Birth of James Brindley
Birth of James Brindley
Historical biography archive · Updated 2026-11-03
James Brindley Biography and Timeline
Follow James Brindley through 8 dated historical records for Great Britain.
James Brindley, historical timeline
A chronological timeline drawn from matching World History Database records.
8Distinct records
1 of 1Page
1716–1772Years on this page
1716
1761
Bridgewater Canal
Commissioned by the Duke of Bridgwater to build the Bridgewater Canal, opened in 1761, often regarded as the first British canal of the modern era
1762
Grand Cross
Brindley believed it would be possible to use canals to link the four great rivers of England: the Mersey, Trent, Severn and Thames (the "Grand Cross" scheme)
1766
Bristol Canal Plans
Brindley surveys canal schemes linked to Bristol trade.
Role range: 1766-1772
1768
Birmingham Canal Act
Begins work connected with the canal that will link Birmingham to wider trade routes.
1770
Oxford Canal
Surveying of the route and initial construction were originally supervised by the celebrated engineer James Brindley, assisted by Samuel Simcock who was also Brindley's brother-in-law
1772
Birmingham Canal
The Birmingham Canal opens under James Brindley, linking the town to wider canal traffic.
Death of James Brindley
Death of James Brindley
Records, sources and methodology
These dates and descriptions come from the historical_events database. Exact duplicate records have been collapsed. Names are grouped by the country, Name 2 and Name 1 fields; records with missing Name 2 cannot be reliably assigned to an individual biography. Check the underlying sources before formal citation.