James Brindley (1716-72)
English engineer, born in Derbyshire at Tunstead. Without formal education he became an engineer of unrivalled ability. At the age of 17 he was apprenticed to Abraham Bennett, a mill and wheelright of Sutton, near Macclesfield. He moved to Mill Street, Leek in 1742 and in later years his ability to make a success of any job he tackled earned him the nickname 'Schemer'. In the 1750s he worked on steam engines and flint mills - one still survives in full working order at Cheddleton, near Leek, having been restored by the Cheddleton Flint Mill Trust.
He was employed by the Duke of Bridgewater to construct the canal between Worsley and Manchester, and this was completed in 1772. Wedgwood and Brindley were closely connected with the scheme to cut the Grand Navigation or Trent & Mersey Canal. Brindley was ultimately responsible for the development and construction of over 350 miles of canals. He had a son in August 1760 by one Mary Bennett of Burslem, and through this connection he was the great great grandfather of Arnold Bennett (1867-1931), the novelist.
