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72-546: The Petworth Emigration Scheme was an initiative sponsored by the Earl of Egremont and promoted by Thomas Sockett, Anglican Rector of Petworth . It sent around 1800 working-class people from southern England to Upper Canada between 1832 and 1837. The scheme was part of a larger initiative in Britain during the 1830s in which churches, charitable organisations and private individuals were active in promoting emigration as

144-491: A French courtesan who had moved to London during the French Revolution, with whom he was frequently seen at the opera. He was later close to Lady Melbourne whose son William Lamb , later Prime Minister, was widely regarded as Wyndham's son and was said to look remarkably like him. Lamb often spent time at Petworth House as a child and continued to visit Egremont until the end of the earl's life. Egremont called off

216-665: A barge on the Arun Navigation , a brigantine built at Littlehampton for coastal trading and wrecked on the Goodwin Sands after only two years, and later a steam tug used to tow barges across Chichester and Langstone harbours for the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal. War with France and population growth made famine an ever-present danger in the early nineteenth century and there was an urgent need to maximise food production using any land that could be cultivated. In

288-531: A breadth of beam from nine to ten feet with a carrying capacity of ten times that of the batteau. In 1835 there were 800 Durham boats and 1500 batteaux engaged in the navigation of Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence river." Durham boats were used in commercial trade on the Fox River between Green Bay, Wisconsin and Fort Winnebago . Their use on this waterway was pioneered by John W. Arndt in 1825. In

360-433: A coil of rope they had on board, and securing one end forward, passed the rope round and round her fore and aft, heaving each turn taut with a gunner’s handspike; and in this way, kept her together and afloat, all hands bailing." During the period 1796 to 1820, “open boats” were in use on Lake Erie. These boats were used to carry cargo and passengers, usually between Buffalo and Detroit and places between. They traveled along

432-712: A flat bateaux, carrying a good load and requiring a small depth of water. A series of modern replicas were built to be used in annual reenactments of Washington's historic crossing of the Delaware River over the night of December 25 and 26, 1776 during the American Revolutionary War . Five are stored at the Washington Crossing Historic Park in Upper Makefield Township, Pennsylvania . A sixth

504-467: A horse fair was held at Egdean in early September. It was one of the last occasions on which Wyndham was seen in public before his death. The earl gave a £20 prize for the best three-year-old colt or filly. As he left no legitimate progeny he was succeeded in the earldom by his nephew George Francis Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont , who inherited the Somerset estates, and on whose death without progeny

576-432: A keel, but possibly with a larger “keel-plank” in the center. The sides were vertical and parallel, tapering to sharp at either end. Unlike the bateau, they were decked at both ends and had cleated walking boards along either side. They would have been fitted with a long “sweep” or steering oar and one mast which usually held two square sails. The Durham boat "...was the sole means of moving commodities in both directions on

648-561: A local property tax, which became higher with increasing poverty. In 1830, an outbreak of civil unrest by desperate agricultural workers, the Swing Riots , occurred in southern England . That prompted the wealthy to look for a way of losing some of the surplus population, especially the more troublesome members, through emigration. Upper Canada was seen as somewhere with unfarmed land to settle and not too costly to reach but far enough that people would not easily come back. Thomas Sockett

720-454: A pedigree herd of Sussex cattle from the local breed which was commended by Young who wrote that they "must be unquestionably ranked among the best of the kingdom". A herd descended from these animals is maintained at Stag Park at the present day. Devon and Hereford cattle were also kept, together with crossbreds. Different breeds of sheep were tried and exotic Tibetan Shaul goats, which produced fine wool for hatters. Stag Park model farm

792-556: A planned marriage to Lady Maria Walpole, a granddaughter of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole . Egremont inherited the recently built London townhouse Egremont House in Piccadilly , which was known as a haunt of Macaronis . As his country seat he rented Stansted House during 1775 and 1776 while renovation work was in progress at Petworth House. He also spent much time at East Lodge, his house in Brighton, at Kemptown , on

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864-666: A rapid. She was decked fore and aft and along her gunwales, which were cleated to give foothold to the boatmen. A mast was stepped near the bow with square sails." From 1803 to 1820, Durham boats were the watercraft of choice on the waterway for traffic between the Hudson River and Lake Ontario via the Mohawk River . The eastern terminus of the waterway was in Schenectady, New York , and Durham boats were also known as Schenectady boats in this region. The waterway

936-441: A series of frames amidships, likely from natural oak crooks when available, and planked with sawn boards, likely pine although builders would have used whatever material was available. These boats would have varied from place to place, from builder to builder and also evolved over time, however in general, they were 40 feet (12 m) to 60 feet (18 m) long and 8 feet (2.4 m) wide. The bottoms were planked and flat, without

1008-470: A solution to overcrowded urban slums , unemployment and rural poverty in Britain. In the early 19th century, Malthusian predictions of overpopulation seemed to be true in Europe . The disappearance of bubonic plague after the 17th century and the introduction of the smallpox vaccine in the late 18th century had allowed birth rates to exceed death rates in the young and caused population growth. There

1080-641: A spirit of liberality which pervades all his actions, gives to farmers, in the neighbourhood of Petworth, the opportunity of breeding from his valuable stud; his lordship also affords the eastern part of the county the same opportunity, by giving the use of one of his best bred horses to Mr. Brown, the venerable training groom at Lewes; his lordship also gives annual premiums to the breeders of the best colts, shewn at Egdean fair, near Petworth. In 1800, Wyndham bought land at Houghton , Sussex, where he developed chalk pits, which in 1808 Arthur Young reported as producing 40,000 tonnes (40,000,000 kg) annually. A canal cut

1152-513: A while at his Sussex seat of Petworth House. Several other painters including John Constable , C. R. Leslie, George Romney , the sculptor John Flaxman , and other talented artists received commissions from Wyndham, who filled his house with valuable works of art. The earl was a sponsor of the Petworth Emigration Scheme intended to relieve rural poverty caused by overpopulation. Generous and hospitable, blunt and eccentric,

1224-818: Is on display on the green next to the Durham Post Office on Durham Road in Durham, Pennsylvania . The Endurance was a replica Durham boat built by Parks Canada and the National Capital Commission in Ottawa in 1983. It was scrapped in 2006 except for the bow section, which remains on display at Rideau Canal Visitor Centre in Smiths Falls , Ontario. The Erie Traveler is a 51 feet (16 m) long, 7 feet (2 m) wide Durham boat replica built during 2016-2017 by staff and volunteers of

1296-807: Is recorded that the peace of the household was often disturbed by disputes between the children, with their respective mothers joining in. The children, certainly of the more favoured mistresses and especially those of Elizabeth Ilive , were educated by Thomas Sockett, a protégé of the earl whom he appointed Rector of Petworth, who also acted as the earl's secretary. He also had four or five children by Elizabeth Fox and many others by other women. On 16 July 1801, Wyndham married his mistress Elizabeth Ilive, already having had seven illegitimate children by her. After their eighth child, Elizabeth, died in infancy, Elizabeth Ilive left Petworth to live in London. The earl died at Petworth House on 11 November 1837. In earlier centuries

1368-687: The Coldwaltham cut and Hardham tunnel. Having abandoned plans for a canal from Petworth to Shalford and keen for the nation to have an inland waterway linking London and Portsmouth , safe from natural hazards to coastal shipping and naval attack by the French, the earl turned his attention to linking the River Arun to the River Wey in Surrey . The Arun Canal had extended the navigable length of

1440-671: The Delaware River . They are also noted for their use in George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River on December 25 and 26, 1776 during the American Revolutionary War . Durham boats were flat-bottomed and double-ended, much like large bateau in both construction and appearance. Beyond that, very little is known of construction details. No plans exist and likely they were not used. No extant remains have been found and very little written description exists. Probably they were built with heavy stems at bow and stern and

1512-533: The Niagara River . Porter Barton & Co. ran them on a regular schedule carrying salt from Little Niagara (Fort Schlosser) to Black Rock beginning about 1805. At least one Durham boat “of about ten tons burthen” was reported built at the Black Rock shipyard on the Niagara River in 1809. In 1810, a “salt boat” with a crew of four bound to Black Rock with 150 barrels of salt was upset and drifted down

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1584-609: The Petworth Canal . This was originally intended to be extended north to link to the River Wey , but following unfavourable surveys, the plan was abandoned when the cost of locks needed to reach the north side of Petworth proved prohibitive. In 1796, the earl purchased 36 per cent of the shares in the Arun Navigation Company, saving it from bankruptcy when it was burdened with the £16,000 cost of building

1656-612: The Rideau Canal was open, the rapids could be avoided by using the Ottawa River and the canal. About 1,800 people were sent to Canada by the scheme mostly from 1832 to 1837 although 170 went from 1838 to 1850 on ships of other agents. The emigrants consisted of unemployed single men and families dependent on a lone wage earner. Arable workers were more heavily represented than those working with livestock and were seasonally employed. The series of poor harvests that culminated in

1728-514: The Swing Riots suggested that poor employment prospects would continue. Skilled rural artisans and trades people were also represented in the Petworth emigrants. Although they had enough standing to be distinguished from agricultural labourers in status and wage, the seasonal nature of their work resulted in à similar instability. As they made a good wages during the summer months, they were expected to make ends meet year round and were overlooked by

1800-521: The vestry when it came to off-season assistance. Former soldiers often did not settle easily into life back home and had the incentive of being entitled to claim 100 acres (40 hectares) of uncleared land, but other migrants were given 5 acres (2 hectares). George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont George O'Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont FRS (18 December 1751 – 11 November 1837) of Petworth House in Sussex and Orchard Wyndham in Somerset,

1872-508: The 1770s. At the family's newly built London residence, Egremont House , he associated with fashionable Macaronis . Wyndham was a patron of painters such as Turner and Constable , and of the sculptor John Flaxman who contributed a heroic group of Michael overthrowing Satan for the North Gallery. Turner spent much time at Petworth House and had a studio on an upper floor. He painted landscapes of Petworth, Arundel , and one of

1944-559: The 1820s, emigration, mostly to Canada, was promoted as a means of relieving rural unemployment and poverty. Thomas Sockett, Rector of Petworth and Wyndham's protégé, promoted the Petworth Emigration Scheme , which sent 1,800 people from Sussex and neighbouring counties to Upper Canada between 1832 and 1837. The earl encouraged those living on his land to join the scheme by offering to pay the £10 per head cost of passage. The Reverend Arthur Young stayed at Petworth House while conducting his surveys of English agriculture. The earl established

2016-841: The 1830s, Daniel Whitney, who had a lead shot tower in Helena on the Wisconsin River downstream from the portage at the fort, tried to organize transit for lead shot via the Great Lakes to markets in New York, but while the Durham boats were ideal for their task on the Fox River , the overall operation was too complex to compete with other means. Durham boats on the Woolastook (Saint John River) were used to supply colonial military installations and support colonial settlements in

2088-455: The Delaware, the usual crew was three men. Movement downstream was by the current with occasional use of two 18 feet (5 m) oars. The boat was propelled upstream by the use of 12 to 18 feet (4 to 5 m) iron-shod setting poles. twelve inches (30 cm) wide “walking-boards” ran the length of the boat on either side. Crew members set their poles on the bottom of the river and walked from

2160-699: The Earldom of Egremont became extinct. Petworth and various estates in Yorkshire and Ireland passed to Colonel George Wyndham, the eldest natural son of the third Earl, who in 1859 was created Baron Leconfield . Henry Wyndham inherited the family estates in Cumberland . Durham boat The Durham name became associated with this boat type due to their use by Durham Ironworks, based in Durham Township, Pennsylvania , which used them to haul freight on

2232-522: The Midhurst road turning. The Market House or Town Hall was built of stone and adorned at the northern end with a bust of William III. The earl provided land in 1784 for a new House of Correction, to replace the previous gaol, which had been a squalid place consisting of two unheated rooms and unable to be enlarged to provide the work which was considered essential for the moral improvement of inmates. Delays were caused by petitioning by ratepayers against

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2304-550: The Mohawk went by bateaux and Schenectady boat, which was a smaller and lighter version of the Durham. Durhams on the Mohawk differed somewhat from those on the Delaware River, primarily in that they had flat bottoms rather than the partly rounded bottoms of the Delaware River boats. “…the Schenectady Durham, which is described as flat bottom, straight sides, with easy lines at bow and stern, to help flotation in striking

2376-497: The Petworth Troop had fifty-two members. Wyndham financed the building of a market house at Petworth in 1793 on the market square where bulls had previously been tied to a stake for baiting by dogs . The earl ended this cruel practice and also the practice of "throwing at cocks", which involved throwing wooden staves at cockerels , the thrower winning a bird if it was stunned or had its legs broken. This had been done at

2448-705: The River Arun to Newbridge on the road from Wisborough Green to Billingshurst and the Wey and Arun Junction Canal was completed in 1816 to connect to the Godalming Navigation. In 1823, the completion of the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal , including the Chichester Ship Canal , completed the London to Portsmouth route for barges and marked the end of the earl's investment in canal building. A number of vessels were named Egremont , including

2520-725: The age of 12, he succeeded to his father's titles and estates at Petworth in Sussex, Egremont in Cumbria , Leconfield with further land in Wiltshire and also the large estates at Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, the family's oldest possession. He later inherited the lands of the Earl of Thomond in Ireland. He was educated at Wandsworth and Westminster Schools . In 1774, he added O'Brien to his name on inheriting extensive estates in Ireland from his uncle Percy Wyndham-O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond . He went on two grand tours to Italy in

2592-419: The costs they would have to bear. Thirty-two cells in two storeys were built over brick arch arcades to prevent tunnelling out, and the institution opened in 1788 near the present police station and courthouse. Prisoners were kept in strict solitary confinement, and never allowed to speak to each other; even when in chapel they were in individual high-sided box pews. Exercise in the outside yards, called "airing",

2664-520: The earl was in his day a very prominent figure in English society. Charles Greville assessed him as "immensely rich and his munificence was equal to his wealth" and wrote that "in his time Petworth was like a great inn." Though Wyndham had more than 40 children, the only legitimate one died in infancy. Lord Egremont was succeeded in the earldom by his nephew George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont (1786-1845), but bequeathed his unentailed estates, namely

2736-543: The earl was keen to continue using draught-oxen when they were going out of favour elsewhere. Young records that by experiment traditional wooden yokes were found to be superior to horse-style collars. John Ellman, writing in The History, Antiquities and Topography of the County of Sussex by Thomas Walker Horsfield (1835), writes of Wyndham: Horses —This county must not boast of their breed. The Earl of Egremont, with

2808-683: The earl's canal projects, the Chichester Ship Canal . Like his father, the earl also collected French furniture, as when on a visit to Paris in July 1802 during the Peace of Amiens , he bought a pair of five-light candelabra supported by bronze female caryatids, supplied by Martin-Eloy Lignereux . The earl was an enthusiast for canal building, which would allow for agricultural improvement on his Petworth estates by bringing in chalk from Houghton for liming, and coal to replace scarce supplies of firewood, releasing more land for food production. The first venture

2880-765: The east side of Upper Rock Gardens. He attended Brighton and Lewes races and visited the Prince Regent at the Royal Pavilion . Egremont was known for his philanthropy, and was a founding subscriber of the Royal Sussex Hospital . He also donated £1,000 towards the founding of the Sussex Scientific Institution and Mantellian Museum at Old Steine in Brighton. Egremont maintained around 15 mistresses and fathered more than 40 illegitimate children at Petworth House. It

2952-652: The emigrants more cheaply, and no more ships were chartered after 1837. The crossing by sailing ship took about seven weeks to Quebec, with very cramped living conditions consisting of a 6-foot (1.8 m) square berth for three adults or six children. Cooking was done by the passengers using stoves on deck. Ships used included the England , the British Tar , the Lord Melville , and the Diana (1837). The voyage

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3024-518: The first of his five Derby winners and five Oaks winners. His racing silks were dark green with a black cap. Wyndham was a member of the Whig party . In 1787, he bought the pocket borough of Midhurst and used it to return his two younger brothers, Charles and Percy, to the House of Commons. Charles only served in one parliament for Midhurst and by 1796 the seat had been sold to Lord Carrington. When

3096-598: The former Percy estates including Petworth House in Sussex, Leconfield Castle in Yorkshire and Egremont Castle in Cumbria, to his eldest illegitimate son Col. George Wyndham, 1st Baron Leconfield (5 June 1787 – 18 March 1869). Wyndham was born on 18 December 1751 the eldest son and heir of Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont (1710-1763) of Orchard Wyndham and Petworth House, by his wife Hon. Alicia Maria Carpenter , daughter of George Carpenter, 2nd Baron Carpenter of Killaghy, by his wife Elizabeth Petty. In 1763 at

3168-419: The forward end of the boat to the stern, driving the boat forward. The captain, who steered, held the boat from going back with the current with a pole while the crew returned to repeat the process. At one time, there were reportedly several hundred Durham boats on the Delaware River. They sometimes traveled in groups as large as twenty-five so that the crews could aid each other. One observer recalled sitting on

3240-460: The geologist William Smith was employed to search for coal and iron ore deposits. Between 1803 and 1804 £1,000 was invested in sinking test wells, with the use of steam engines to pump out water. Six thin veins of coal were found but were insufficient to be of commercial value. Wyndham maintained a racing stud near Lewes and had his first winner at Lewes in 1777. Assassin won the Derby in 1782,

3312-761: The incised poppy heads being scraped into earthenware bowls and dried in the sun. The 1797 crop was the largest grown in England and was said to be purer than imported opium. The 24,000-acre estates in Yorkshire at Wressle and Leconfield in the East Riding , Catton and Seamer in the North Riding, and Spofforth and Tadcaster in the West Riding were also greatly improved with £26,000 spent on drainage and fencing alone between 1797 and 1812. As well as breeding horses and introducing improved machinery,

3384-653: The junction of the Ebernoe road with the A283 once continued northward, passing to the east of Northchapel and through Frith Wood to rejoin the A283 London road at a pair of gatehouses which still stand to the north of Northchapel village. This road provided a private bypass of the toll gate at Northchapel for the earl's family and friends. As a young man in London, Egremont gave a gilded coach to Rosalie Duthé , sometimes called "the first officially recorded dumb blonde ",

3456-505: The late 18th C. "these were a clumsy, wall sided boat, carrying a considerable burthen, but drawing much water and requiring great labour to work them, being manned with a larger complement of men, who propelled them with poles, and towed them thro' the rapids with ropes. A trip on one of these boats from Fredericton to the Great Falls took up nearly a month in going and returning. To these succeeded what are called Tobique boats, which are

3528-796: The party split in 1792 over the French Revolution he sided with the more conservative faction which supported Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger in his condemnation of the "wicked and seditious" writings of radicals such as Thomas Paine . He opposed the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 which introduced the harsh workhouse system. When the Sussex Poor Law Commissioner William Hawley visited Petworth House in October 1835 he

3600-543: The rest of the boat being open. The usual length was 60 feet (18 m) although shorter boats were built and in some cases, the length was extended to 66 feet (20 m) with sometimes a foot or two added to the normal 8 feet (2.4 m) width. The usual depth was 42 inches (110 cm) with an additional 10 inches (25 cm) of height at the ends. The boats were shallow draft, 3.5 to 5 inches (9 to 13 cm) empty and 28 inches (70 cm) loaded. They normally carried from 15 to 18 tons downstream and 2 tons upstream. On

3672-669: The river bank watching a number of Durham boats waiting for a favorable wind, and when a breeze came up, “…off they would go like a flock of sheep.” The Mohawk River , a tributary of the Hudson River in New York state, was smaller and shallower than the Delaware , and Durham boats were not introduced until much later, probably not until 1795 when the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company completed navigational improvements. Prior to that, freight on

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3744-488: The river between Philadelphia and points above tide. This boat was well known on the Delaware or more than a century...even after the building of the canals, it was used on them as well as on the river to a considerable extent." They are also noted for their use in George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River during the American Revolution . "They were used as early as 1758, by John Van Campen, for

3816-465: The river, and went over the falls. Three of the four crew members were lost. In another well-known incident, Captain Daniel Dobbins used an “old Durham boat” to transport two cannon each weighing 6300 pounds from Black Rock to Presque Isle to supply Commodore Perry’s fleet in the Battle of Lake Erie, "...when it was discovered she was leaking very much from the heavy rolling and heavy weight in her bottom, and likely to split open and founder, Mr. Dobbins took

3888-433: The running of the Petworth Emigration Scheme. The national press reported the matter and Sockett, together with other witnesses from Petworth, gave evidence to a House of Commons select committee in March 1837. The county Yeomanry was revived in 1794 "in case of invasion or internal commotion", reflecting aristocratic nervousness following the French revolution. Composed of landowners and tenant farmers this cavalry force

3960-428: The shore and sought shelter in the mouth of the nearest creek in the event of bad weather. These boats were never specifically described, but they were sometimes referred to as Schenectady boats or Durham boats. The use of Durham boats on the Niagara River ended immediately in 1825 when the Porter Barton & Co. monopoly of the Niagara Falls portage was made worthless by the opening of the Erie Canal. The Durham boat

4032-403: The transportation of flour to Philadelphia, manufactured from wheat grown in the Minisink ." The sides of the Delaware River Durhams were vertical with a slight curvature to meet a similar curvature of the bottom which was otherwise flat. The sides were straight and parallel until they began to curve to the stem and stern posts, about twelve or fourteen feet from the ends, where the decks began,

4104-427: Was a British peer , a major landowner and a great art collector. He was interested in the latest scientific advances. He was an agriculturist and a friend of the agricultural writer Arthur Young , and was an enthusiastic canal builder who invested in many commercial ventures for the improvement of his estates. He played a limited role in politics. He was a great patron of art and the painter J. M. W. Turner lived for

4176-457: Was a moving force behind the scheme. From humble beginnings, he had been tutor to the more important of the Earl of Egremont 's many children, all illegitimate, and secretary to the Earl. Encouraged by the Earl, he had graduated at Oxford University so that he could be ordained into the Anglican church and become Rector of Petworth to give him an independent living. He formed a committee of three with Thomas Chrippes and William Knight. The Earl

4248-437: Was also done individually. Town gas was introduced in 1836 when a gas works was built in Station Road, using coal brought to Coultershaw wharf by barge and later by rail to Petworth railway station . A monument which stands at the north end of East Street was given by the townspeople to show their gratitude to the earl. The second-hand spire which Wyndham bought from a Brighton church for St Mary's Church became crooked and

4320-539: Was created in the northern part of Petworth Park on land cleared of scrub and gorse, consisting of between 700 and 800 acres divided into fields and drained. Land previously used for producing wood fuel could then be released for food production as wood had been replaced by coal delivered by the new canal system. Crop rotations including turnips, tares, wheat, barley, oats and grass were introduced. Potatoes were grown at Petworth and rhubarb as medicine. More unusually Young describes opium production at Petworth, with juices from

4392-455: Was dug from the River Arun to allow chalk to be moved by barge to lime kilns on higher reaches of the river system, including one at Haslingbourne, south of Petworth. Paper mills were established at Duncton , south of Petworth and at Iping , west of Midhurst. Near Northchapel a government factory was set up to produce high-quality charcoal for making gunpowder from alder wood in coal-heated iron cylinders. At Spofforth in North Yorkshire,

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4464-465: Was important that the scheme had a good reputation and so only good quality ships were hired. There were problems with the early supervisors, and from 1834 to 1837, the task was undertaken by James Marr Brydone , a naval surgeon who had been at the Battle of Trafalgar . The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 increasingly interfered with local freedom of action by bringing a harsher regíme, as the Poor Law Commission decided that other agencies could transport

4536-434: Was introduced on the St. Lawrence River in 1809 by Americans who brought them from the Mohawk River . By 1816, regular passenger service by Durham boat had been established between Schenectady and Montreal. From the Montreal Herald of June 2, 1816, "Among the objects which attract public notice, we were the other day struck with the appearance of a handsome Durham boat of the ordinary size, or of about 250 bbls. Burthen. She

4608-425: Was longer but cheaper than going to the United States because the migrants were providing a return cargo for ships bringing timber to England. Ships would be towed up the St. Lawrence River to Montreal by wood-fired steam tugs. At Montreal, the passengers had to transfer to barges, known as Durham boats to ascend the St. Lawrence Rapids, to Prescott before they caught a steamer to Kingston and Toronto . When

4680-490: Was naturally commanded by the most powerful landowners. In Sussex, this took the form of the Sussex Troops of Gentlemen and Yeoman Cavalry , with the earl himself as Colonel , as well as commanding the Petworth Troop. Volunteers provided their own horse while the government paid for maintenance and basic equipment. Wyndham himself bought extra arms, helmets, cloaks and feathers from London. Volunteers gained exemptions from taxes on horses, hair powder and from road tolls. By 1798

4752-403: Was no possibility of importing food from outside Europe at that time and so food prices had risen, and with the decline in military employment after the Napoleonic Wars , unemployment and hunger were widespread in the countryside. Shelter and food for the destitute was provided locally by committees of landowners and clerics and varied from one area to another. Funding for that came from the rates,

4824-429: Was not intended for freight, but for passengers; she had a substantial roundhouse, 20 feet in length by 8 in width, well fitted up with sides of painted canvas, such as stagecoaches have; sixteen or twenty passengers can be tolerably accommodated in this boat." The Durham on the St. Lawrence was described as "a flat bottomed barge with a keel or centre board with a rounded bow with a length from eighty to ninety feet with

4896-402: Was politely received but was informed that the earl considered the Act "one of the worst measures that could have been devised". While Egremont remained aloof from day-to-day affairs, his secretary Thomas Sockett, Rector of Petworth, was deeply involved with poor relief and emigration, and became engaged in bitter disputes with the commissioner over the provision of relief to Petworth paupers and

4968-409: Was taken down in 1947. The great wall which he had built around Petworth Park is still a feature of the area. Built of sandstone masonry over two metres tall, some fourteen miles of wall surrounds the park and subdivides it into three parts, the deer park in the south, then a large area of woodland, with farmland and woods in the northern part. The stone road which runs the length of the park to emerge at

5040-408: Was the Rother Navigation , making the River Rother navigable to Midhurst . Failing, during the time of Canal Mania , to find any reliable contractor able to undertake the construction, most of the work was done by the earl's own estate workers. Starting from Stopham the Navigation reached Petworth in 1795 and Midhurst in 1796. A branch to Haslingbourne, south of Petworth, was then built, known as

5112-414: Was the major one connecting the eastern seaboard of the United States to the continental interior. The improvements to it that made the use of Durham boats practicable were an important prelude to the construction of the Erie Canal . Durham boats aren't designed as canal boats, and their era on the Mohawk River largely ended with the canal's opening in 1825. Durham boats replaced the use of bateaux on

5184-519: Was willing to pay the £10 per person cost of the voyage for those on his land, and the parish funds gave a further £10 for warm winter clothing, blankets and other supplies and equipment. Sockett used his network of wealthy contacts to recruit potential emigrants from across the southern counties of England, chartered ships and appointed supervisors to maintain discipline on the voyage and see the immigrants settled in Canada. To encourage further migration, it

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