B.f.t.p. 24 – Early T&S Barges
B.f.t.p. 24 – Early T&S Canal Barges
by: Martin B.
Between June 1789 and January 1790 James Perry of Wolverhampton, the Treasurer of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal who supervised the construction of the Thames & Severn Canal, bought 5 boats in Stourport on behalf of the Thames & Severn Canal Company.
| Date Bought | Original Name | Type | Bought From | For | T&S Name | Approx. Tons |
| 8/6/1789 | Willmott | Trow | John Rider | £138 | Hayes | 70 |
| 19/6/1789 | Recovery | Trow | William Bird2 & Mr Broughton | £55 | Jones | 55 |
| 21/7/1789 | Sark | Barge | James & Francis Jones | £80 | Bright | 60 |
| 23/10/1789 | Good Intent | Trow | Richard Crompton | £63 | Disney | 60 |
| 26/1/1790 | Three Brothers | Trow | Richard Williams & George Doughty | £140 | Rolleston | 60 |
The names assigned by the Thames & Severn Canal Company were those of their principal shareholders:
- Thomas Hayes was business partner to John Perry who was also on the Committee of the Thames & Severn Canal in which he held the maximum of 100 shares.
- Joseph Jones was a shareholder in the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal and the Wyreley and Eastington Canal as well as the Thames and Severn Canal.
- Lowbridge Bright of Bristol owned 55 shares.
- Rev Dr John Disney held 59 shares and a £3,700 mortgage on the canal. His son John, whose wife owned 91 shares and a £22,715 mortgage on the canal, became chair in 1805 at the age of 25.
- Robert Rolleston, a merchant in London, held 85 shares, while at the same address members of the Chambers family owned another 140 shares.
William Bird, who sold Recovery to James Perry, was a boatbuilder at Stourport whose son later set up a boatyard at The Bourne on the Thames & Severn.
The conveyances for the sale of these vessels, together with the inventories of the trow Recovery and the barge Sark, are held in the Gloucestershire Archives (TS/36/110). The Thames & Severn Canal opened in November 1789.
Martin Bryan
Stroudwater History Team
