Henry Rodolph de Salis and my possible connection with him

Henry Rodolph de Salis compiled Bradshaw's Canals and Navigable Rivers of England and Wales (1904) after spending 11 years exploring every inch of them in his launch, covering 14,000 miles in the process. The book is a marvellously detailed record of every navigable waterway in existence at the beginning of the twentieth century. It lists all the locks and distances between junctions, wharves and towns. It gives brief details of what goods were carried, maximum size of vessels and through which counties the waterways passed.

Mr. de Salis includes a glossary which contains the now well known "gongoozler" (an idle and inquisitive person who stands staring for prolonged periods at anything out of the common. This word is believed to have its origin in the Lake District of England.) The glossary includes such essentials as "loodel", "soar pin" and "jambing pole".


I have a 1969 David and Charles reprint of the 1904 edition and find it a valuable adjunct to Nicholson's Guides, especially to find out a bit about the history of the waterway I might be on.

For example, here is the start of the distance table for the Worcester and Birmingham Canal (No. 90b) (every waterway in the guide is given a reference number).

Birmingham, Worcester Bar,                   Miles.   Fur.

junction with Birmingham

Canal Navigations, Main Line

(No. 10a1), to-

Birmingham, Granville Street Bridge          -     2
Birmingham, Davenport's Brewery             -     3
Birmingham,

      Sturge's and Bloxham's Wharves           -     4
Edgbaston Brewery        ...       ...       ...        -     6
Islington and Wheeley's Road Wharves      -     7
Stop Gates,

      Worcester end of Edgbaston Valley       1    6
Pritchett's Wharf           ...          ...       ...       2    2
Metchley Park Tip         ...          ...       ...      2    4

Kirby's Pool Tip             ...         ...        ...      2    6

Selly Oak Wharves, and junction with

      Birmingham Canal Navigations, 

      Dudley Canal, Line No. 2 (No. 10f2)    3     0

(I hope the formatting comes out right - I don't know how to do it properly.)

That should give you an idea of what it's like. You can pinpoint, to the nearest furlong, each listed wharf etc.

And my (possible) connection with the great man (who was also a director of Fellows, Morton and Clayton)?

Well, on Saturday we left the BCF AGM in Kidlington to drive straight to Norwich for a meal with other members of our village choral society. I discovered the surname of one of the singers there was de Salis. She confirmed that there were Rodolphs in the family, and thought it likely that she was related to H.R. I was impressed.

There's a sad footnote. The February 26th 1936 edition of The Times reports:

Mr. Henry Rodolph de Salis, brother of Count Sir John de Salis, was found shot dead yesterday in his bedroom at his home, Acton Lodge, Church Hill, Leamington. A revolver lay near the body. Mr. de Salis, who was 69 years of age, was prominent in business circles in Birmingham. A recognised authority on canal traffic problems, he was the chairman of Messrs. Fellows, Morton and Clayton canal carriers.