Registration number 2115
Status Registered
a12admin

Details

Function Service Vessel
Subfunction Inspection Launch
Location Teddesley
Vessel type Committee Boat
Current use Private use
Available to hire No
Available for excursions No

Construction

Builder Owen, John, Staffordshire
Built in 1897
Hull material Wood
Rig None
Number of decks 1
Propulsion Motor
Number of engines 1
Primary engine type Inboard diesel
Boiler type None
Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam
6.83 feet (2.08m)
Depth
2.40 feet (0.79m)
Length: Overall
70.00 feet (21.35m)
Tonnage: Gross
30.00
Air Draft
6.50 feet (1.98m)

History

Lady Hatherton 1898 was christened on 20th September 1898 by Lady Hatherton at Penkridge.  She was to be used as the inspection launch, or committee boat, for the Directors of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Company.  The interior boardroom is constructed of mahogany and Canadian maple, there is a ventilator on the roof to let out the cigar smoke, the nine windows down each side are cut and etched glass, and the glass of the doors have the logo for the company etched on them. She was initially drawn by two horses, and was used for the twice-yearly inspections of the canal and occasional other trips for the Directors, until nationalisation of the canal system in 1948.  By 1950 she had a Ford engine, and was under the control of various parts of British Transport Waterways until 1960, when Bob Smallman bought her and she passed into private ownership.

In 1960 Bob Smallman decided to sell her, and she was purchased by David Hutchings, who did so much to have the Stratford Canal restored. She attended the reopening by the Queen Mother in 1964. In 1965 she was purchased by Christopher Dobson and Christopher Hobson.

In 1966, replacement wooden hull made by Les Allen and Sons and fitted with a Lister three-cylinder engine. New hull and original superstructure joined at Lock 21 on the Stratford Canal.

In 1979 she was bought by her current owner who has done a number of restoration projects including her outer skin of superstructure renewed at Hoo Mill Lock under the direction of the late Peter Millward of Teddesley Boat Co., to exactly the same design in 1981.

2012-16. New steel hull built by Malcolm Webster at Malkins Bank, Sandbach, as well as further renewal of the outer skin of the superstructure and re-ordering of the galley.  She now has a Kubota Beta engine;  the interior remains much as it was.

Key dates

  • 1898

    Built in 1898

  • 1950

    Ford engine was installed

  • 1960

    New owner - David Hutchings

  • 1965

    New owner - Christopher Dobson

  • 1966

     Replacement wooden hull was fitted

  • 1979

    Purchased by current owner

Own this vessel?

If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk