Trent and Mersey Canal is Built
The Trent and Mersey Canal is a 93 ½ mile canal that connects the River Trent at Derwent Mouth in Derbyshire to the River Mersey which provides an inland route between the major ports of Hull and Liverpool. Construction began in 1766 and was completed in 1777. It provided cheap and reliable transport suitable for carrying delicates such as china as well has heavy goods like coal and clay. In the area called The Potteries in Stoke-on-Trent, where writer Dinah Mulock Craik (1826-1887) was born, were skilled manufacturers like Wedgewood, Minton, Adams, and Spode, so this combination of manufacturers and affordable reliable transport caused an industrial explosion. According to Hugh McKnight, who was popular for writing about canals and waterways, wrote that the population of the area grew from 7,000 in 1760 to 25,000 by 1800, and that just 61 years after that in 1861, the population grew even greater to about 120,000. Stoke-on-Trent was created a Parliament borough by the Reform Bill of 1832 with a right to send two members to Parliament.