| Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7 The Story of The Smith Family John Manning is a descendant of a waterways family and is able to trace his boating ancestry all the way back to Peter Smith, the first known documented boatman of the Smith family. The son of John and Martha Smith, Peter was baptised at St John the Baptist, in Brinklow, Warwickshire on the 24 September 1783. In 1807, Peter married Ann Goddard at Brinklow Parish Church. We are able to discover Peter’s occupation from the evidence of the baptism records of his children and the 1841 census which both state that he was working as a boatman. Although we do not know much about the Smith family during this period, the 1841 census does reveal that the family was living in a house and not on a boat at this time. Peter Smith was buried at Brinklow on the 16 November 1848. Peter’s son Emanuel Smith also worked as a boatman. Baptised at Brinklow on 8 June 1828, evidence reveals that he later married Eliza Howkins at St Edmunds Church in Hardingstone, Northamptonshire on 12 July 1852. Their marriage certificate reveals that at this time they were living at Cotton End where the Northampton Arm of the Grand Junction Canal meets up with River Nene. Eliza was also descendent from a boating family, her father Thomas Howkins from Willoughby, Warwickshire also being employed as a boatman. 
Emanuel Smith (Junior) was baptised 2 September 1860 at All Saints Church,
Braunston in Northamptonshire. He later married Jane Elizabeth Brooks at Long
Itchington parish church, Warwickshire in May 1884. Elizabeth was the daughter of John Brooks and Sophia Wright two other boat families.
 The 1851 census reveals that Emanuel Smith started off work as a boatman; on the census he was moored at Higgins Wharf in Northampton with his brother Peter. It is interesting to note that the brother’s ages on this census have been wrongly recorded. Just below on the same page of the census are Eliza Howkins and her father Thomas moored at Adnett Wharf. By 1881, we discover that Emanuel is now a boat owner with boats registered at Hinckley. He now has a wharf at Braunston in Northamptonshire and carries coal from the Moira Collieries to Northampton. This is confirmed by the evidence of the 1881 census, where we find Eliza Smith at home in Braunston, her occupation being coal merchant; Emanuel is on a boat on the Ashby Canal at Stoke Golding Wharf.
From death announcement cards we are able to discover that Eliza Smith died aged 60 in 1895 and was buried at Braunston, while Emanuel died in 1900 aged 72 and was also buried at Braunston. Emanuel Junior expanded his father’s business. By the early 1900s he not only had quite a large fleet of canal boats both narrow and wide beam, but had also diversified onto the Thames with Thames Barges. The 1901 census reveals that he is a lighter man and publican. 
By 1929 Emanuel’s business was in trouble and he was having difficulty paying toll fees to the Oxford Canal Company. The company eventually went into liquidation and the fleet was auctioned off on 17 July 1930. This was the end of the Smith Families connection to the canal for some years, however it was not quite for the great grandson of Emanuel Smith, John Manning now works at Braunston Marina, at almost the same place as his great grandparents had a coal wharf. Using the evidence of traffic movement documents and toll tickets, it is possible to track the movement of Emanuel Smith’s boats and discover much about the cargoes they carried. 
Brentford traffic register, 1911 
Nene navigation records, 1911 - Northamptonshire Record Office | 
