Boating Families & My Ancestors of Newburgh & Lathom
The Melling Family aboard their canal boat 'IBEX' tied up at Newburgh on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal.
The photo belongs to Miss E Melling and is used here with the kind permission of the Newburgh Village Website (see my links page).
Welcome to my website!
My name is Valerie Wall, I am descended from a long line of Barrow and Draper ancestors concentrated in the small and beautiful village of Newburgh within Lathom, Lancashire. My earliest ancestors were husbandmen in the villages of Dalton & Newburgh until around 1770 when work commenced on the construction of The Leeds and Liverpool Canal with the first cut being made at Halsall. Census details and church records confirm that my Barrow & Draper ancestors were amongst these early families that first took to the waterways.
It is often said that the boating families were mainly Romany gipsies and much has been written on the subject of the origin of the boating people, indeed they did have their own particular style of clothing, traditions and way of life with many similarities to the Romany Gipsies. However, the boatpeople, unlike most gipsies were very hardworking; the majority were extremely clean and proud of their little cabin homes. They greatly resented being called gipsies. This incorrect labeling may be due to the similarity with the Canal Art; the fact that they were always on the move or the mode of dress (boatwomen wore boots similar to those worn by gipsies). Whatever the reason the boating families found this association deeply insulting.
During the course of my research I have found that predominently the boating families of Newburgh, Lathom and Burscough were descendants of local families of the area. They were simple opportunists that saw the potential to earn a living from the water that flowed past their doorsteps. It was as each generation was succeeded by the next that the skills and tradition of working on the canal became exclusive to these families. The occupation was passed from father to son and very few outsiders ever engaged in canal work and life.
When I started this website I planned to devote it purely to my family history however, boating families tended to marry from within the boating community, this meant that my ancestors lives were interlinked with so many other local families that I have decided to expand the subject of this website to include as much information as I can find about the boating families in the village of Newburgh within the Civil Parish of Lathom.
I would love to hear from any descendants of boating families from these areas.
If you have any archive material, photographs, memories or family stories passed down about the boating people or life on the canal that you would like to share please contact me via my email address or leave a message in my guestbook.
Remember to check back regularly for updated research.
Please Enjoy Your Stay.
Contact me at: Vally64(AT)sky.com
Replace (AT) for @
This site is dedicated to all my boating ancestors in particular John & Elizabeth Barrow nee Draper, fine boatpeople.
Sarah Barrow formerly Salisbury, the mother of many!
Clarissa Draper Barrow, no longer our mystery girl!
My nan, Mary Barrow
And finally, to all those boating families: the boatmen, boatwomen, bargemen, Mersey Flatmen, lockkeepers, lengthsmen, who maintained or sailed the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, The River Mersey and along the coast, they were part of that unique occupation and way of life that has now sadly passed.
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