Granville, Earl Gower and Canals: Navigable Waterways in the later Eighteenth Century

Description:Notable amongst Earl Gower’s canal papers is a document from 1765 entitled ‘Proposals for a Canal from the Trent to the Mersey’. The document concerns proposals relating to the construction of the Trent Mersey Canal. These proposals were ‘unanimously agreed’ at ‘a very numerous Meeting of Land-Owners, Gentlemen, Traders, and Manufacturers, held at Wolsely Bridge’ on 30th December 1765. The document demonstrates the process involved in proposing and funding canals and reflects the concerns which surrounded the construction of navigable waterways in the middle of the eighteenth century.

Click on the image on the left to learn about the Parliamentary Act for the Trent Mersey Canal.