In 1766, Longbotham, together with John Hustler, a Bradford wool merchant and Quaker, called a public meeting at the Sun Inn, Bradford to discuss a broad canal linking Liverpool to Hull via the Aire and Calder Canal.
James Brindley was brought in to arbitrate and ruled in favour of Longbotham's line and an Act of Parliament was passed in 1770.
Because of these activities the committee of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal complained that he was not spending enough time on their project and he either resigned his post[3] or was dismissed because the accounts were not in order.
By 1791 he was brought back to advise the Leeds and Liverpool Canal committee on a new line in response to Robert Whitworth's proposal.
A television documentary on Canal Building in Britain stated that Jonathan(John)Longbottom caught pneumonia and died and never saw his project finished.