BW110/4
Hugh Henshall & Company
Date
1817-1845
Reference code
BW110/4
Administrative / Biographical history
The carrying business of Hugh Henshall & Company was started in mid 1770 by a group of proprietors to bring business to the Trent and Mersey Canal. It was soon taken over by the canal company as it brought good revenue. The company was able to offer cheaper freight rates where competition was greatest at each end of the canal and by 1790 almost all traffic down the canal from the Trent was carried by the company.
Hugh Henshall & Company had wharves at each end of the canal as well as in the Potteries at Longport. It carried for the canal company as well as for companies along the canal, which included Wedgewood.
In 1845 the Trent and Mersey Canal company was taken over by the North Staffordshire Railway. Hugh Henshall & Company, which had been working on a small scale for a number of years probably closed down at the time of this transfer.