John Longbotham: Difference between revisions

In 1766, Longbotham, together with [[John Hustler]], a Bradford wool merchant and Quaker, called a public meeting at the [[Sun Inn, Bradford]] to discuss a broad canal linking [[Liverpool]] to [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] via the [[Aire and Calder Canal]]. He prepared a survey which was presented in 1768. To gain wider support the canal was promoted by committees in Bradford and Liverpool, with the Bradford committee controlling finances. The Liverpool committee objected to Longbotham's line down the valleys of the [[River Calder, Lancashire|Calder]] and [[River Ribble|Ribble]] to [[Preston, Lancashire|Preston]]<ref>{{harvnb|Shead}}</ref> as it avoided a number of industrial Lancashire towns and suggested an alternative route which the Bradford committee found too long and expensive. [[James Brindley]] was brought in to arbitrate and ruled in favour of Longbotham's line and an [[Act of Parliament]] was passed in 1770.<ref>{{harvnb|PagePaget-Tomlinson|2006|p=140}}</ref>

Meanwhile, he was also involved with surveys on the Bradford canal and the proposed Leeds and Selby Canal and bought coal mines at [[Upholland]], near [[Wigan]]. Because of these activities the committee of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal complained that he was not spending enough time on their project and he either resigned his post<ref>{{harvnb|Shead}}</ref> or was dismissed because the accounts were not in order.<ref>{{harvnb|PagePaget-Tomlinson|2006|p=304}}</ref>

In 1774, he started a packet service between Liverpool and Newburgh. In 1787 he was doing surveys for the proposed [[Lancaster Canal]], with a route that combined navigation and drainage requirements. By 1791 he was brought back to advise the Leeds and Liverpool Canal committee on a new line in response to [[Robert Whitworth (canal engineer)|Robert Whitworth]]'s proposal. In 1792 he did preparatory surveys for the [[Grand Western Canal]] crossing Devon and Somerset and worked on the proposed ''Bristol and Western Canal'' from the [[River Avon (Bristol)|Avon]] to [[Taunton]].