Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/258



The necessary powers for making and perfecting this navigation are contained in thirteen acts of parliament, but as by the act of 7th and 8th George IV. all the former ones are repealed, we shall but briefly notice the chief provisions. The first act occurs in the 12th George III. and is entitled, An Act for making a navigable Cut or Canal from the River Dee, within the liberties of the city of Chester, to or near Middlewich and Nantwich, in the county of Chester, by which one hundred and nineteen subscribers, (amongst whom were the Honourable Wilbraham Tollemache,) are incorporated by the name of " The Company of Proprietors of the Chester Canal Navigation," with power to raise among themselves the sum of £42,000, in four hundred and twenty shares of £100 each; and an additional sum of £20,000, if necessary.

In the preamble of the act of 17th George III. entitled, An Act for varying and enlarging the Powers of an Act made in the Twelfth Year of the Reign of his present Majesty, for making a navigable Cut or Canal from the River Dee, within the liberties of the city of Chester, to or near Middlewich and Nantwich, in the county of Chester, it is stated, that considerable progress had been made in the works, and that the sums of £42,000, and £19,000 of the £20,000 authorized by the preceding act, had been expended; and as more money was required, the act enabled the company to raise the further sum of £25,200, by a call of sixty per cent, on the original stock of £42,000; and an additional sum of £30,000, on security of the rates and duties. This act enables the company to change the course of the Middlewich Branch; but, by a clause which is here introduced for the purpose of protecting the interests of the Duke of Bridgewater and the Grand Trunk Canal Company, they are restricted from approaching nearer than one hundred yards to the last-mentioned canal.

The third act, which was obtained in the year following the preceding act, was to enable the company to make a call of eighty per cent. on the original stock of £42,000, in consequence of having failed to raise the sums wanted, in the manner prescribed by the preceding act; it is entitled, 'An Act for the more effectually carrying into Execution the Powers contained in two several Acts of Parliament, the one made in the Twelfth Year of his present Majesty's Reign, for making a navigable Cut or Canal