RECORDS OF THE MEDWAY NAVIGATION COMPANY AND SUCCESSOR AUTHORITIES (UPPER MEDWAY NAVIGATION COMPANY, LOWER MEDWAY NAVIGATION COMPANY, AND UPPER MEDWAY NAVIGATION AND CONSERVANCY BOARD)

S/MN

[1627]-1936

fonds

In 1739, an Act of 13 King George II, chapter 26, established the Company of the Proprietors of the Navigation of the River Medway as a limited company free from the interference of any commission of sewers. It seems that the functions of this company extended only between Forest Row, Sussex, and Maidstone, so that the lower and tidal reaches of the river were still controlled by the Commissioners of Sewers. In 1802, however, under an Act of 42 King George III, an additional company was created, known as the Lower Medway Navigation Company. The existing body became the Upper Medway Navigation Company. This dual arrangement continued throughout the 19th century and was extended by the Upper Medway Navigation Act of 1911. By the early 20th century the Upper Medway Navigation Company was in serious financial difficulties. Kent County Council intervened, and under the Upper Medway Navigation and Conservancy Act 1911 the Upper Medway Navigation and Conservancy Board was created. This complemented and assumed many of the activities of the company, which gradually became defunct. Its functions passed to the River Medway Catchment Board on 1 April 1934.