I missed posting this last week.
England, Calder and Hebble Navigation Company
The larger of this week’s two Yorkshire canal collections, with 90,905 records covering 1796 to 1949, documents one of England’s earliest successful canal navigations. The Calder and Hebble Navigation Company was established in 1758 to improve navigation on the River Calder between Wakefield and Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire, with the navigation opening officially in 1770. Its staff included engineers, clerks, labourers, lock keepers and many others, and the records — drawn from The National Archives RAIL 815 series — encompass company minutes, letter books, and accounts. If your ancestors lived and worked in West Yorkshire during the Industrial Revolution, this collection is well worth exploring.
England, Huddersfield Canal Company
This collection of 10,473 records documents the workings of the Huddersfield Canal Company from its establishment in 1794 through to the 19th century. The company was founded to build a canal linking Huddersfield with Lancashire across the Pennines — a formidable engineering challenge that resulted in the highest canal stretch in Britain when completed in 1811. The records, drawn from The National Archives RAIL 838 series, include shareholders’ records, committee minutes, appointments, and records of payment, and may name anyone from company shareholders to labourers carrying out work on the canal.
Both canal collections shine a light on working life during the Industrial Revolution, and the gradual decline of the waterways as railways expanded from the 1830s onwards.
Newspapers: 261,496 New Pages
Five new titles were added and 46 existing publications updated this week. A review of BNA additions and changes in July will follow soon.