John Longbotham (died 1801) was a canal engineer and pupil of

John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was a British civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the fi ...

who in 1766 suggested a

Leeds and Liverpool Canal The Leeds and Liverpool Canal is a canal in Northern England, linking the cities of Leeds and Liverpool. Over a distance of , crossing the Pennines, and including 91 locks on the main line. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal has several small branc ...

and did a survey which was approved by

James Brindley James Brindley (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century. Early life Born i ...

. He subsequently became the chief engineer and completed the canal between Bingley and

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Ai ...

before resigning in 1775.

Career

In 1766, Longbotham, together with John Hustler, a Bradford wool merchant and Quaker, called a public meeting at the Sun Inn, Bradford to discuss a broad canal linking

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

to Hull via the Aire and Calder Canal. He prepared a survey which was presented in 1768. To gain wider support the canal was promoted by committees in Bradford and Liverpool, with the Bradford committee controlling finances. The Liverpool committee objected to Longbotham's line down the valleys of the Calder and Ribble to Preston as it avoided a number of industrial Lancashire towns and suggested an alternative route which the Bradford committee found too long and expensive.

was brought in to arbitrate and ruled in favour of Longbotham's line and an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

was passed in 1770. Although Brindley was appointed as chief engineer he did not take up the appointment and Longbotham was appointed as both chief engineer and clerk of works. By April 1773 the canal was open between Bingley and Skipton. In 1774 it was open between Liverpool and Newburgh and the Bingley Five Rise Locks and the Bradford branch were open. Meanwhile, he was also involved with surveys on the Bradford canal and the proposed Leeds and Selby Canal and bought coal mines at

Upholland Up Holland (or Upholland) is a village close to Skelmersdale and civil parish in the West Lancashire district, in the county of Lancashire, England, 4 miles west of Wigan. The population at the 2011 census was 7,376. Geography The village is ...

, near

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

. Because of these activities the committee of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal complained that he was not spending enough time on their project and he either resigned his post or was dismissed because the accounts were not in order. In 1774, he started a packet service between Liverpool and Newburgh. In 1787 he was doing surveys for the proposed Lancaster Canal, with a route that combined navigation and drainage requirements. By 1791 he was brought back to advise the Leeds and Liverpool Canal committee on a new line in response to

Robert Whitworth Robert Whitworth (1734 – 30 March 1799) was an English land surveyor and engineer, who learnt his trade under John Smeaton and James Brindley, and went on to become one of the leading canal engineers of his generation. Biography Whitworth was ...

's proposal. In 1792 he did preparatory surveys for the Grand Western Canal crossing Devon and Somerset and worked on the proposed ''Bristol and Western Canal'' from the Avon to

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...

. By 1800 he was in poverty and when he died in 1801, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal paid for his funeral expenses. A television documentary on Canal Building in Britain stated that Jonathan(John)Longbottom caught pneumonia and died and never saw his project finished.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Longbotham, John 1801 deaths People of the Industrial Revolution English canal engineers People from Halifax, West Yorkshire Year of birth unknown