[1] Blackburn Corporation Tramways Company was established in 1886 by Cosh & Cramp, a partnership of a London-based tramway contractor and engineer, Charles Courtney Cramp and Richard Lawrence Cosh.
There were two routes operated by steam power, and two by horse-drawn trams.
Fourteen steam engines were obtained from Thomas Green & Son at a cost of £700 (equivalent to £98,000 in 2023[2]) each.
On 24 August 1898, Blackburn corporation purchased the Company for £77,210 (equivalent to £10.9 million in 2023[2]), and undertook a programme of modernisation and electrification.
The company had a through running arrangement with the cars of the Darwen Corporation Tramways system.