James Brindley and the Duke of Bridgewater
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A01=Victoria Owens
Author_Victoria Owens
Canals
Category=DNBT
Category=NHD
Category=NHTK
Category=WGG
Conservation
Earth Sciences & Geography
Environment & Ecology
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eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
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eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
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Great Britain History
History
History & Criticism
History of England
Rivers
Rivers & Lakes
Product details
- ISBN 9781445649665
- Weight: 275g
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 15 Oct 2015
- Publisher: Amberley Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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Disappointed in love, in 1759 Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, retreated to Lancashire to devote himself to coal and canals. When his agent, John Gilbert, introduced him to the Staffordshire Schemer James Brindley, the two men formed an unlikely alliance that would alter the face of the country.
While his ingenuity and zeal chimed well with Bridgewater’s ambitions, at a time when the demands of rising commerce were beginning to conflict with long-established land-owning interests, Brindley soon discovered that his association with the duke could make for friction. If being a peer’s protégé carried him into the public eye, it also brought him calumny, vituperation and insult. Nevertheless, throughout his years of wealth and fame ‒ during which he forged an enduring friendship with potter-turned-canal promoter Josiah Wedgwood ‒ he remained steadfastly loyal to the patron to whom he owed his breakthrough.
Drawing upon eighteenth-century letters, pamphlets, committee minutes and maps, the Bridgewater accounts books and long-lost probate inventory of Brindley’s estate, this book charts the dynamics of a remarkable business relationship in a fast-changing world.
Victoria Owens has worked both in the book trade and as a legal executive. She has written articles about James Brindley for the International Journal for the History of Engineering & Technology, the Railway and Canal Historical Society Journal and has edited his surviving notebooks.
