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The
first committee of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal Company was made up of
twenty three members of whom Abraham Balme, John Hustler, Thomas
Hardcastle, Nathan Jowett and Walter Stanhope were from Bradford. Bradford
was very important in the financing and in the birth of the Leeds and
Liverpool Canal yet it was still not connected to it except by road.
Considering the cost and the fact that a horse could only carry two tons
of wool on wheels but pull sixty to seventy tons by water, the potential
trade on an additional canal from Bradford to link with the Leeds and
Liverpool was enormous. The
first subtle reference to the necessity for the building of the Bradford
Canal can be found in "A Summary View of the Proposed Canal from
Leeds to Liverpool and it's importance to the Public" written by John
Hustler and printed in 1768. Which on pages 28-29 refers to the coal and
limestone found in the Bradford area. A map of Bradford and Horton 1722
shows two coal pits in the Horton area near Wibsey common. John
Hustler and Abraham Balme, both members of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Committee, first investigated the idea of a branch canal from Bradford to
link with the Leeds and Liverpool in January 1771 as the first recording
in the Bradford Canal Company minute dated January 1771 is as follows: "Whereas
an Act was obtained Last Sessions of Parliament for making and maintaining
a Navigable Cutt [sic] or Canal from Leeds Bridge in the County of York to
the North Lady's Walk in Liverpool in the county Palantine of Lancaster
and from there to the River Mersey. Now we whose names are here unto put
do hereby agree to Advance and pay into the hands of Mr John Hustler of
Bradford in the county of York and Mr Thomas Crosely of the same place the
several sums set opposite our respective names Towards making and
maintaining a Navigable Cutt or Canal to adjoin to and communicate with
the said cutt or canal from Leeds to Liverpool at a place in the township
of Idle in the County aforesaid called Windhill to be applied by them for
the purposes aforesaid Under a Committee to be appointed by the
subscribers or major part of them". Next
to this there were thirteen (?) names and the amount of shares they owned in
the company. These are as follows: C
J B Sharp 500 Abraham Balme: Although
Miss Hodgson was the largest share holder, a thousand shares which she
purchased with money bequeathed to her in the will of Thomas Hodgson (Last
Will & Testament of Thomas Hodgson), she never attended any of the
committee meetings, neither did Elizabeth Walker. In
addition to these thirteen shareholders there were a further fifteen
shareholders whose names were as follows: Edward
Leedes Esq
500 The
monthly committee meetings took place at the Sun Inn in Bradford: still in
existence today. Priestly
(PRIESTLY 1969 P.84) states, in his book, first published in 1831, that
the subscribers to the canal at the time the Act was obtained consisted of
twenty eight persons who were incorporated by the name of "The
Company of Proprietors of Bradford Navigation". The Act stated that £6000 had to be raised before work on the canal could begin and further
£3000 was to be raised later if necessary. After
the Bill had been drawn up Abraham Balme made two visits to London
according to the Canal Company Day Book (DAY BOOK OF THE BRADFORD CANAL
COMMITTEE 1771-1776). His first journey cost £17 6s 6d in "getting
there and back". His second visit took place on the 14th January
1771, as recorded in the Canal Day Book (D.B.B.C.C. 1771-1776). The cost
of getting the Bill through Parliament was very great,
the total cost according to the Canal Day Book (D.B.B.C.C.
1771-1776) being £286 12s 6d. £54 of this was paid on the second reading
of the Bill in the Lords. In
the Bradford Acts of Parliament (BRADFORD ACTS OF PARLIAMENT VOL 1
1740-1794) it states that the Act for a Bradford Canal was first proposed
on the 13th November 1770, this stated that a canal would "... be of
great advantage to the trade carried on there (i.e. Bradford) and at the
places adjacent, and will also tend to the improvement of the land near
the same, the Relief of the poor, and the preservation of the public
roads". The
Act that was passed also stated that no ;ime kilns were to be built on the
east bank of the canal near Thomas Crosely's house: rather convenient as
Thomas Crosely was a shareholder in the canal and was appointed on to the
committee as described in the first entry in the minute book! The
Canal Minute Book records on the 7th June 1771 that John Hustler, Abraham
Balme, Thomas Hardcastle and Nathan Jowett were appointed clerks to asses
the cost of the land through which the canal would pass. Two of these men
John Hustler Abraham Balme, an attorney and a further third Joshua Field a
squire of Heaton had shares in both the Bradford and Leeds to Liverpool
Canal companies and in the Bradford Lime Kiln Company. Priestly
(PRIESTLY 1969 P.84) states the canal started at Windhill in Shipley and
followed the course of Bradford Beck on the east side and stopped at Hoppy
Bridge in the town centre. The canal was three miles in length and had a
rise of 86 1/4 feet to the Leeds and Liverpool by ten locks. The locks
were 66 feet in length, and 15 feet 2 inches in width, these were the same
dimensions as the Leeds and Liverpool so it allowed an easy transition for
the barges between the two canals. Work
probably began on the canal some time in August 1771 as there is an entry
in the canal minute book (MINUTES OF THE BRADFORD CANAL COMMITTEE
1771-1776) on the 19th July which states that an "agreement was made
with John Knowles for cutting the canal" at Windhill Cragg and for
the subsequent digging of lock pits. At the same meeting it was decided
"...to complete and finish all the works before the first day of June
1773. However the canal was not finished until 1774 probably due to the
fact that the work was more difficult than expected and that it was
hindered by snow as is recorded in the canal company minute book on the
23rd March 1772. "The
Day Book of the Bradford Canal Company" has nearly a 1,000 entries
between 1771 and 1776 as to the costs of building the canal. This account
book was maticuously kept and legibly written by Abraham Balme. Within
this book there are many references made to £1 10s 0d in wages that I
assume were taken by Abraham Balme for the job of keeping the canal
company books. The
Day Book records that John Knowles who is mentioned in the Canal Company
Minutes on the 19th July is paid frequently for works at Windhill. On 19th
September he was paid £25 10s 06d and again on the 6th October he was
paid £30 12s 0d for cutting work done at Windhill. In August he was paid
an average of £30 three times "for work done on the canal". I
discovered that this John Knowles was a stone mason by trade as there is
an entry in the canal day book on the 28th August 1773 that refers to him
as such. One
thing that I discovered from reading the Canal Day Book and found
fascinating was how much money was spent on buying and repairing wheel
barrows. There are many entries for amounts between five and six pound
which was paid for either the purchase or mending of wheel barrows. The
cost of mending was generally more than the purchasing of them so we can
only assume that more wheel barrows were generally mended than were
purchased at any one time. The
wood used in building the canal came from Bierley presumably from Bierley
Woods which still exist today. According to the canal day book this wood
was supplied by John Denbigh for which he was paid and came from Bierley.
Joseph Fryer was paid for carrying this wood and for a great deal of
carpentry work for which he was paid between three and six pounds. He also
supplied the straw. which was used in the canal. There were two other
brothers who did a lot of carpentry work on the canal these were the
Whitakers. For whom there are many entries of payment in the canal day
book. According
to the "Day Book of the Bradford Canal Company" Robert Parkinson
was frequently paid £1 10s 0d for the puddling, the lining of the canal
with clay, and metal work carried out on the canal. Robert Parkinson was
also responsible for building the canal dam. In the Hall Ings walls and
culverts were built to cause the water to be damned from Bowling Beck.
This beck was indeed the reason why the canal was built in the first
place. The water of Thorton Beck was also damned near the proposed canal
basin and the water from this was used to fill the canal as it neared
completion. By November 30th 1771 this water supply had cost £1,217 12s 2
3/4d (THE MINUTES OF THE BRADFORD CANAL COMMITTEE 1771-1815). |
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