A couple of books that researchers might like to consult for background information about the life and times of ancestors working on the canals. Both are long out of print I'm afraid, but libraries might have them. Both are by Harry Hanson. The first is The Canal Boatmen 1760-1914 (Manchester University Press, 1975, ISBN 0 7190 0575 2) which is a well referenced book based, I think, on a university thesis. It looks in detail at the people who worked on the boats and the effects of railway competition. It gives probably the best researched answers as to when families began to live on boats and why (decline of male operated fly-boats as railways took the faster traffic, slower boats predominated, less money for captains; wives and children were 'free' labour). The second is The Canal People (David & Charles, 1978, ISBN 0 7153 7559 8), which is a more 'readable' book, containing very more diluted information about boatmen but also about other canal workers. -- Hugh Potter