RCHS Online Media Archive

Birmingham Canal Navigations. Dudley. 26 July 1912

A group of directors and ladies taken at the Riny (Priory Hall in Priory Park, Dudley). Taken during an annual inspection of the Birmingham Canal Navigations. Sir Gilbert Claughton is seated in the middle of the front row Keith G Collyer sent the following information to the BCN Society in 2009 “I am enclosing a photo of a photograph we have of the Canal Inspection held in July 1912. My wife’s great grandfather was Albert Henry Pearshouse who worked for the Birmingham Canal Company for 50 years until his retirement in 1927. During that time he had passed through most of the departments until his appointment as Chief Accountant in 1914 finally rising to the position of General Manager before retiring in 1927. On this photpgraph, taken in 1912 he was, I believe, the secretary of the company and is standing at the left of the picture. (It could well be that this was taken of the governors before they embarked from Gas Street Basin at the back of the offices for the trip to Dudley with their friends and ladies). There is also a copy of another photo of the 1912 inspection taken on the steps of the office in which my wife’s great grandfather is standing on the right of the picture in a bowler hat. The original of this is held in the National Railway Museum in York.