Tonnage Books

Images of Tonnage Books are currently provided for 1776-1798, 1798-1813, 1813-1816, 1816-1818, 1818-1820, 1820-1822, 1822-1824, 1824-1825 and 1825-1827. For each year lists of entries by date of entry into tonnage book, cargo, destination and consignee have been prepared, and key details, such as total tonnage, total revenue, main cargo types, amounts delivered to key destinations and main consignees are being recorded. Key details are returned in searches.

NB As some of the tickets were paid for at Framilode, or Saul Junction, entries from the books there were transferred to the Wallbridge tonnage books at irregular periods, without the dates of their entry being recorded in many cases. This results in blocks of entries with the same boat apparently delivering to different places on the same day. This effect is most noticeable for cargoes to places lower down the canal, such as Framilode, Stonehouse and Ryeford.

Analysis of 18th century trade (1777-1799) on the Stroudwater Navigation is available in here. Analysis of trade between 1800 and 1819 is provided here

Analysis of specific end-of-accounting-period entries for March in the following years are also available: 1820, 1825, 1830, 1835, 1840, 1845, 1850, 1855, 1860, 1865, 1870, 1875, 1880, 1885, 1890, 1895. For the March 1835 entries the equivalant entries from the Brimscombe Port Import and Export Books of the Thames and Severn Canal have also been recorded. For 1845 the whole year has been recorded in a spreadsheet, and a list of the 270 boat masters who made multiple trips along the Stroudwater is available. For 1870 the tonnage recorded for movements within the Thames & Severn Canal have also been added.

In 1795 a law was passed requiring boats travelling on navigable rivers and inland waterways to be registered. Boats on the Stroudwater Navigation and the Thames and Severn Canal were required, until 1798, to register at the Gloucester Quarter Session. A list of the certificates issued there, as held in the Gloucestershire Archives (Q/RR/1), has been prepared by The EurekA Partnership. A summary of the entries is provided in 1795 Registered Boats