Who was William Mansell?

From the Archives: NarrowBoat, Spring 2025

Joseph Boughey

Using various family history resources, Joseph Boughey attempts to uncover the details of a boatman encountered on the Trench Inclined Plane in the late 19th century

The Trench Inclined Plane, where a Mr Mansell was encountered during the late 19th century. In the Winter 2023 issue of NB we ran a piece on the Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society by the late W. Howard Williams, based on his interviews in 1962 with Frank Owen, who had worked on the Trench Inclined Plane between 1890 and its closure in 1921. Family history and other sources suggested that Mr Owen was an accurate source and this applies to further reminiscences reported in May 1963. Williams recorded that, “[It] was as a boy working on the canal that Mr Owen talked with William Mansell, a boatman from Lilleshall. Mansell was the man who, when the Shropshire Canal closed from Tweedale basin northwards in 1858, cleared that section of the canal of boats. Most of the boats were brought down the inclined plane at Wrockwardine Wood, to operate on the other canals as part of the Shropshire Union fleet.” Family history sources produced a confusing maze of …