Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/402

 entitled, 'To scour and amend the River Lea.' This, according to the custom at that time, is written in the Old Norman French, and therefore need not be recited here.

In the 13th of Elizabeth, 1561, another act was sanctioned by the legislature, entitled, 'An Act for the bringing of the River Lea to the North Side of the city of London,' whereby the whole jurisdiction, rule and government of the said river or new cut, mentioned to have been made by the Mayor, Commonalty and Citizens of London, are vested in the said persons. The next parliamentary enactment which received the royal assent was obtained in 1739, and is designated, 'An Act for ascertaining, preserving and improving the Navigation of the River Lea, from the town of Hertford, to the town of Ware, in the county of Hertford; and for preserving and improving the said River,from the said town of Ware to the New Cut, or River, made by the Mayor, Commonalty and Citizens of London, and for enabling the Governor and Company of the New River, the better to supply the cities of London and Westminster, and the liberties of the suburbs thereof with good and wholesome Water.'  As the New River, which supplies the city of London with water, is mentioned in the last-recited act, it may be proper here to state that that useful work was projected and begun by Sir Hugh Middleton, in 1608; and that in 1773 Mr. James Sharp suggested the practicability of rendering that river navigable. The New River has its rise in the Chalk Hills between Hertford and Ware, and has also a feeder near that point from the River Lea.

By the act just recited, the governor and company of the New River were directed to pay the company of the Lea River £350 per annum, in consideration of the water supplied by that company, such yearly rent or fine to be applied to the improvement and preservation of the said River Lea or Lee. But it having appeared that the powers of this act were imperfect, and that the authority vested in the Mayor and Commonalty of London by the act of Elizabeth, interfered with the powers granted to this company, to the injury of both, a further act was obtained in 1757, which is designated, 'An Act for improving the Navigation of the River Lea, from the town of Hertford to the River Thames, and for extending the said Navigation to the Flood-Gates belonging to the Town