James BrindleyDied 30 Sep 1772 (born 1716).English pioneer canal builder, who constructed the first English canal of major economic importance. He apprenticed (1733) as a millwright and wheelwright, making mills, dams and sluices. In 1742, he designed and built an engine for draining coalpits at Clifton, Lancashire. On 1 Jul 1759, the Duke of Bridgwater commissioned Brindley to build a canal to move coal from his Worsley mine 16-km (10-mile) to the textile manufacturing centre at Manchester. Completed in 1765, Brindley's solution to the problem included a subterranean channel, extending from the barge basin at the head of the canal into the mines, and the Barton Aqueduct, which carried the canal over the River Irwell. In his lifetime, he was responsible for around 365 miles of inland waterways. |
