Staffordshire Working Lives
Deposition relating to an accident in which a large quantity of salt was lost from a canal boat in 1813

Deposition relating to an accident in which a large quantity of salt was lost from a canal boat in 1813

(© Staffordshire Record Office:Q/SB 1813 T/275 )

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Damage to boat causes loss of cargo

This cargo of salt was being transported from Cheshire, and a bond for delivery had been made. But most of the salt was lost in the canal at Wichnor near Lichfield, after the boat started to leak, possibly because the boat had scraped the bottom of the canal. The owners of the cargo were now making an application to the magistrates for the bond to be cancelled, having followed the correct process for notifying the Collectors of Excise. The quantity lost was carefully measured by subtraction from the remaining amount, and the statements of all the witnesses was a vital part in proving that the application was truthful and valid.

Wichnor was a tiny place but at an important point on the canal route, as it lies at one of the meeting points between the River Trent and the Trent and Mersey Canal. Goods from Cheshire would have followed the canal south through Stoke and Stone, then turned at Wichnor to follow the navigable section of the River Trent to Burton and thence to the eastern side of the country. This cargo was destined for Lincolnshire.

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