Research

Resources

There may be something on our links page that could be of use

mda Waterways Object Thesaurus - the route to everything you might want to know about waterways words

A complete set of Re:Port, the society newsletter, is held in the archives at Ellesmere Port - an index is available via the publications page

The Waterways Archives can be searched anytime night or day via the Virtual Waterways website

Look at Boat Museum collections for information on some of the Boat Museum's artefacts

The David Owen Waterways Archive – contains a collection of documents, books and periodicals relating to inland waterways worldwide, including extensive collections relating to the Weaver Navigation Trust, Middlewich Wharf and the Charles Hadfield World Canals Research; the I.W.A. John Heap Library; Shropshire Union Railways & Canal Co. minutes; oral history recordings; and photographic collections. (The Boat Museum, Boat Museum Dockyard Road, Ellesmere Port, South Wirral, Merseyside. L65 4EF; Telephone + 44 151 355 5017)

The British Waterways Archive - a library strong in plans, drawings and technical records, with a photographic collection. (National Waterways Museum, Llanthony Warehouse, Gloucester Docks, Gloucester. GL1 2EH; Telephone +44 1452 318041)

National Maritime Museum has a rich resource of inland waterways archives

Many other museums have valuable archive information

A2A Access to Archives
The A2A database contains catalogues describing archives held locally in England and Wales and dating from the eighth century to the present day.

Local Record Offices
One of the first place to look is often your local record office or local studies collection: "Local record offices are the main repositories for deposited plans and other legislative material relating to the construction of canals and railways; archives of navigations which did not become part of British Waterways; records of highway authorities, turnpike trusts, port authorities and municipal transport services; and private deposits which will include those of traders and transport contractors, manufacturers of transport equipment, and personal, family, estate, legal or commercial records which might bear on transport operations."

Cheshire Record Office; Gloucestershire Record Office; Greater Manchester Records Office; Highland Council Archive; Lancashire Record Office; The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland; Liverpool Record Office and Local History Service; Salford and Trafford canal archive; National Archives of Scotland; Sheffield Archives; Shropshire Records and Research Centre; Warwickshire County Record Office; West Yorkshire Archive Service, Wakefield Headquarters.

Public Record Office
The Public Record Office repository includes maps, administrative records, plans, photographs and canal company minutes (some of it part of the Waterways Trust archive)including principal records of pre-nationalisation canal companies (pre-1948) (class RAIL).

Principal records of the British Transport Commission and Docks & Inland Waterways Executive (class AN).
It has an online catalogue (PROCAT), which allows you to find out what documents the PRO holds - it can be browsed by class and searched by keyword or phrase, and documents can be ordered in advance.
(Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey. TW9 4DU; Telephone +44 20 8876 3444

PRO Canal Guide: Canals:Administrative and other Records

Family history sources are numerous - try the London Canal Museum site for a start
Free information is available from:
www.freebmd.org.uk
www.ukbmd.org.uk
www.genuki.org.uk
www.familysearch.org - good for free 1881 census

Information for a fee:
www.ancestry.co.uk/
www.findmypast.com
www.genesreunited.co.uk (part free)

For inland waterways maps from 17th century to present day - Cartographics- Historic Maps and Plans of Inland Navigation

For a range of useful information try Mike Clarke's pages

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Waterways Journal

Published annually by Boat Museum Society and a useful source of research material

Complete list of Chance and Hunt fleet to accompany volume 11 can be downloaded here as a pdf file

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