Cromford Canal Toll Records | Friends of the Cromford Canal

Cromford Canal Toll Records – A Guide

Introduction

The toll records [or permits] in this database cover the period 1814–1849 and 1878. Just about every toll record that still exists is in this database, but certainly not every toll record that was ever written.

The permits were hand-written by the toll clerk employed by the canal company at Langley Mill. The spelling and the handwriting are both very variable. They were transcribed onto the digital database by volunteers from the Friends of the Cromford Canal.

Each row is one individual cargo, and there are often several cargoes on one permit.

There are over 85,000 rows in the database, covering the period 1816 – 1878. There are 11 columns covering date, permit number, boat number, where loaded [from], where landed [to], steerer, owner, cargo, weight, and notes. The original permits also include information about dry inches [a boat measurement], the toll rate per ton and the fee paid, but this was not transcribed onto the database.

The guidance below is set out column-by-column.

1. Date

• Written dd.mm.yyyy

• This is the date the permit was issued, which is not necessarily the date all of the journeys recorded were made.

2. Permit No

• Number of the permit [or toll invoice/receipt] issued by the toll clerk.

• Usually [but not always] the numbers start at 1 again every 1st January.

• Sometimes [but not always] journeys away from the canal and back to it are recorded on one permit.

• One permit can cover up to three boats travelling together, and up to seven cargoes.

• Sometimes the toll clerk makes a mistake – by not using a few numbers in a sequence, or by using the same numbers twice. Sometimes a transcriber misreads a permit number. All the mistakes that have been found have been corrected.

3. Boat No

• The identification number of an individual boat originates from the Trent Gauging Tables, a system devised for all boats operating on the river’s ‘tributaries’ which enabled the different navigation companies to make a ready calculation of tolls from measurements of the freeboard of the boats. Not all boats operating on the Cromford Canal had a number.

• They were unique to a particular boat apart from the initial series of 1–60 when separate registers were held for wide (over 7ft) and narrow boats. The weight of cargo is a clue to which boat it was (narrow boats carried usually a maximum of 25 tons, possibly up to 30). After that a single series of numbers was used. The tables can be referred to online here: http://www.derbyshirerecordsociety.org/trentgaugingbooks.php.

• A blank space generally means that the boat had no number or was recorded with the number 0. Sometimes it means the transcriber could not read the number.

• Where two or more cargoes are carried by two or more boats on one permit, the transcriber has divided the cargoes between the boats fairly arbitrarily. This avoids double-counting the amount of cargo. We do not know exactly how the cargoes were split between the boats.

4. From

• The place where the cargo was loaded. Some of the longest journeys may have involved transhipping the cargo between different boats.

• A question mark – ? – means that the transcriber thinks that the place name might be badly mis-spelt. Some modern place names were spelled differently 150+ years ago, and the original spelling may be used in the database.

5. To

• The place where the cargo will be landed. Some of the longest journeys may have involved transhipping the cargo between different boats.
• A question mark – ? – means that the transcriber thinks that the place name might be badly mis-spelt. Some modern place names were spelled differently 150+ years ago, and the original spelling may be in the database.

6. Steerer

• Written first name then surname – John Smith or J. Smith or J Smith, NOT Smith, J.

• Sometimes the steerer is the owner, so you get the same name twice. Occasionally the steerer and the owner have been swapped over by mistake – this has been corrected where it has been recognised.

• Often first names were shortened – Wm for William, Jas for James, Saml for Samuel. The full name has been included wherever possible. Jos or Jo’s could be Joseph, Josiah or Joshua, so it has been left as Jos or Jo’s.

• The transcribers often struggle with the toll clerks’ spelling and handwriting, and a few surnames might be completely wrong. A question mark – ? – means the transcriber has real doubts, or cannot read the name at all.

• If you are searching for one person by surname, it often helps to also search all the records with the same boat number as the boat your person was recorded using. You may find more information about your person, but with a rather different surname.

• No name begins with Mr. The steerers were only recorded by name. If Mr appears, it is probably a misreading of Wm [William]. Mrs is used for some women, especially owners.

7. Owner

• Written first name then surname – John Smith or J. Smith or J Smith, NOT Smith, J. Companies are J. Smith & Co or Messrs Smith, NOT Smith, J & Co.

• No name begins with Mr. Middle class men were called Esquire – John Smith Esq or John Smith Esq’r. If Mr appears, it is probably a misreading of Wm [William]. Mrs is used for some women, especially owners.

8. Cargo

• One row is given to each cargo. In this context, a cargo is one weight of freight carried on one distinct journey. If a boat picks up coal from three different places along the canal it has three cargoes. If it delivers sundries to four different places it has four cargoes. But two boats might carry one cargo between them on one permit, or they might share two or more cargoes – it depends what was recorded.

• Where two or more cargoes are carried by two or more boats on one permit, the transcriber has divided the cargoes between the boats fairly arbitrarily. We do not know exactly how the cargoes were split between the boats.

• Sundries, Merchandise and Goods all mean the same thing – stuff that is not bulk cargo.

• Light means the boat is empty and has not been charged.

• A question mark – ? – usually means the transcriber cannot read this part of the permit.

• Where possible, the name of the cargo has been put first, then the quantity [if given].

• The canal company charged different toll rates for different cargoes.

9. Tons

• These are imperial tons, with the fractions of tons converted to decimal numbers. An imperial [or long] ton is 2,240 pounds, or 160 stone, or 20 hundredweight, or 1016 kilograms or 1.016 metric tons.

• The toll due was calculated by the weight of the cargo and the number of miles it was carried along the Cromford Canal.

• The tonnage was occasionally left blank.

• Some permits record more than 100 tons on one permit. These are summaries of several journeys.

10. Miles

• This is the distance travelled along the Cromford Canal. It may be less than the distance between the loading and landing places.

• This column is occasionally left blank.

11. Notes

• The transcribers wrote these notes, not the toll clerk. Anything in this column that is actually written on a permit has been put in quotation marks [usually double quotation marks, but sometimes single].

• If a permit includes more than one boat or more than one cargo, this is noted here as x boat/boats, y cargo/cargoes. One boat with one cargo is never noted, but every other variation is.

• If there is a gap in the records, it is noted here. The gap can be because those permits have been lost, or because the toll clerk made a mistake and never issued that particular permit number.

• If the toll clerk used the same number twice, it is noted here.

• If permit number sequence changes unexpectedly, it is noted here.

• If a transcriber doubts the accuracy of something, it may be noted here with a question mark.

• If a transcriber corrects an error, it is noted here.

• If one permit has been used to summarise several journeys, it is noted here.

•A few sources [for the original permits] are noted here, but not all of them. These are available from the Archivist. ‘BLSC HBS’ indicates that this permit is in the Baker Library Special Collections, Harvard Business School, USA. The university purchased these permits in 1971, as part of their interest in business history, and agreed that they should be included in this database.

Christine Johnstone

Friends of the Cromford Canal

November 2022