Fellows Morton & Clayton

Fellows Morton & Clayton Ltd was, for much of the early 20th century, the largest and best-known canal transportation company in England.

In January 1839 he was allowed toll credit on the Warwick and Napton Canal as his boats were working down to London so frequently.

James died in 1854 aged 49, and his widow Eliza carried on the business until their son Joshua was old enough to be an official partner.

In 1888–1889 William Clayton of Saltley, who operated a special fleet of liquid cargo boats as well as traditional loads, became the third partner.

The three managing directors appointed at the first meeting of the new company were Joshua Fellows, Frederick Morton and Thomas Clayton, on salaries of £600 (equivalent to £80,000 in 2023),[4] each.

The new chairman of Fellows, Morton & Clayton Ltd. was Alderman Reuben Farley the majority of shareholders being family members of the directors of the company.

The tank boats were transferred to another new company which was called Thomas Clayton Limited of Oldbury.

[5] The company's first results for the 18 months ending 30 June 1890 showed a net profit of £7,497 (equivalent to £1,040,000 in 2023).

On the timetable, a trip from London (City Road Basin) to Birmingham (Fazeley Street Depot) would take around 54 hours.

The main drawback was the lack of carrying space on the boat due to the size of the engine and boiler.

The first Fellows Morton & Clayton livery was a combination of black & white with a red dividing line.

In the first 6 months of 1948 Fellows Morton & Clayton incurred its first trading loss of £5,000 (equivalent to £230,000 in 2023),[4] and in November 1948 the company went into voluntary liquidation.