I have discovered that John CUTTS, 'of the parish of Sandiacre' in 1810 at the time of his marriage to Hannah Wheatcroft at Crich, was at that time described as a 'Book-keeper'. Later at the time of the baptism in 1813 of his son, Abraham Henry CUTTS at Ilkeston Wesleyan Methodist Circuit, his occupation was given as "Collector of Tonnages over Derby Canal". In 1816 in the Watch and Ward Lists, he was aged 27, described as a Wharfinger of Canal Street,St. Mary's parish, Nottingham. Abraham Henry Cutts was a Cornfactor at Cheetham Hill in Manchester in 1841 until his death shortly afterwards. I have been informed that this Collector of Tonnages "would have "gauged" the boats, i.e measured how low the boats sat in the water and from this, with the help of tables, calculated the weight of cargo and charged the appropriate toll. Different cargos attracted different tolls." Since this occupation was found in the Ilkeston Circuit Wesleyan Methodist records it is obviously worth searching out the original records - previously I had only looked at the Indexes on the RO shelves - a short-cut which prevented me from the full information available. A Wheatcroft researcher, checking my information for his own family discovered the full entry and kindly passed it over to me... Mavis Mavis