC 
 
 [CHAP VII 
 
 whom they were constructed should not be for- 
 gotten. We may be apt to think lightly of the 
 merits and achievements of the early engineers, 
 now that works of so much greater magnitude are 
 accomplished without difficulty. The appliances of 
 modern mechanics enable men of this day to dwarf 
 by comparison the achievements of their prede- 
 cessors, who had obstructions to encounter which 
 modern engineers know nothing of. The genius 
 of the older men now seems slow, although they 
 were the wonder of their own age. The canal, and 
 its barges tugged along by horses, may appear a 
 cumbersome mode of communication, beside the 
 railway and the locomotive with its power and 
 speed. Yet canals still are, and will long continue 
 to form, an essential part of our great system of 
 commercial communication, — as much so as roads, 
 railways, or the ocean itself. 
 
 Urindley's Burial-place at New Chapel. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 The Grand Canal of Languedoc and its Constructor, 
 Pierre-Paul Riquet de Bonrepos. 
 
 The Canal du Midi, more commonly known as the Grand 
 Canal of Languedoc, was one of the most important works of 
 the kind at the time at which it was executed, though it has 
 since been surpassed by many canals in France, as well as in 
 England and other countries. It was commenced in 1666, 
 about a hundred years before Brindley began the Bridgewater 
 Canal, and it was finished in 1681. The magnitude and im- 
 portance of the work will be understood from the following 
 brief statement of facts. 
 
 The canal crosses the isthmus which connects France with 
 Spain, along the valley between the Pyrenees and the Rhone, 
 and extends from the Garonne at Toulouse (which is navigable 
 from thence to the Bay of Biscay) to Cette on the shores of the 
 Mediterranean, thus uniting that sea with the Atlantic Ocean. 
 The length of the navigation, from Toulouse to Cette, is about 
 158 English miles, including its passage through Lake Thau, 
 near Cette, where, in consequence of the shallowness of the 
 lake, it is confined for a considerable distance within artificial 
 dykes. The canal is carried along its course over rivers, and 
 under hills, by means of numerous aqueducts, bridges, and 
 tunnels. From the Garonne to the summit it rises 207 feet by 
 twenty-six locks ; the summit level is 3A- miles, after which it 
 descends by thirty-seven locks into the Aude near Carcassonne. 
 It then proceeds along the north side of that river, passing over 
 several streams, and descending by twenty-two locks into Lake 
 Thau. There are other locks in the neighbourhood of Tou- 
 louse and Cette ; the whole number being above a hundred. 
 The fall from the summit at Naurouse to the Mediterranean is 
 621^ feet; a fact of itself which bespeaks the formidable 
 character of the undertaking. 
 
 The Grand Canal of Languedoc was constructed by Pierre- 
 Paul Riquet de Bonrepos, a man of extraordinary force of 
 character, bold yet prudent, enterprising and at the same time 
 
362 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 sagacious and patient, possessed by an inexhaustible capacity 
 for work, and endowed with a faculty for business, as displayed 
 in his organisation of the labours of others, amounting to genius. 
 Yet Riquet, like Brindley, was for the most part self-taught, 
 and was impelled by his instincts rather than by his education 
 to enter upon the construction of canals, wbich eventually 
 became the great business of his life. Presuming that an 
 account of the " French Brindley " will not be uninteresting to 
 English readers, we append the following summary of Riquet's 
 career in connection with the great enterprise in question. 
 
 The union of the Mediterranean with the Atlantic by means 
 of a navigable canal across the South of France had long formed 
 the subject of much curious speculation. The design of such 
 a work will be found clearly sketched out in the ' Memoires de 
 Sully ; 1 but the project seemed to be so difficult of execution, 
 that no steps were taken to carry it into effect until it was 
 vigorously taken in hand by Riquet in the reign of Eouis XIV. 
 Though descended from a noble stock (the Arrighetti or 
 Riquetti of Florence, to a branch of which Riquetti Marquis 
 de Mirabeau belonged), Riquet, at the time he took the scheme 
 in hand, was only a simple exciseman (homme de gabelle). His 
 place of residence was at the village of Bonrepos, situated near 
 the foot of the Montagne Noire, where he owned some property. 
 
 F'rance is there at about its narrowest part, and it had 
 naturally occurred to those who speculated on the subject of a 
 canal, that it would be of great public importance if by such 
 means the large navigable river, the Garonne, which flowed 
 into the Western Ocean, could be united to the smaller river, 
 the Aude, which flowed into the Mediterranean. Both had 
 their sources in the Pyrenees, and in one part of their course 
 the rivers were only about fourteen leagues apart. The idea 
 of joining them was thus perfectly simple. The great difficulty 
 was in the execution of the work, the levels being different, 
 and the intervening country rocky and mountainous. The 
 deputies from Languedoc to the States General of Paris had at 
 various times brought the subject of the proposed canal under 
 the notice of the Government, and engineers were even sent 
 into the locality to report as to the feasibility of the scheme ; 
 but the result of their examination only served to confirm 
 the general impression which prevailed as to the impracticable 
 character of the undertaking. 
 
 The situation of Riquet's property at the Montagne Noire 
 
GRAND CANAL OF I.ANGUEDOC 
 
 363 
 
 probably had the effect of directing his attention to the subject 
 of the proposed canal. Though the king had made him a 
 tax-gatherer, nature had made him a mathematician ; and his 
 studies having taken a practical turn, he gradually went from 
 geometry to levelling and surveying. His instruments and 
 appliances were of the simplest sort, but they proved sufficient 
 for his purpose. The Chancellor d'Aguesseau, in the memoir 
 of his father, who personally knew Riquet, says of him that 
 " the only instrument he then possessed was a wretched com- 
 pass of iron ; and it was this, with very little instruction and 
 assistance, that led him, guided mainly by his powerful natural 
 instinct, which often avails more than science, to form the daring 
 conception of uniting the Ocean with the Mediterranean." * 
 
 He carefully examined the course of the streams in his 
 neighbourhood, trying to find out some practicable method of 
 uniting the Garonne and the Aude, but more especially some 
 means of supplying the upper levels of the Canal which he had 
 in his mind's eye with sufficient water for purposes of naviga- 
 tion. With those objects he made many surveys of the adjacent 
 country, until he knew almost every foot of the ground for 
 thirty miles round. In the mean time he hired one Pierre, the 
 son of a well-sinker of Revel, to dig a number of experimental 
 little canals under his direction, in his gardens at Bonrepos, 
 where they are still to be seen. These miniature works 
 included conduits, sluices, locks, and even a model tunnel 
 through a hill. 
 
 At length, in the year 1662, he brought his plans under the 
 notice of the famous Minister Colbert. Addressing him from 
 the village of Bonrepos, Riquet said, " You will be surprised 
 that I should address you on a matter about which I might be 
 supposed to know nothing, and that an exciseman should mix 
 himself up with river surveying. But you will excuse my pre- 
 sumption when I inform you that it is by the order of the 
 Archbishop of Toulouse that I write to you." t He then pro- 
 ceeded to state that, having made a particular study of the 
 subject, he had formed definite plans for carrying into effect the 
 proposed canal, of which he enclosed a description, though in 
 a very imperfect form ; " for," he added, " not having learnt 
 Greek nor Latin, and scarce knowing how to speak French, it 
 is not possible for me to explain myself without stammering." 
 
 * 1 CEuvres de d'Aguesseau,' tome xiii. 
 
 t ' Histoire du Canal de Languedoc,' par les Descendants de Pierre- 
 Pau Riquet de Bonrepos. Paris, 1805. 
 
364 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Pointing out the great advantages to the nation of the proposed 
 canal, the time and the money that would be saved by enabling 
 French ships to avoid the long voyage between the west coast 
 and the Mediterranean by the Straits of Gibraltar, while the 
 resources of the rich districts of Languedoc and Guienne would 
 be freely opened up to the operations of commerce, Riquet 
 concluded by stating that when he had the pleasure of learning 
 that the project met with the general approval of the Minister, 
 he would send him the details of his plans, the number of locks 
 it would be necessary to provide, together with his calculations 
 of the exact length, breadth, depth, and other particulars of the 
 proposed canal. 
 
 Colbert, at that time Controller-General of Finance, was 
 actively engaged in opening up new sources of wealth to France, 
 and Riquet's plan at once attracted his attention and excited 
 his admiration. He lost no time in bringing it under the 
 notice of Louis XIV., whose mind was impressed by all under- 
 takings which bore upon them the stamp of greatness. The 
 king saw that Riquet's enterprise, if carried out, was calculated 
 to add to the glory of his reign ; and he resolved to assist it by 
 all the means in his power. By his order, a Royal Commission 
 was appointed to inquire into the scheme, examine on the spot 
 the direction of the proposed navigation, and report the result. 
 
 Meanwhile Riquet was not idle. He walked over the 
 entire line of the intended canal several times, correcting, 
 amending, and perfecting the details of his plans with 
 every possible care. " I have gone everywhere, all over the 
 ground," he wrote to the Archbishop, " with level, compass, 
 and measuring line, so that I am perfectly acquainted with the 
 route, the various lengths, the locks that will be required, the 
 nature of the soil, whether rock or pasture, the elevations, and 
 the number of mills along the line of navigation. In a word, 
 my Lord, I am ignorant of no point of detail in the project, 
 and the plan which I am prepared to submit will be faithful, 
 being made on the ground, and with full knowledge of the 
 subject." His survey finished, Riquet proceeded to Paris to 
 see Colbert, to whom he was introduced by his friend the Arch- 
 bishop ; and after many conferences, Riquet returned to Lan- 
 guedoc to prepare for the inspection of the proposed line of 
 navigation by the Commission. Their labours extended over 
 two months, beginning at Toulouse and ending at Beziers.* 
 
 * The Proces- Verbal des Commissures is preserved in the Manuscrits 
 Colbert, No. 202, Bibliotbique Imperiale. 
 
GRAND CANAL OF LANGUEDOC 
 
 36S 
 
 The result of the investigation was favourable to Riquet's plan, 
 which was pronounced practicable, with certain modifications, 
 more particularly as respected the water-supply ; and the Com- 
 missioners further recommended the extension of the proposed 
 canal to a harbour at Cette. 
 
 A long correspondence ensued between Riquet and Colbert 
 as to the details of the scheme. Riquet disputed the con- 
 clusions of the Commissioners as to the alleged difficulty of 
 constructing the works near Pierre de Naurouse intended for 
 the supply of water to the canal ; and, to show his confidence 
 in his own plans, he boldly offered to construct the conduit 
 there at his own risk and cost : " in undertaking to do which," 
 said he, " I risk both honour and goods ; for if I fail in satis- 
 factorily performing the work, I shall pass for a mere visionary, 
 and at the same time lose a considerable sum of money." So 
 much difference of opinion prevailed upon this point, — the men 
 of science alleging the inadequacy of Riquet's plans, and Riquet 
 himself urging their perfect sufficiency, — that Colbert resolved 
 that until this point was decided, no further step should be 
 taken to authorise the canal itself to be proceeded with. 
 
 But in order that Riquet might have an opportunity of 
 vindicating the soundness of his plans, and not improbably 
 with a view to test his practical ability to carry out the larger 
 works of excavation and construction, letters patent were issued 
 entrusting him to proceed with the necessary trench or conduit 
 to enable some experience to be obtained of the inclination of 
 the ground and the probability or otherwise of obtaining an 
 adequate supply of water for the navigation. 
 
 Riquet, with his usual promptitude, immediately began 
 the execution of this work. The rapidity with which he pro- 
 ceeded surprised everybody ; and the conduit was very speedily 
 finished to the entire satisfaction of the Government inspectors. 
 Having given this proof of his practical skill, and demonstrated 
 the possibility of supplying sufficient water to the summit level, 
 the king determined on authorising Riquet to proceed with the 
 construction of the canal. 
 
 The question of providing the requisite money for the purpose 
 formed the next important subject of consideration. As the 
 province of Languedoc would derive the principal advantages 
 from the navigation being opened out, it was proposed at the 
 assembly of the States, in 1665, that that province should con- 
 tribute a certain proportion of the cost, on condition that the 
 king should provide the remainder. Notwithstanding, however, 
 
366 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 the great advantages to the province of the construction of the 
 canal, the States of Languedoc would not untie their purse- 
 strings ; and they declared (26th February, 1666) that they would 
 neither then nor thereafter contribute towards its cost. On the 
 other hand, the royal treasury had become almost exhausted, 
 and any new expense could with difficulty be borne by it. 
 
 Riquet's demonstration of the possibility of uniting the 
 Mediterranean with the ocean had therefore thus far been in 
 vain. But he had fairly committed himself to the enterprise, and 
 he was not the man now to turn back. Having had the courage 
 to conceive the design, he urged the Government to allow the 
 work to proceed ; and he suggested a method by which in his 
 opinion the means might be provided without unnecessarily 
 burdening the public treasury. He offered to construct the 
 works upon the first division of the canal, from Toulouse to 
 Trebes near the river Aude, within a period of eight years, for 
 the sum of 3,630,000 livres ; and in payment of this sum he 
 proposed to the king that he should grant him the sole farming 
 of the taxes in Languedoc, Roussillon, Conflans, and Cerdagne 
 during six years, on the same terms at which they were then 
 held, and also that the offices of Controllers of peasants'-tax 
 (des tallies), of tradesmen's-tax, and of rights over the salt- 
 works of Pecais, should at the same time be assigned to him. 
 This was a bold offer ; but the Council of State accepted it, 
 and the necessary legal powers were accordingly granted to 
 Riquet, upon which measures were taken to enable him to 
 proceed with the works. 
 
 The plans which Riquet had prepared were revised and 
 settled by M. Cavalier, the Commissaire-General of Fortifica- 
 tions, who acted on behalf of the king. Riquet's plans had 
 been prepared with such care, that in his specification Cavalier 
 for the most part adopted them, only altering the dimensions,* 
 which were somewhat increased. The King's Engineer was 
 careful not to define too rigidly the manner in which the works 
 were to be carried out. He did not even trace a definite line 
 to be followed, but merely marked the general limits within 
 which the canal was to run. He foresaw that with experience, 
 many modifications might be found necessary in the progress 
 of the works, and he preferred leaving the management of the 
 details as much as possible to the skill and judgment of the 
 contracting engineer.f 
 
 * ' Canaux Navigable?,' par La Lande, 120. 
 t ' Histoire du Canal de Languedoc,' p. 50. 
 
GRAND CANAL OF LANGUEDOC 
 
 367 
 
 Riquet had now to display his genius in a new sphere. 
 Hitherto he had exhibited himself mainly as a designer ; he 
 had drawn plans, advocated and explained them to others, and 
 transacted the part of a diplomatist in getting them adopted. 
 Though bis execution of the conduit near Pierre de Naurouse 
 had enabled him to give satisfactory proofs of his engineering 
 skill, the work he was now about to enter upon was of a much 
 more formidable character, calling for the exercise of a varied 
 class of practical qualities. He had to direct the labours of a 
 very large number of men, to select the most suitable persons 
 to superintend their various operations, and meanwhile to give 
 his continuous attention to the carrying out of his plans, which 
 as in the case of all great undertakings, required constant 
 modification according to the many unforeseen circumstances 
 which from time to time occurred in the course of their 
 execution. 
 
 Anxious to proceed with the greatest despatch, Riquet 
 began with the organisation of his staff of workmen and super- 
 intendents. He divided them into a number of distinct 
 groups, appointing a chef d'attelier to each, under whom were 
 five brigadiers, each brigadier having the direction of fifty 
 workmen. These groups were again combined in departments, 
 a controller-general being appointed over each, and under 
 him were travelling controllers, who received the reports of 
 the brigadiers and chefs d'atteliers, and thus effectually main- 
 tained and concentrated the operations of the workpeople, who 
 sometimes numbered from eleven to twelve thousand. 
 
 Before Riquet had proceeded far with his enterprise, he 
 experienced a difficulty which has proved the bane of many a 
 grand scheme — want of money ! The produce of the taxes 
 above referred to was not sufficient to enable him to push on 
 the works with vigour ; but, rather than they should be delayed, 
 he himself incurred heavy debts, selling or mortgaging all his 
 available property to raise the requisite means. Notwith- 
 standing the early decision of the States of Languedoc not to 
 contribute towards the cost of constructing the canal, Riquet 
 again and again made urgent appeals to them for help, but 
 for some time in vain. Several grants had been made from 
 the royal treasury to enable the contract to proceed, but 
 Louis XIV. having become engaged in one of his expensive 
 wars, was no longer able to contribute ; and Riquet, having 
 come to the end of his own resources, began to fear lest the 
 canal works should be brought to a complete standstill. 
 
3 63 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Colbert continued his fast friend and supporter, and took 
 the most lively interest in the prosecution of the undertaking. 
 His name was indeed a tower of strength, and his influence was 
 in itself equal to a large capital. Of this Riquet on one occa- 
 sion made very adroit use, for the purpose of inducing the 
 States of Languedoc at length to take part in his enterprise. 
 It is said that, in order to impress upon their minds the con- 
 fidence reposed in him by the great Minister, and thus to 
 enhance his credit with them, he persuaded Colbert to allow 
 him to try the following ruse. He asked to be permitted to 
 enter his cabinet while he was engaged with the farmers- 
 general of the province in discussing the renewal of their 
 leases. Colbert consented ; and while thus occupied, Riquet 
 turned the key of the room-door, and entered and sat down, 
 without saying a word to any one, and without any one speak- 
 ing to him. The farmers-general looked at Riquet, then at the 
 Minister, who took no heed of him, and then at each other. 
 Strange that Colbert should place such confidence in Riquet 
 as to permit him thus to enter his private chamber at pleasure ! 
 A second meeting of the same kind took place, and again 
 Riquet entered as before. After the interview was over, the 
 farmers spoke to Riquet of his canal, and its great utility ; and 
 ended by offering to lend him 200,000 livres. Riquet, how- 
 ever, listened to the proposal very coolly, without accepting it. 
 At the end of a third interview with the Minister, at which 
 Riquet was present as before, the farmers raised their terms, 
 and offered to lend him 500,000 livres. Riquet replied that 
 he could do nothing without the sanction of the Minister; and 
 re-entering the cabinet of Colbert, he related to him what had 
 passed. The Minister was very much amused at Riquet's 
 adroitness, and readily give his sanction to the proposed loan.* 
 
 This advance proved the beginning of a series of loans of 
 great magnitude advanced to Riquet by the States of Langue- 
 doc to enable him to complete the canal. Though they were 
 slow to believe in the practicability of the scheme, and for 
 some time regarded it as impossible, their views changed when 
 they saw the first part of the canal completed from Toulouse 
 to Trebes, and opened for the purposes of navigation. They 
 were then ready to recognise its great public uses, and from 
 that time forward they exerted themselves to raise the neces- 
 sary money to enable it to be completed to its junction with 
 the Mediterranean at the port of Cette. 
 
 * This anecdote is given in the ' Memoires du Baion de BesenvaV 
 
GRAND CANAL OF LANGUEDOC 
 
 369 
 
 But Riquet had numerous difficulties to encounter besides 
 those arising from want of money in the course of his under- 
 taking. The prosecution of the works involved constant 
 anxiety and unremitting labour. One of his greatest troubles 
 was the conciliation of the owners of the land through which 
 the canal passed, many of whom were extremely hostile to the 
 enterprise, and feared that it would inflict irreparable injury 
 upon their property. Worse than all was the malice, mis- 
 representation, and calumny that pursued him. He was 
 denounced as an impostor, attempting to do an impossible 
 thing ; he was wasting public money upon a work which, even 
 if finished, could never be of any use. Before he began the 
 canal, it was predicted that water enough could never be 
 collected to supply the summit level ; and after that difficulty 
 had been satisfactorily solved, local detraction was directed 
 against the works. " Indeed," writes M. de Froidour to M. de 
 Barillon, " the people of the locality are so agreed in decrying 
 them that the wonder is to find a person who has not arrived 
 at the foregone conclusion that this enterprise can never 
 succeed." * 
 
 Notwithstanding the alleged uselessness of the canal, the 
 insufficiency of the works, and the prophecies of its failure 
 even if completed, Riquet bravely bore up, amidst toil, and 
 disappointments, and bodily suffering. He never lost hope or 
 courage, but persevered through all. Writing to Colbert in 
 April, 1667, he said, " I now know the strong as well as the 
 weak points of my work better than I before knew them ; and 
 I can assure you in all truth that it would not be easy to 
 imagine a grander or more useful undertaking ; I have all the 
 water-supply that I require, and the invention of my reservoirs 
 will furnish me during summer with sufficient to render the 
 navigation perpetual." 
 
 At another time he wrote to Colbert : — " My enterprise is 
 the dearest of my offspring : I look chiefly to the glory of it, 
 and your satisfaction, not my profit ; for though I wish to 
 leave the honour to my children, I have no ambition to leave 
 them great wealth." And again — " My object is not to enrich 
 myself, but to accomplish a useful work, and prove the sound- 
 ness of my design, which most people have hitherto regarded 
 as impossible." 
 
 About the beginning of 1670, after three years' labour, 
 
 * Three Letters from M. de Froidour to M. de Barillon, published at 
 Toulouse in 1672. 
 
 I. 2 B 
 
5/0 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 part of the canal was opened, from Toulouse to Duperier, and 
 used for the transport of materials. This was a comparatively 
 easy section of the undertaking. But Riquet was desirous of 
 exhibiting the practical uses of the canal at the earliest possible 
 period, not only for the purpose of mitigating the popular 
 opposition, but of encouraging the king, Colbert, and the 
 States-General, to support him with the necessary means to 
 complete the remainder of the navigation from Trebes to 
 Cette. Two years later, a further portion was finished and 
 opened for public traffic. The Archbishop embarked at 
 Naurouse, and sailed along the new canal down to Toulouse. 
 Four large barques ascended from the Garonne to Naurouse, 
 and returned freighted with provisions and merchandise. The 
 merchants of Gaillac, who had before been unable to send 
 their wines to Bordeaux for sale, were now enabled to do 
 so, and they established a packet-boat which regularly went 
 between Naurouse and Toulouse three times a week. 
 
 The remaining portions of the canal were in full progress. 
 The basins, the conduits, the locks, were all well advanced as far 
 as Castelnaudary, and Riquet was vigorously grappling with and 
 successively overcoming the great difficulties which occurred in 
 the construction of the works between that place and the 
 Mediterranean. Not the least among the number of his 
 obstructions were the quarrels between the two Commissioners 
 appointed by the king on the one hand, and by the States of 
 Languedoc on the other, to superintend the execution of the 
 undertaking. Each represented particular local interests, and 
 whilst one desired to keep the canal to the north, the other 
 wished it to proceed more to the south by way of Narbonne. 
 Between their contentions, Riquet had sometimes a difficult 
 course to steer. Thus, at Malpas, where it was necessary to 
 carry the canal by a tunnel under the hill of Enserune, both 
 Commissioners pronounced the work to be impracticable, 
 because the hill appeared to consist chiefly of a sandy stuff 
 permeable to water, and apt to give way. But they were far 
 from agreed as to the remedy, each urging upon Riquet the 
 adoption of an opposite course, one that he should carry the 
 canal northward by Maureillan, the other that he should carry 
 it southward by Nissan and Vendres. They both wrote to 
 Colbert, pointing out that Riquet's plan could never be carried 
 out ; that the scheme threatened to prove a total failure, 
 because his work had run its head into a sand-hill, at a point 
 where it had a lake on each side of it, from twenty- five to thirty 
 
GRAND CANAL OF LANGUEDOC 
 
 371 
 
 feet below its level. In the mean time the Commissioners gave 
 Riquet orders to suspend the further prosecution of the works. 
 
 Riquet put the orders in his pocket, and coolly resolved to 
 carry out his own plan. To conceal his design, he pretended 
 to abandon the trench leading to the mountain, and sent the 
 workmen to that part of the canal which lay between Beziers 
 and Agde. He then privily set a number of excavators to work 
 upon the mountain-side near Malpas, and in six days he had 
 vanquished " impossibility," and cut a clear passage through it 
 for his canal ! When the work was finished, he sent invitations 
 to the Cardinal de Bonzy and to the two Commissioners to 
 come and inspect what he had done. Creatly to their surprise, 
 he led them right through his tunnel, lit up with flambeaux ; 
 and his triumph was complete. 
 
 It was not so easy to overcome the constantly recurring 
 difficulties occasioned by the want of money. Nothing but 
 money would satisfy his thousands of workmen and work- 
 women (for of the latter about six hundred were employed), 
 and he was often put to the greatest straits for want of it. 'We 
 find him, in 1675, writing to Colbert in very urgent terms. 
 Unless supplied with funds, he represented that it would be 
 impossible for him to go on. " People tell me," said he, " that 
 I am only digging a canal in which to drown myself and my 
 family." The king ordered a remittance to be sent to Riquet, 
 but it was insufficient for his purposes. The costly harbour 
 works at Cette were now in full progress, absorbing a great 
 deal of money : and Riquet's creditors grew more and more 
 clamorous. Colbert urged the States of Languedoc to give 
 him more substantial help, and they complied so far as to vote 
 him a loan of 300,000 livres. But this money was only to be 
 advanced at different and remote periods. Thus it did little to 
 help him either in credit or in funds. " I am doing everything 
 that is possible," he again wrote to Colbert, on the 21st of 
 January, 1679, " t0 nn d persons that will lend me money to 
 enable me to finish the canal in the course of the present year. 
 But I am so overwhelmed with debt, that nobody will trust me, 
 so that I am under the necessity of again having recourse to 
 you, and informing you of my needs ; you will see what they are 
 by the enclosed statement ; I venture to ask that you will state 
 your wishes alongside of each item, so that I may be put in a 
 position to bring my enterprise to a successful termination : it 
 is my passion, and I shall be in despair if I cannot finish it. 
 Time flies ; and once lost, it can never be recovered." 
 
3.72 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Riquet had indeed reason to be apprehensive that he might 
 not live to complete his work. The strain upon his mind and 
 body for the fifteen years during which the canal was in pro- 
 gress had been very great, and he had more than one serious 
 attack of illness. But still the enterprise went forward. The 
 organisation established by him was so perfect that his occa- 
 sional absence from this cause was scarcely felt ; besides, his 
 eldest son was now in a manner competent to supply his place. 
 
 The third portion of the undertaking, consisting of the 
 harbour and sea entrance to the canal at Cette, was being 
 vigorously pushed on, and the canal was almost ready for 
 opening throughout from one end of it to the other, when, 
 worn out by toil and disease, Riquet breathed his last, without 
 having the satisfaction of seeing his glorious work brought 
 to completion. The canal was finished under the superin- 
 tendence of his son, and was opened for public traffic about 
 six months after Riquet's death. 
 
 The total cost of the canal was about sixteen million livres, 
 equal to 1,320,000/. sterling. Riquet sank all his own means 
 in it, and when he died it was found that his debts amounted to 
 more than two million livres. To defray them, his representa- 
 tives sold the principal part of the property he held in the 
 concern, and it was not until the year 1124, forty years after 
 the navigation had been opened, that it began to yield a 
 revenue to Riquet's heirs. 
 
 As in the case of many other great works, Riquet's merits 
 have not been left undisputed. Thirty years after his death, 
 a claim was set up on behalf of one of his assistants, M. 
 Andreossy, as having been the designer of the canal ; while, 
 more recently, a like claim has been made on behalf of 
 M. Cavalier, the king's engineer. Although all contemporary 
 witnesses had died before Riquet's merits, till then undisputed, 
 were thus called in question, happily the Archives of the canal 
 as well as the Colbert correspondence survive to prove that, 
 beyond the shadow of a doubt, Riquet was not only the in- 
 ventor and the designer, but the constructor, of the Grand 
 Canal of Languedoc. 
 
 It must, however, be admitted that the genius of this great 
 engineer has received but slight recognition among his own 
 countrymen, there not being a single tolerable memoir of 
 Riquet to be found in the whole range of French literature. To 
 this, however, it might be rejoined, that only a few years since 
 the same thing might have been said of our own Brindley. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 AIRE. 
 
 AIRE and Calder navigation, 186, 
 338-40- 
 
 Amwell springs, 64, 69, 81, 119. 
 Ancient embankment and drainage 
 
 works, I-16. 
 Andover Canal, 339. 
 Andreas, Peter de, 21. 
 Andreossy, French engineer, 372. 
 Anlaby Springs, Hull, 65. 
 Aude River, France, 361. 
 Avon River, improvement of, 149. 
 Axholme, Isle of, and district, 22, 
 
 23. 2 9- 
 
 Ban'Kside, Lambeth, 7. 
 
 Barton Aqueduct, 209-14 ; opening 
 
 of, 223, 234. 
 Bedford, Francis, Iiarl of, 35, 38, 53. 
 
 Level in the Fens, 36, 44, 53. 
 
 ■ River in the Fens, 38, 39, 43, 
 
 50. 
 
 Bennett, Ab., wheelwright, Brind- 
 ley's apprentice-master, 159 ; neg- 
 lects his apprentice, 160. 
 
 Birmingham Canal, 333, 336. 
 
 Bollin River, Cheshire, 242, 24S. 
 
 Boston, breach in Witham bank, 20. 
 
 Boswell, contractor, Dagenham, 
 
 129, 134- 
 
 Boulton, Mat., Birmingham, 333. 
 
 Brading Haven, reclamation, 100-9. 
 
 Bridgewater, Duke of, his birth and 
 childhood, 188 ; guardianship, 
 travels, 189; sporting life, 190; 
 love affair, 191 ; enters on active 
 useful life, 192 ; his 'Worsley 
 Collieries, 201 ; project of canal 
 from Worsley to Manchester, 
 
 BRINDLEY. 
 
 202 ; Acts obtained, 202-9, 
 241 ; Parliamentary proceedings, 
 205, 207, 234-5, 339-41 ; em- 
 ploys Brindley, 206 ; his con- 
 fidence in Brindley, 211 ; extends 
 canal to the Mersey, 223 ; boldness 
 of the enterprise, 246 ; provides 
 the Duke's Dock at Liverpool, 
 261 ; his financial difficulties, 
 263-9; his economical "estab- 
 lishment," 264; chased by the 
 rector, 266 ; opinion on coals 
 and canals, 272 ; his history, 246, 
 273, 276-87 ; his death, 287 ; 
 his personal influence and the 
 results of his works, 287-91. 
 
 Bridgewater Canal, first Act, 202 ; 
 maps of, 204-5 » second Act, 209 ; 
 opposition to, 234 ; plan of locks, 
 244 ; payment of workmen on, 
 252 ; cost of, 272. 
 
 , Earl of, 221, 254, 273, 287. 
 
 Brindley, James, birth and birth- 
 place, 155-6; Brindley's Croft, 
 156; his father, mother, 157-8; 
 boyhood, 159; is bound appren- 
 tice millwright, 159 ; considered 
 a bungler, 161 ; outstrips in skill 
 both master and men, 162-4 ; his 
 excellent work ; feat with paper- 
 mill machinery, 164-6 ; saves his 
 master, and conducts his business, 
 167 ; commences business at Leek, 
 168; is a "schemer;" his me- 
 moranda books, 169, 207, 223, 
 230-3. 239-41, 252-5, 311-13; 
 employed at Trentham, 170; at 
 the potteries, 171 ; drains Clifton 
 
374 
 
 INDEX 
 
 BRISTOL. 
 
 Colliery, 173 ; finishes a large 
 silk-mill, 176-7 ; erects mills at 
 the Potteries, 178-81 ; erects 
 steam-engine, 182-3; ta ^es out 
 patent, 184 ; his engine at Walker 
 Colliery, 185 ; surveys for Earl 
 Gower, 187 ; first connection with 
 the Gilberts, 203 ; engages with 
 the Duke of Bridgewater, 206 ; 
 survey and report, 206 ; purchase 
 at Turnhurst — to London for the 
 Duke, 208 ; his bold ideas, Barton 
 Aqueduct, 209-14 ; his handling 
 of running streams, 214-15 ; his 
 originality ; mechanical resources, 
 216-20 ; his temperament and 
 habits, 220, 343 ; surveys Liver- 
 pool and Manchester Canal, 223- 
 30 ; his various engagements in 
 Staffordshire, &c, 230-1, 334; 
 personal expenses, 231-3, 273 ; 
 goes to the play, 232 ; examined 
 by Parliamentary Committees, 
 237-8 ; his long level reaches of 
 canal, 244 ; his energy and fer- 
 tility of resources, 246-52 ; quarrel 
 with Gilbert, 254 ; his anxieties, 
 255 ; friendship with Earnshaw, 
 257-8 ; bold project of bridge 
 across the Mersey, 260 ; evenings 
 with the Duke and Gilbert, 266-7 ; 
 inadequate remuneration for his 
 services, 274-6 ; differences with 
 the Duke, 276 ; the Grand Trunk 
 Canal, 300-1, 311-14, 316-27; 
 his idea of the use of rivers, 331 ; 
 other canals constructed on his 
 plans, 332-6 ; scarcity of records 
 of his works, 337 ; canal projects 
 on which his advice was taken, 
 338-42 ; his pupils, 342 ; Ids 
 habits, courtship, marriage, 343- 
 4 ; his death, 347 ; his character, 
 347-53- 
 
 Bristol, 226 ; project for canal, I4S; 
 
 want of canals, 290, 302. 
 Britain, early settlement of, I-16. 
 Burslem, 171-2; Potters' manners, 
 
 304 ; rejoicings at, 319 ; improved 
 
 by canal, 328. 
 
 COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 Calder Navigation, 338. 
 Cambridge Fens, 35. 
 Cambridgeshire camels, 16. 
 
 Canals in Holland and England, 
 21 ; canals and streams, 214 ; 
 subterraneous canal,- 216, 271 ; 
 
 - canal locks, 238-40 ; canals in 
 level reaches, 244 ; canal ballast- 
 boats, 248 ; canal steam-boats, 
 282 ; rate of travelling on first 
 English canal, 289 ; fears of 
 traders ; opponents to canals, 
 315 ; canals and reduced cost of 
 carriage, 328-9 ; canals in England 
 by Brindley, 336 ; Grand Canal 
 of Languedoc, 349, 361 ; objec- 
 tions to and uses of canals, 355 ; 
 canal mania, 354-7 ; canals, ex- 
 tent of, 357 ; canal carrying troops ; 
 canals and railways, 359-60 ; ton- 
 nage carriage on canals, 359. See 
 Bridgewater ; Brindley. 
 
 Canvey Island reclaimed, 20, 26. 
 
 Carr Dyke, Lincolnshire, 12. 
 
 Cette, Languedoc Canal, 361, 365, 
 369-72. 
 
 Chadwell springs, 64, 69, 81. 
 
 Charles I. and drainage works, &c, 
 44-5, 4S, 54 ; gives up New- 
 River shares, 98. 
 
 Chat Moss, Lancashire, 192. 
 
 Cheshire salt manufacture and car- 
 riage, 301-3. 
 
 Chester as a port, 226. 
 
 Chesterfield Canal, 335-6. 
 
 Child and Co., bankers, 268-9. 
 
 Clifton Coal-mines, 173. 
 
 Coaches in Lancashire, 228, 
 
 Coal and canals, 326-7. 
 
 Coalbrookdale, 1S2, 185. 
 
 Coal mine ventilation, 219. 
 
 ■ supply and bad roads, 200, 
 203. 
 
 Cobs, or water-carriers, 62. 
 
 Colbert, minister, France, supports 
 Hiquet, 363-4, 368-72. 
 
 Collieries, the Duke of Bridge- 
 water's, 201, 205. 
 
 Commonwealth party and the Fens, 
 33) 34- 
 
IXDEX 
 
 375 
 
 CONDUITS. 
 
 Conduits of old London, 59-61. 
 Congleton, Cheshire, 232, 242, 253, 
 3°5- 
 
 Coventry Canal, 332-3, 336 ; value 
 
 of shares, 356. 
 Cromwell, Oliver, opposes drainage 
 
 works in the Fens, 33-4, 45-6. 
 Croppenburgh, Joas, and Canvey 
 
 Island, 20. 
 Crowland, reclamations at, 14. 
 Cwymsymlog Mines, III, 1 14-1 5. 
 
 Dagenham breaches, 22. 126-38. 
 
 Sec Perry. 
 Dane River, 164, 168. 
 Darren Hill Mines, III. 
 Dartmoor, 2 ; water springs, 67. 
 Dee River and navigation, 226, 3 1 1 . 
 Denbigh, X. Wales, 70, 77-9, 110, 
 
 116. 
 
 Denge Marsh, 4-5. 
 
 Denver Sluice, in the Fens, 51. 
 
 Deptford in early times, 125-6. 
 
 De Quincey's birthplace, 294. 
 
 Derwent and Trent, 318. 
 
 Don, the river, 27-8, 33. 
 
 Douglas Navigation, 152, 186. 
 
 Dove River, 321. 
 
 Dover Harbour, 140, 147. 
 
 Downham Eau, 51. 
 
 Drainage, I ■Sir Fens and Yer- 
 
 Drains, &c, J muyden. 
 
 Drake, Sir F., 67-8. 
 
 Droitwich Canal, 332-3, 336. 
 
 Dungeness, changes at, 6. 
 
 Dutch capital employed on English 
 
 works, 26, 29, 32, 36. 
 prisoners of war emploved, 
 
 5°- 
 
 river in the Fens, 28, 32. 
 
 settlers in the Fens, 26-7, 32, 
 
 42-3- 
 
 1 , the, as mechanics and manu- 
 facturers for England in early 
 times, 19-21, 103. 
 
 Dyke-reeves — dykes, 14. 
 
 Earnshaw, Lawrence, 257-8. 
 Elers, the Dutch potters, 171. 
 Ellesmere Canal profits, 257. 
 
 GOODS. 
 
 Elle^nere, Earl of, 190, 192, 244, 
 
 26S, 273-4, 283, 2S6. 
 Ely, Isle of, 13, 51, 56. 
 Engineering skill, payment for, 174. 
 England's dependence upon foreign 
 mechanics and skilled workmen 
 in early times, 20. 
 Epworth Common, 34. 
 I Erith Marsh, 7, 38, 50-1. 
 I Elruria, Staffordshire, 320. 
 
 Fen-men's hostility to drainage, 
 39. 41-2. 
 
 Fens, reclamation of, 9, 12-13 ! ma P 
 of, as drained, 37 ; population, 
 30, 39 ; products, 40, 56 ; riots, 
 29 ; salubrity of, 56. See Bed- 
 ford Level ; Great Level ; Ver- 
 muyden, Sir C. 
 
 Fenton Vivian steam-engine, 182- 
 3' 
 
 "Flash men," origin of, 155. 
 Flemish character of old Fen towns, 
 31-2. 
 
 workmen in the Fens, 20, 21, 
 
 29> 38 
 
 Flint-mills, 172, 178, 179-S0. 
 Fond, Y. Saint, on Wedgwood's 
 
 ware, 309. 
 Food supply and bad roads, 198. 
 Foreign workmen in England in 
 
 early times, 20, 27. 
 Forth and Clyde Canal, 338, 357. 
 Freeston, a Fleming, reclaimed 
 
 marsh near Wells, 20. 
 Frisian settlers in England, 3-6. 
 Fulton, the American, 281-2. 
 
 ! GARONNE River, France, 361-63. 
 
 Gilbert, John, Duke of liridge- 
 water's agent, 192, 232, 254, 
 267-8, 275 ; the Duke's confi- 
 dence, 283, 285 ; letter from 
 Brindley, 312. 
 
 , Thos., Lord Gower's agent, 
 
 203-4, 275 ; Staffordshire Canal, 
 
 312-13. 
 Golden Hill Colliery, 344-5. 
 Coods, cost of conveyance, 18th 
 I century, 144. 
 
376 
 
 INDEX 
 
 GOWER. 
 
 Gower, Earl, 170, 187, 245, 260, 
 2S1, 2S6, 300, 313. 
 
 Grand Trunk Canal, 311. 
 
 Great Level of the Fens ; locality 
 and extent, 9-11 ; first reclama- 
 tion by the Romans, 11-12 ; Isle 
 of Ely ; monastery and nunnery ; 
 monks reclaimers ; King Canute's 
 visit, 13 ; other Fen islands ; 
 Fen-law and usages, 14-15 ; pro- 
 ducts and population, 15-16; 
 climate; diseases; dangers, 17- 
 18 ; King James undertakes the 
 work ; Commission to inquire 
 and report, iS ; District Act for 
 drainage ; Yermuyden employed, 
 19 ; he contracts to reclaim the 
 Level ; outcry ; the contract 
 abrogated ; the Earl of Bedford 
 undertakes the woik, 35-6; map 
 of the Fens, 37 ; the drainage 
 works ; " Fen-slodgers," 39 ; op- 
 position to the works ; local poems 
 and ballads ; l< The Powte's Com- 
 plaint," 41-3; defects of plan, 
 44; King Charles undertakes re- 
 clamation ; works opposed by the 
 Parliamentarians, 46-7 ; works 
 destroyed and again resumed, 47- 
 9 ; the new works, 50-1 ; com- 
 pletion ; public thanksgiving, 53 ; 
 improvements in climate, pro- 
 ducts, &c. , from the drainage, 
 55-7- 
 
 Great Bedford Level, 11-20, 36, 
 
 43-4, 47-49- 
 Greenwich, East, Marsh, reclaimed, 
 
 20. 
 
 Gresham, Sir Thos., 73. 
 Guilds, London, 72. 
 Guildford Marsh, 4-6. 
 Guyhirne, 39, 51. 
 
 Hakes, Matt., Flemish engineer, 
 20. 
 
 llarecastle Tunnel, Grand Trunk 
 Canal, 300, 317, 320-24, 326, 
 344-5- 
 
 Hatfield Level drainage, 22-3 ; 
 water battue ; extent of the Level, 
 
 LEEK. 
 
 25 ; Vermuyden employed to re- 
 claim, 25 j Dutch capital and 
 workmen employed, 26-7 ; map 
 of the Chase ; the works, 28 ; 
 riotous opposition to reclamation, 
 29 ; Dutch settlers in the district, 
 31-2 ; the works destroyed, 33 ; 
 Colonel Lilburne's appropriation, 
 34 ; Perry's drain, 141. 
 
 Ilenshall, Brindley's relative, 157, 
 208, 275, 343, 350. 
 
 Holland, Lincolnshire, in early 
 limes, 12, 17. 
 
 Hull water-supply, 65. 
 
 and Liverpool Canal, 187. 
 
 Hythe, Komney Marsh, 6. 
 
 Idle, the River, 27. 
 
 Inland Navigation, importance of, 
 
 146-9. Sir Canals. 
 Irwell River, 151, 173-4, *86, 201, 
 
 206, 209-10. 
 Isle of Dogs, 125. 
 
 James I. and fen drainage, 18 ; Act 
 for water-supply, 64, 80 ; his 
 liberal and enterprising spirit, 90; 
 assists Myddelton, 90-1 ; falls 
 into the New River, 94 ; is half 
 proprietor of the New River, 
 96-7. 
 
 Johnson, Joas, Dutch engineer, 20. 
 Jones, Inigo, his low remuneration, 
 
 AS- 
 KING'S Delph (Canute's), 14. 
 Knutsford, Cheshire, 230. 
 
 Lambeth Marsh, 7. 
 
 Lancaster Canal, 33S. 
 
 Languedoc Grand Canal, 189, 349, 
 361 ; plans submitted, 363 ; work 
 commenced, 365 ; Riquet's finan- 
 cial plan, 366 ; labourers em- 
 ployed, 367 ; tunnel at Malpas, 
 370-1 ; cost of the whole work, 
 372. 
 
 Lead-mines in W ales, 112-16 
 Leeds and Liverpool Canal, 338. 
 I Leek, Staffordshire, 169. 
 
INDEX 
 
 377 
 
 LEICESTER. 
 
 Leicester Canal profits, 357. 
 
 Leigh, Lancashire, 244, 272. 
 
 Lilhurne, Colonel, and Epworth 
 Common, 34. 
 
 Lindsey Level drainage works de- 
 stroyed, 47. 
 
 Liverpool ; communications with 
 Manchester, 151, 186-8, 201, 
 223-6, 242-6, 260 ; Liverpool a 
 village, 225 ; Liverpool in 1650, 
 228 ; stage-coaches, 228-9 ! Duke's 
 Lock, 262 ; Railway survey, 266 ; 
 benefits from canal, 290 ; Grand 
 Trunk Canal, 300-1 ; opening of 
 canal to Wigan, 340. 
 
 Locks on canals, 238-40. 
 
 London, early settlements, 7-8 ; de- 
 scription of, and water-supply, 
 58, 82 ; food supply of, 144 ; as 
 a seaport, 226. 
 
 "Londoner's Lode" in the Fens, 
 19- 
 
 Longford Bridge, 209, 214, 224, 
 243, 247, 255-6, 269, 272. 
 
 Lydd, Romney Marsh, 6. 
 
 Lymne Castle and Roman Port, 
 Romney Marsh, 5-6. 
 
 Macclesfield, 155 ; silk-trade at, 
 162, 175. 
 
 Manchester, water-carriage to Liver- 
 pool, 151, 186; paper-mills near 
 Manchester, 164-5 5 Clifton Col- 
 liery drained by Brindley, 173-4; 
 Bridgewater Canal Acts, 186 ; i 
 trade in the last century, 196 ; 
 life of an eminent manufacturer, 
 196; Manchester in 1740; mode 
 of carrying on trade, 197-8 ; social 
 life, 198 ; state of the roads, 198 ; 
 food riots, 200 ; Mersey and 
 Irwell navigation; cost of car- 
 riage, 201-2 ; works on the 
 Duke's canals ; Barton Viaduct, 
 209-15 ; coal-yard, Castle Hill, 
 218 ; coals cheapened by canal, 
 222 ; communications with Liver- 
 pool, 224-5 » ky stage-coach, 228- 
 9 ; Old Quay navigation, 245 ; 
 railway survey, 266 ; benefits 
 
 MYDDELTON. 
 
 from the Duke's Canal, 289-91 ; 
 growth of Manchester, 291-2 ; de- 
 scription ; improvements, 293 -4. 
 
 and Liverpool communications, 
 
 201, 223-4. 
 
 Marshes on the Thames, 125-6. 
 
 Marshland in the Fens, 12, 52. 
 
 Matthew, F., and Bristol Canal, 
 148. 
 
 Merchant Adventurers. 72, 76. 
 
 Mersey, River, 151, 1S6, 201, 242, 
 245 ; Mersey and Irwell naviga- 
 tion, 202, 224-5, 2 34~5 > Mersey 
 and Trent, 203, 260, 300-1, 313, 
 321. 
 
 Mkldlewich, Cheshire, 229. 
 Middle Level, 51-2, 54. 
 Millwrights earliest " engineers," 
 160. 
 
 Mines Royal Company, 111—13. 
 Monks the first drainers, 13-14. 
 Moorfields Marsh, 8. 
 Morice, P., pumping-machines, 21, 
 62. 
 
 Myddelton, Sir Hugh, M.P., his 
 birth and birthplace, 70 ; his 
 parentage and family, 71 ; family 
 burial-place, 71 ; apprenticed to 
 Goldsmiths' Company, 73 ; his 
 shop in Bassishaw Street, 74-5 ; 
 Alderman of Denbigh ; Citizen 
 of London ; merchant adventurer ; 
 cloth-maker, 76 ; his marriage ; 
 churchwarden ; elected M.P. for 
 Denbigh ; sinks for coal at Den- 
 bigh ; appointed Recorder, 77, 
 79 ; Member of Parliament ; Com- 
 mittee on Sewers, 79 ; under- 
 takes to supply London with 
 water, 80 ; testimonies of Stow 
 and Pennant to his work ; his 
 character and surveys ; indenture 
 for waterworks executed, 81-2 ; 
 description of the New River 
 works, 82-6 ; opposition to the 
 works, 86-8 ; time for completing 
 the works extended, S8 ; is assisted 
 by James L, 89-91 ; opening of 
 the New River, 92 ; obtains a 
 loan of 3000/. from theCorporation 
 
378 
 
 INDEX 
 
 MYDDELTON, 
 
 of London ; sells part of his 
 .shares ; the New River Com- 
 pany, 96 ; is appointed Governor, 
 97 ; reclamation of Brading Haven, 
 102-9 ; his patent for draining, | 
 104 ; his mining operations in 
 Wales, III— 16 j patent of baro- 
 netcy, 113; profits from the 
 mines, 1 15-16 ; Tremadoc ; letter 
 to Sir John Wynn, 1 17-18; his 
 death, 119 ; pecuniary circum- 
 stances, 120 ; his children and 
 will, 121-2 ; his character, 1 16, 
 119, 123. 
 
 Myddelton, Capt. Win., 71, 73, 75. 
 
 , Lady, 120, 123. 
 
 Nantwich, Cheshire, 314. 
 Naurouse, France, 361, 365, 367. 
 Nene River, the Fens, 10-11. Kl. 
 
 56. 
 
 Newcastle-under-Lyne, 207, 303-4, 
 310. 
 
 Newcomen's engine, 1S1. 
 
 New River Water-Works, 69 ; in- 
 denture executed, 82 ; description 
 of the works and their execution, 
 82-3 ; opening of the New River, 
 93 ! opposition to the works, S7-S ; 
 Company formed, original shares, 
 96-7 ; its great benefits, 94 ; value 
 in cases of fire, 96 ; dividends 
 and value of shares, 98 ; shares 
 and works, 11S. Sec Myddelton, 
 Sir Hugh. 
 
 North Level, in the Fens, 52. 
 
 Northwich, Cheshire, 186, 303. 
 
 Oglander, Sir John, account of 
 the drainage of Brading Haven, 
 106-9, 
 
 Old Quay Navigation, 245. 
 
 Ouse River, in the Fens, 10. iS, 29, 
 
 Pack-horses, 197-8, 315. 
 
 Ferry, Captain John ; his birth, 130 ; 
 enters the Navy ; engaged by the 
 Czar Peter, 130; his canal and 
 
 RIQUKT. 
 
 dock-yard works in Russia, 132; 
 returns to England, 133 ; under- 
 takes to stop Dagenham breach, 
 134 ; description of the works, 
 136-8 ; employed in harbour 
 works, 140 ; and fen drainage ; 
 his death ; inscription on tomb- 
 stone, 141-2. 
 
 Peter, Czar of Russia, and Capt. 
 Perry, 130-3. 
 
 Peterborough, 13-14, 51. 
 
 Pike in the Witham, 16. 
 
 Plague in London, 69. 
 
 Plumstead Marshes, 7, 125. 
 
 Plymouth water-supply, 67-S. 
 
 Po-Dyke, Roman bulwarks, 12. 
 
 " Popham's Eau, :) in the Fens, 19, 
 5 1 - . 
 
 Potteries, the, and pottery-ware in 
 the 1 8th century, 145 ; improve- 
 ments in pottery, 172 ; potteries 
 and Brindley, 207 ; cost of car- 
 riage, 302 ; trade of district, 303 ; 
 Wedgwood's improvements, 30S- 
 9 ; improvements by canals, 327- 
 30. 
 
 " Powte's Complaint, " the, 41. 
 Preston, " Proud," in the 18th cen- 
 tury, 1 98. 
 
 , Cheshire, 311, 317, 321-2. 
 
 Puddling in canals, 21 1, 23S, 352. 
 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, and Hugh 
 
 Myddelton, 75. 
 Ramsey, reclamations at, 13, 14, 51, 
 
 56. 
 
 Riquet de Bonrepos ; his family and 
 property, 362 ; his instruments, 
 survey for canal, 363-4 ; corre- 
 spondence with Minister Colbert, 
 364-5, 368-72 ; commences the 
 work, 365 ; his bold offer as to 
 terms, 366 ; organisation of work- 
 men, 367 ; his adroit use of Col- 
 bert, 368 ; opposition he meets 
 with ; his zeal and perseverance, 
 369-70 ; cuts an ( * impossible " 
 tunnel, 371 ; his money difficul- 
 ties, 367-8, 371-2 ; his death, 
 372. 
 
INDEX 
 
 379 
 
 RIVERS. 
 
 Rivers, Brindley's uses for, 331. 
 Roads in the 18th century, 143, ' 
 198. 
 
 Romans, their works at Po-Dyke, 
 12. 
 
 Romney, Old and New, 6. 
 
 Marsh, reclamation of, 4-6. 
 
 Runcorn and Runcorn Locks, 244, 
 
 261, 263, 269-70, 321. 
 Russia, Canals of, 130-3. 
 Rye Harbour works, 140. 
 
 Sale Moor, Manchester, 232, 243, 
 
 249, 254. 
 Salisbury and Southampton Canal, 
 
 238. 
 
 Salthouse Dock, Liverpool, 262. 
 Sankey Navigation, 152, 187. 
 .Sedgemoor, 35. 
 
 Severn, River, and tributary naviga- 
 tion, 300, 318, 320, 357. 
 
 Shire Drain, 39, 45. 
 
 Silk-mill machinery and Brindley, 
 162, 176-7. 
 
 Silver-mines in Wales, in, 115-16. 
 
 Smeaton, John, engineer, 211, 232, 
 
 3 OI > 334- 
 South Holland, n. 
 Stafford, Marquis of, 287. See 
 
 Gower, Earl. 
 Staffordshire Canal, 208, 300-1. 
 
 and Worcester Canal, 332. 
 
 ■ ■ Potteries and Brindley, 169, j 
 
 171-2, 178. 
 Stamford, Earl of, 246. 
 Steam-engine unmoved by Brindley, 
 
 180, 185. 
 
 Steelyard Company of Merchants, i 
 76. 
 
 Stephenson, George, and Brindley, 
 335- 
 
 Stour River and Stourbridge, 
 150. 
 
 Stow and the New River works, 52, 
 
 81, 88, 96. 
 Strange, Lord, 235, 241. 
 Stretford, Manchester, 220, 223, | 
 
 231. 
 
 Stukely, Dr., Manchester, 195. 
 Symington's steamboat, 282. 
 
 VERMUYDEN. 
 
 Telford, Thos., engineer, 322, 
 334- 
 
 Thames River in ancient times ; ex- 
 tensive marshes ; embankments, 
 7, 8 ; artificial embankments, 
 124 ; inundations, 125 ; a great 
 water-highway, 139 ; navigation 
 of, 145-6 ; improvement at Ox- 
 ford, 149; Brindley and the navi- 
 gation, 341. 
 
 Thelwall, Sir Bevis, 103, 106-9. 
 
 Theobalds Royal Park, 90, 94. 
 
 Thorne, 27 ; to Hatfield by water, 
 23- 
 
 Thorney, reclamations at, 14. 
 Tiverton water-supply, 65-6. 
 Tobacco, introduction of, 75. 
 Toulouse, Languedoc Canal, 361, 
 370- 
 
 , Archbishop of, befriends 
 
 Riquet, 363-4, 370. 
 Trade in the 18th century, 143, 144. 
 Trafford Moss, 213. 
 Trent River, 27, 187, 332, 335. See 
 
 Mersey. 
 Trentham, Lord, 189. 
 
 Park, 170, 190, 245, 281. 
 
 Trew, John, Exeter, 146-8. 
 Tudworth to Thorne by water, 23. 
 Turnhurst, Staffordshire, 208, 344-5. 
 
 Valkenburg family, the, 26, 32. 
 
 Vanderwelt, Cornelius, 20. 
 
 Yermuyden, Sir Cornelius, em- 
 ployed by King James to reclaim 
 the Fens, 19 ; is first employed 
 to stem Dagenham breach ; his 
 birthplace and family ; drains 
 Windsor Park, 22 ; contract for 
 Hatfield Manor drainage ; his 
 character and resources ; forms 
 company of Dutch capitalists, 26 ; 
 employs Dutch and other foreign 
 workmen, 26-7 ; opposed by the 
 inhabitants : riots, 29 : is sup- 
 • pprtf*', by the.cr<iwn ^ is knjghted ; 
 
 ; conJinneS pdpullas JappToiiticJi ft)". 
 •Ms vwJrk*^go''-.j'; IheILor4 Ureii 1 " 
 dent decides against him ; he 
 
 j withdraws fr«m- the .wjrk,. .3»2.; 
 
3 8o 
 
 INDEX 
 
 VERMUYDEN. 
 
 the works destroyed, 33 ; would 
 drain Cambridge Fens ; contracts 
 to purchase Malvern Chase, 35 ; 
 takes land on Sedgemoor, and 
 leases a lead-mine ; legal troubles ; 
 imprisoned ; engaged with the 
 drainage of the Great Level of 
 the Fens ; offers to find funds, 
 and cany out the works ; con- 
 tracts, 35-6 ; contract abrogated ; 
 starts again with the work under 
 Earl of Bedford ; money difficulty ; 
 his energy, 38 ; the principal 
 works, 38-9 ; opposition of the 
 Fen-men, 39-40 ; defects of his 
 system, 44 ; King Charles under- 
 takes the work, and employs Ver- 
 muyden ; his new design, 44-5 ; 
 Cromwell's opposition, 45-6 ; the 
 works destroyed ; he remains un- 
 .daunted, 48 ; he again resumes 
 the work, 49 ; employs Scotch 
 and Dutch prisoners ; the new 
 works, 50 ; the works completed, 
 52 ; all his property swallowed 
 up ; dies in poverty and obscurity, 
 54 ; works on the Thames, 126-7. 
 Vermuyden, Cornelius, jun.. Colonel, 
 
 4 s - 
 
 \ernatti, F., Dutch capitalist, 26, 
 30, 32. 
 
 Wages of workmen, 253. 
 Waldersea County Drainage Act, 19. 
 Walker, author of 'The Original,' 
 197. 
 
 ■ ■ Colliery, Newcastle, engine 
 
 at, 185. 
 Wallend Marsh, 4-5. 
 Walloon immigrants, 27. 
 Walpole, Horace, letters, 188, 191-2. 
 Wapping Marsh, or High Street, 20. 
 Ware, New River Head, S2, 
 Warrington, Lancashire, 151, 1S7. 
 
 201, 224, 228-44. 
 
 Wash, the Great, 10-12. 
 
 Water as an agent, and in engineer- 
 ing, 5S-64. 
 
 \\ ater-carriers of old London, 95. 
 
 Weaver Navigation, 152, 1S6, 302, 
 3"> 3i6. 
 
 Wedgwood, Josiah ; his character ; 
 early life ; infirmity, 306 ; com- 
 mences business ; Ivy House, 
 308-9 ; extension of his trade, 
 309 ; promotes the Grand Trunk 
 Canal scheme, 311, 313 ; cuts the 
 first sod, 319 ; evidence as to 
 advantages of canal, 328-9, 334. 
 
 Welland River, in the Fens, 10, 50. 
 
 Wells of old London, 5S-61. 
 
 Wesley, John, at Burslem, 304-5, 
 33°- 
 
 \\ esterdyke, Dutch engineer, 38, 49. 
 Whittlesea Mere, 14, 39, 51, 56. 
 Whitworth, Sir R., 303, 315, 353. 
 
 , Brindley's pupil, 334. 
 
 Wiches, the Cheshire, 311, 316. 
 
 Wigan, canal to, 186. 
 
 Wight, Isle of, 100. 
 
 Wilden, Derby, 300, 314, 318, 321, 
 
 326. 
 
 \\ inchelsea, Romney Marsh, 5. 
 
 Windsor Royal Park drained by 
 Vermuyden, 22. 
 
 Wisbeach, 27, 39, 45, 51. 
 
 Witham breach repaired, 20. 
 
 River, in the fens, 10, 12 ; 
 
 floated ships to Lincoln, 13. 
 
 Wolverhampton Canal, 332, 336. 
 
 Worsley Basin, 215-17. 
 
 Mill, 202, 209, 215, 231-2. 
 
 Old Hall, 207, 265-7. 
 
 Wren, Sir Christopher, low re- 
 muneration of, 175. 
 
 Yarmouth Haven constructed, 20. 
 Varranton, Andrew, hisprojects,i49. 
 Young, Arthur, extracts from, 215, 
 219, 220, 247, 305. 
 
 THE END 
 
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DATE DUE 
 
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