434 A TOPOGRAPHICAL 



carried on with great spirit by Mr. Brindley while he lived, and was 

 finished by his brother-in-law, Mr. Henshall, who put the last hand 

 to it in May 1777. 



The next object which engaged the attention of Mr. Brindley 

 was the construction of a canal from the Grand Trunk, near Hay- 

 wood in Staffordshire, to the river Severn near Bewdley, by means 

 of which the port of Bristol was connected with the ports of Liver- 

 pool and Hull. This canal, about 46 miles in length, was com- 

 pleted in 1772. His next undertaking was the survey and exe- 

 cution of a canal from Birmingham, which should unite with the 

 Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal near Wolverhampton. This 

 navigation, which is 26 miles in length, was finished in about three 

 years. Our engineer advised the proprietors, in order to avoid the 

 inconvenience of locks, and for the more effectual supply of the 

 canal with water, to have a tunnel at Smethwick ; but his advice 

 was disregarded; and the managers have since been under a ne- 

 cessity of erecting two steam-engines. The canal from Droitwich 

 to the river Severn, for the conveyance of salt and coals, was exe- 

 cuted by Mr. Brindley ; and he also planned the Coventry naviga- 

 tion, which was for some time under his directions ; but a dispute 

 arising about the mode of executing it, he resigned his office. 

 Some short time before his death, he began the Oxfordshire canal, 

 which, uniting with the Coventry canal, serves as a continuation 

 of the Grand Trunk navigation to Oxford, and thence by the 

 Thames to London. The last undertaking, in which Mr. Brindley 

 engaged, was the canal from Chesterfield to the river Trent at 

 Stockwith. He surveyed and planned the whole, and executed 

 some miles of the navigation, which was finished by his brother- 

 in-law, Mr. Henshall, in 1777. Such was the established reputa- 

 tion of Mr. Brindley, that he was consulted on a variety of occa- 

 sions ; and, indeed, few works of this kind were undertaken without 

 his advice. 



When difficulties occurred in the execution of any of his works, 

 Mr. Brindley had no recourse to books, or to the labours of other 

 persons ; but as all his resources were those of his own inventive 

 mind, he generally retired to bed, and lay there one, two, or three 

 days, till he had devised the expedients which he needed for the 

 accomplishment of his objects. He then got up and executed his 

 design without any drawing or model, which he never used, except 

 for the satisfaction of his employers. His memory was so tena- 

 cious, that he could remember and execute all the parts of th<- 



