We believe that Robert Tingle was born in Little Dean in the forest of Dean overlooking the Severn Estuary, 18 December 1763. We know that he was not from Shardlow as he was listed as a non-parishioner and his 2 eldest children are Elizabeth and William as are the parents of the Robert Tingle in Little Dean. 

We surmise he may have come to the village as an apprentice or worker to Benjamin Clifford boatbuilder of Shardlow, as Robert married Rebecca Clifford 1 June 1794. 

In 1798/9 in the assessment of duties list Robert is a poor inhabitant not assessed, with a house of 4 windows. 

By 1816 they had 8 children. Robert died in 1832? The Tingle family lived at Wilne in part of the house now known as Tudor Cottage, which was owned by the Burgin family. 

 

In the 1851 Census for Wilne the oldest daughter Elizabeth is living in the family home with the youngest daughter Maria and they are both lace runners. In the same Census for Trent Lock on the Erewash Canal (3 miles downstream from Shardlow), the second son James is listed as a boatwright as are his sons William, Robert, Joseph and Enoch, all James's sons having been born at Castle Donington. 

Some of the boats are described in the boat tables as having been built by Robert Tingle, and some by Wood and Tingle. We think that Wood may have been the Benjamin Wood listed as paying 4/6d tax on a house with 6 windows 1798-9. 

In George Gilbert's memoirs he describes taking a walk round the village in 1879 and seeing the chimney of the steam corn mill on Millfield, says "just behind here was a dock of which one Robert Tingle was the proprietor and called 'old Bobby Tingle's dock'. This has now entirely disappeared and all belonging to it." 

In the 1816 map of the Trent and Mersey Canal now in possession of British Waterways Fazeley office the dock is marked on the end of a short arm now obliterated by the flood bank. The arm ran parallel and to the north of the arm shown on the extreme right of the 1852 plan (see 'Setting the scene' page). 

As you approach the village from Derwentmouth Lock, you would have gone straight ahead into the dock whereas the main line veers left and through the modern floodgates. 

The only records we have of his boats are for those used on the Trent system and gauged by the Trent Navigation Company. 
 

TNCo  number	Builder	Year   Built	Length X Beam	Rigging	First Owner	Trade
626	Robert Tingle, Shardlow	1812	75' 4" X 14' 1"	mast and sail	Sutton and Co, Shardlow	Trade between Shardlow and Gainsborough
682	Robert Tingle, Shardlow	1813	71' 2" X 13' 11"	mast and sail	James Sutton and Co, Shardlow	Trade between Shardlow and Gainsborough
729	Wood and Tingle, Shardlow	1814	76' 5" X 14' 1"	mast and sail	James Sutton and Co, Shardlow	Trade between Shardlow and Gainsborough
842	Wood and Tingle, Shardlow	1815	75' 9" X 14'	mast and sail	James Sutton and Co, Shardlow	Trade between Shardlow and Gainsborough
911	Wood and Tingle, Shardlow	1815	76' 4" X 13' 9 1/2"	mast and sail	James Sutton and Co, Shardlow	Trade between Shardlow and Gainsborough
999	Robert Tingle, Shardlow	1816	72' 6" X 13' 10"	jury mast and line	Thomas Smith, Loughborough	Coal to Loughborough
1011	Robert Tingle, Shardlow	1817	72' X 13' 11 1/2"	mast and sail	Robert Dawson, Cavendish Bridge	Coal to Cavendish Bridge
1315	Robert Tingle, Shardlow	1826	71' 7" X 13' 9"	mast and sail	Wm Baker, Loughborough	Coal to Loughborough

 

There is more information on the later generations of Tingle boatbuilders in the Trent Navigation Company Gauging Tables. 

James Tingle of Trent Lock both built and operated boats for example. 

In 1866 he built a narrowboat which from 1867 was being operated by Thomas Newton of Shardlow chiefly on the coal trade on the Grand Junction Canal, and in the 1860's James Tingle's boat No 1, Thomas Turner - master, was dredging gravel in the River Trent, the boat originally built by William Marshall of Nottingham in 1821 but rebuilt by James Tingle in 1864 - this was a wide boat with immovable cabin. 

At the turn of the 19th/20th centuries, James's son Enoch is also building boats. 

We don't know exactly where or when Benjamin was born but according to the records of his boatbuilding in the Trent Navigation Company Boat Cargo Gauging Tables he flourished from 1768. He died without leaving a Will on 22 October 1808, leaving Goods and Chattels etc not above £150 in value. His death was attested to by his Widow Ann, James Soresby – wharfinger, and William Charles Flack - wharfinger. 

We do not know for certain which boatyard he worked from, but his close connection with the Soresbys and the later use by Samuel Clifford of Soresby's boatyard points to his occupation of Soresby's boatyard (No 21 on the 1852 plan). 

The first owners and their cargoes for boats built by Benjamin Clifford as listed in the TNCo tables were as follows. The Trade of the first owner is not indicated if the boat had been sold on before the first weighing by the TNCo. Where the boat had a sail at the time of gauging, it should be remembered that if the boat had been sold on, then the sail was not necessarily part of the original equipment. 
 

Owner	TNCo  number	Date  built	Wide  boats	Narrow  boats	Trade (where defined)
John Adderley of Mountsorrel  (see also Kirk and Adderley)	175  633	1795  1795	1  1		Coal - Loughborough and Leicester  ? (boat sold on)
Richard Barrows, Nottingham	76	1787	1 (sail)		Trade between Gainsborough and Nottingham
James Bell, Castle Donington	199  304	1793  1797	1 (sail)  1		Coal on the Trent  Coal to Shardlow
Robert Birkinshaw, Cavendish Bridge	216  268  114	1785  1786  1789	3		? (boats sold on)
Robert Birkinshaw, Cavendish Bridge	NB12  NB16	1791  <1799		2	? (boats sold on)
R Birkinshaw, Nottingham	247	1788	1 (sail)		Timber, Cavendish Bridge etc to Gainsborough etc
Thomas Bradshaw, Barrow	88  89	1794  1794	1 (sail)  1		? (boat sold on)  lime and stone to sundry places
Broughton and Sutton	398  411  451	1804	3 (sail)		Salt, Shardlow to Gainsborough
Aaron Bull, Mountsorrel	184	1796	1		Coal, Loughborough and Leicester
Thomas Clifford, Long Eaton	449  80	1793  1797	1  1 (sail)		Coal to Newark and Leicester  Coal on Trent, malt to Shardlow
William Crosby, Shardlow	340	?	1		? (boat sold on)
Douglas and Co, Loughborough	234  326	1777	2		? (boats sold on)
Gainsborough Boat Company	233	1768	1		? (boat sold on)
John Hall, Wollaton	92	1798	1 (sail)		Coal and lime down Trent, timber up Trent
The Harborough Canal Company	285	1796	1		? (boat sold on)
J Heathcote, Barton (on Trent)	387	1804	1		Coal, Nottingham
Robert Hunter, Wollaton	281	1800	1 (sail)		Coal or lime trade on the Trent
William Jelly, Zouch Mills - Sutton  William Jelly, Loughborough	159  22	1785  1788	1  1		Coal from Trent to Sutton (Bonington) and Leicester  ? (boat sold on)
Charles Johnson, Cromford	986	1796		1	? (boat sold on)
John Kirk, Cossington	158	1797	1		Coal to Leicester
Kirk and Adderley, Mountsorrel	178	1795	1		Coal to Loughborough and Leicester
Messrs Nutt and Co, ?	160	1779	1		? (boat sold on)
Thomas Oldnow, Lea-Wood (Cromford)	956	1802		1	? (boat sold on)
Mr Shelton, Brinsley	271	1795	1		? (boat sold on)
Francis Shenton, Mountsorrel	NB4	1799		1	Slate to Shardlow
James Soresby, Soresby & Co, Shardow	30  97  352	?  1780  1785	1  1  1		? (boat sold on)  ? (boat sold on)  ? (boat sold on)
James Soresby, Soresby & Co, Shardow	227	1785	1		Coal to Shardlow
James Soresby, Soresby & Co, Shardow	293  296  295	1793  1796  1799	1 (sail)  1 (sail)  1 (sail)		Trade between Gainsborough and Shardlow  Trade between Gainsborough and Shardlow  Trade between Gainsborough and Shardlow
Soresby and Flack	913  NB53  912  1259	?  1797  1804  1807		1  1  1  1	? (boat sold on)  Trade between Shardlow and Derby  ? (boat sold on)  ? (boat sold on)
Soresby and Flack	415  457  574	1793  1796  1796	1  1 (sail)  1 (sail)		? (boat sold on)  ? (boat sold on)  ? (boat sold on)
Soresby and Flack	478	1799	1 (sail)		Trade between Gainsboro' Shardlow Leicester
Soresby and Flack	431	1801	1 (small)		Trade between Shardlow and Nottingham
Soresby and Flack	379  445	1803  1807	1 (sail)  1 (sail)		Trade between Shardlow and Gainsborough  Trade between Shardlow and Gainsborough
Soresby and Flack	446	1807	1 (sm, sail)		Trade between Shardlow and Leicester
R Stenson, Bramcote	215	1794	1		Coal to Loughborough and Leicester
William Stretton, Derby	276  375	1786  1786	1 (sail)  1		? (boats sold on)
John Sutton, Heanor	291  226  244	1775  1780  1782	1  1  1		? (boat sold on)  Coal to Loughborough and Leicester  ? (boat sold on)
John Sutton, Loughborough	236	1786	1		Coal to Loughborough and Leicester
John Varley, Shardlow	350  366	1801  1802	1  1		Coal to Leicester  ? (boat sold on)

From the TNCo records, we know that at least 4 wide boats per year could be built, with 5 being built in 1796. Busy periods of building of wide boats in 1785-6 and 1793-7 seem to have been associated with improvements to the Trent and Soar navigations. 

For example boats built 1785-6 follow the Act of Parliament of 1783 that allowed the building of a towpath on the river Trent and change from manpower to horsepower for towing or 'higging'. Jessop began to make the path and improve the river from the Shardlow end in June 1783 and it was completed to Nottingham in January 1784, Newark - May 1784 and Gainsborough September 1784. 

The boats built for use on the River Soar are concentrated in the years 1793-7, the Leicester Navigation  being completed to Leicester in 1794. 

Some interesting points can be made about his customers - for example 2 of the boats 1786 were for W Stretton of Derby who had taken over the warehouses of the Derby Boat Company who had sold up because of competition from the Trent and Mersey Canal (advertisements in the Derby Mercury). 

The boat built for the Harborough Canal Company in 1796 is of particular interest because the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal did not reach Market Harborough until 1809. The boat could only ever have reached Debdale Wharf (one mile short of Foxton) which was opened 7 April 1797. The line from Leicester terminated there as the Union Canal Company had run out of funds.