St Helens honours its own early canal pioneer
English Heritage Blue Plaque unveiled for Henry Berry (1726-1812)
HENRY Berry, the inspirational early canal civil engineer responsible for Britain’s first industrial canal, the Sankey (St Helens) Canal, has been honoured by his hometown of St Helens with an English Heritage Blue Plaque.
Organised by the Sankey Canal Restoration Society and sponsored by member Dr Barrie Pennington, the plaque has been sited in a prominent position on the wall of the popular World of Glass visitor attraction alongside the canal close to the town centre.
Henry’s exact date of birth is not recorded and the place of his birth is believed to have been Parr, a district of St Helens. On his death in 1812 he was buried first in the Dissenters Chapel and later in St Helens Congregational Church cemetery.
Believed to be a religious man who never married, his early career is noted in a limited number of local documents when he was both a highway surveyor and ‘overseer of the poor’. His education is not known but it was highly likely that when working under the experienced civil engineer Thomas Speers in Liverpool, he would have learned his trade.
Speers had extensive experience of inland waterways as well as docks and it is after Speers’ death in 1750 that Henry came into prominence in Liverpool. Salthouse Dock, built for the expanding trade in salt extracted from Northwich and surrounding areas then shipped down the Weaver Navigation, is largely credited to Henry Berry.
It was Henry’s work in Liverpool that brought him to the attention of the proprietors of the Sankey River, all of whom were Liverpool councillors and substantial financing for the canal was to emanate from Liverpool.
Economical with the truth
Both industry and the growing towns in the North West needed cheaper coal and to exploit the rich coalfields of South Lancashire, the Sankey Brook was viewed as the best way to be developed as a river navigation but Henry knew this was impractical.
However, in 1755 Henry gave evidence to parliament on the project but, despite his religious background, may have been complicit in the building of an artificial cut the full length of the valley without first informing all of the proprietors what was needed.
Granted two days a week to work on the canal by his employers on the Liverpool Docks, Henry can be acclaimed as the person responsible for the construction of the first canal of the Industrial Revolution some three years before the Bridgewater Canal.
The career of this great civil engineer continued and he was associated with many dock schemes both in Liverpool and Hull and other road schemes but he fell foul of the Weaver Commissioners when they alleged he caused a minor flood on the River Weaver and was dismissed from his position.
Retiring in 1789 he lived on in Liverpool until his death in 1812. He enjoyed what was at that time a generous £1000 a year income and he likely was shrewd with his money as he owned an estate in Parr and property in Liverpool.
Sankey Canal Restoration Society chairman Colin Greenall said: “It is important that the contribution of this modest religious man is recognised in the town of his birth not just for the economic benefits he brought to the region but for his well-deserved status as a pioneer and innovative civil engineer.”
Jim Forkin, chairman of IWA Chester and Merseyside Branch, added: “Increasingly government and society are becoming aware of the value of the work of those pioneering civil engineers in creating these early canals and how they now have been adapted for a new role in present-day society.
“The Sankey Valley offers clean open-air space for the well-being of all and this man really deserves that recognition in his own town.”
A second Blue Plaque will be erected at the United Reformed Church in the town centre, located near the main entrance on the wall above Henry Berry’s gravestone.