Thomas Newcomen was an English inventor who created the atmospheric engine, the first practical fuel-burning engine in 1712. He was an ironmonger by trade and a Baptist lay preacher by calling. He was born in Dartmouth, Devon, England, to a merchant family and baptised at St. Saviour's Church on 28 February 1664. In those days flooding in coal and tin mines was a major problem, and Newcomen was soon engaged in trying to improve ways to pump out the water from such mines. His ironmonger's business specialised in designing, manufacturing and selling tools for the mining industry.
A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of the United Kingdom.
Sir Granville Ransome Bantock was a British composer of classical music.
The Black Country Living Museum is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings in Dudley, West Midlands, England. It is located in the centre of the Black Country, 10 miles west of Birmingham. The museum occupies 105,000 square metres of former industrial land partly reclaimed from a former railway goods yard, disused lime kilns, canal arm and former coal pits.
Stourbridge is a market town in the West Midlands county of England. Situated on the River Stour, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 2011 UK census recorded the town's population as 63,298.
Bantock House Museum and Park, is a museum of Edwardian life and local history, with 48 acres (190,000 m2) of surrounding parkland in Wolverhampton, England. It is named after Alderman Baldwin and Kitty Bantock who once lived there. It is run by Wolverhampton City Council's Arts and Museums service.
Bantock is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Fellows Morton & Clayton Ltd was, for much of the early 20th century, the largest and best-known canal transportation company in England. The company was in existence from 1889 to 1947.
The United Electric Car Company was a tramcar manufacturer from 1905 to 1917 in Preston, Lancashire, England.
President is a historic, steam-powered narrowboat, built in 1909 by Fellows Morton and Clayton (FMC) at their dock at Saltley, Birmingham, England. It is now owned by the Black Country Living Museum, where it is based. President is registered by National Historic Ships as part of the National Historic Fleet.
Scottish-born Thomas Bantock was a self-made businessman and politician. He served as Mayor of Wolverhampton in 1869/70.
The boat dock at the Black Country Living Museum was built in 1976, like many boat docks in the region its buildings are made out of recycled boat timbers from derelict wooden boats. The thousands of boats that used to work the Black Country canals all needed constant maintenance.
Bessie is an historic, single ended riveted iron day boat, built in 1895 for the Hartshill Iron Company. It is now owned by the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley, West Midlands, England, where it is based.
Birchills is a historic, ‘Joey’ boat with a small day cabin, built in 1953 by Ken Keay of Walsall, Birchills is one of the last wooden day boats made and was used to carry coal to Wolverhampton Power Station.
Diamond was built by John Crichton & Co. of Saltney, Chester for Midland and Coast Canal Carrying Company of Wolverhampton. The boat was built in Chester in 1927 and first registered at Wolverhampton in 1928. She was one of six iron boats in the fleet fitted with two cabins for long distance traffic between the Black Country and the ports on the Mersey Estuary. Having been damaged during an air raid on Birmingham in 1944 she was sold for scrap to Ernest Thomas by Fellows, Morton & Clayton who had by then acquired Midlands and Coast. Rebuilt and renamed ‘Henry’ she carried coal until the 1960s when she was resold to ‘Caggy’ Stevens of Oldbury and renamed ‘Susan’. It is now owned by the Black Country Living Museum, where it is based and can be seen dockside in the Lord Ward’s Canal Arm at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley. Diamond is on the National Historic Ships register.
Kildare is an un-powered butty boat constructed of riveted iron. It was built around 1913 by Braithwaite & Kirk of West Bromwich to be towed behind a powered craft like President. It is complete with a fully fitted boatman’s living cabin and traditional covering cloths over the main hold area. It is now owned by the Black Country Living Museum, where it is based and can be seen dockside in the Lord Ward’s Canal Arm at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley when she is not out on the canal system with President . Boat is maintained and operated by Friends of President on behalf of the Black Country Living Museum. Kildare is on the National Historic Ships register.
Peacock is a British narrowboat. She was built as a flyboat for Fellows Morton and Clayton (FMC) at Saltley, Birmingham in 1915, as fleet number 102. FMC had been using a fleet of steam fly boats since 1889, but in 1912 introduced motor boats such as Peacock into their fleet. 'Fly' boats work day and night non-stop, and with an all-male crew the cabins were more spartan than those of long distance family crewed boats.
Stour is an all-wooden motor narrow boat powered by a Bolinder 15 h. p. diesel engine. It was built as a tar tanker in 1937 by Fellows Morton and Clayton at their Uxbridge dockyard for fuel oil carriers Thomas Clayton Ltd of Oldbury.
Ernest Leedham Sutherland Bantock was a British singer, Edwardian musical comedy actor, early film director, dramatist and screenwriter. In 1912 he became the first actor to portray Santa Claus in film.
