Differing Responses to an Industrialising Economy - eTheses ...

transport of goods was still probably undertaken by local farmers and tradesmen, but a
trio of carriers are mentioned in marriage licences. Their specialism may well be
indicative of the growing demand for carriage of goods, as they provided a vital link
between local villages and market towns, such as Alcester and Worcester. 161
Despite improvements in the turnpike road system, local roads were still causing
problems in the second half of the eighteenth century. 162
No specialist carriers have
come to light at this period, but the new turnpikes brought employment to the likes of
Stephen Chambers, the tollgate-keeper at Haselor, on the road from Alcester to
Stratford. 163
Canals ‘brought the means of transport to the production site’ and ‘enabled fullscale
exploitation’ of inland mineral resources. 164
Specifically, from its completion in
1816 the Stratford upon Avon Canal opened up markets for locally produced stone and
lime and also agricultural produce. In return, coal found its way more easily and cheaply
to this zone along with luxury items and mass-produced products from the towns.
Although often on the move, some canal-boatmen happened to be in Wilmcote on census
nights. 165
The nineteenth century brought further improvements to the road network, while
additional routes and more frequent services were offered by coaches and carriers. The
latter are increasingly in evidence in the smaller villages, some combining their carrying
161 WoRO, marriage licence of Thomas Purcell, ‘mulio’, Kington, June 1722, and marriage licence of
Thomas Thompson, Kington, gentleman, May 1733, witnessed by John Hughes, Kington, carrier, and
marriage licence of Thomas Burlston, Abbots Morton, carrier, Jan. 1737/8. No transport workers feature in
Table 6.2 and only Burlston in Table 6.4. All three could change horses at their home base between
Alcester and Worcester. If the Worcester scribe was being accurate, his description of Purcell as ‘mulio’ or
‘mule-driver’, shows Purcell’s choice of draught or pack animal.
162 For example, WoRO, QS531/47, QS556/33, QS539/56, discuss the state of roads at Rous Lench,
Inkberrow, Kington and Abbots Morton in the 1790s.
163 Chambers is mentioned in Saville, King’s Coughton, p. 108, quoting Alcester Turnpike Trust’s minutes
for 1776.
164 B. Travers, ‘Trading patterns in the east midlands 1660-1800’, Midland History, 15, (1990).
165 WaRO, Aston Cantlow, (Wilmcote) 1841 and 1851 censuses.
226