Adam Twine

Adam Twine (b.1758, d.1834) started working for the canal company as a manual labourer and progressed to operations.

Early Career and Operational Roles

Twine began his career as a long-term employee of the canal company, with records of his service dating back to at least 1806, when he was paid for providing "Frith" (brushwood or fencing material).

• Lock Keeper and Warehouseman: From 1810 to 1815, he served as the lock keeper for the "Seven Locks" and worked as a warehouseman. In 1810, his standard wage was 14 shillings per week, totalling an annual compensation of £36 8s 0d.
• Maintenance and Logistics: His duties included skilled repairs, such as making a new hatch for the locks and repairing a waste weir on the Dauntsey Pond. He also supported canal operations by providing beer for laborers performing arduous tasks like cleaning the canal or stopping leaks.
• Legal Witness: In 1814, the company paid his expenses to travel to Bath to serve as a witness in the Avon Millers Case.

Personal Conflict and the Shooting Incident

• Historical correspondence from 1825 highlights a dramatic period in Twine's life when he was shot by his successor at the Seven Locks, R. Jordan.
• Fear of Revenge: Jordan was later relocated to Longcot. This move was partly motivated by Jordan's expressed apprehension of Twine's revenge following the shooting.

Family Connections

Canal work was a family business for the Twines. Adam’s son, George Twine, was a skilled carpenter and labourer who performed contract work for the company. George notably mended the Seven Locks in 1814 while his father was away on legal business and provided high-quality oak planks for various repairs. George had a son called Adam born in 1823, who became a canal boat owner, shareholder and owner.

Adam Twine II

Adam Twine (b.1823, d.1893) was a prominent timber merchant, boat proprietor, and landowner based in Wootton Bassett whose life and career were deeply intertwined with the Wilts and Berks Canal.

Professional Career and Canal Involvement

Twine’s career spanned over four decades, during which he became a leading figure in the regional transport and timber industries.

• Timber Merchant: As early as 1858, he was established as a timber merchant. By the end of his life, he was described as an "extensive dealer in timber".
• Canal Leadership: In March 1877, Twine was elected as a director of the Wilts and Berks Canal Company. He served in this capacity until May 1878, when he was replaced by Mr. Jones of Stratton.
• Shareholder and Owner: He was a significant investor in the canal company; in 1879, he offered 62 fifty-pound shares for sale. At the time of his death, he was noted for being "intimately connected with and interested in" the canal.
• Shipping Operations: Twine operated a fleet of canal boats. His business was not limited to timber; in 1876, he was involved in the coal trade, operating heavily laden barges as far as Bristol.

Legal and Regulatory History

Twine's business operations frequently brought him into contact with the law:

• Tolls and Dues: He faced early legal challenges regarding canal fees, including a dismissed summons for evading tolls in 1850 and a fine for evading wharfage dues in 1858.
• Highway Obstruction: In 1878, he was fined £1 for leaving a quantity of timber on the highway at Kingstone Lisle, which interrupted travelers.
• Debt Recovery: Between 1884 and 1885, Twine was involved in a protracted legal battle against Joseph Barnes to recover debts, a case that eventually saw Barnes imprisoned.
• Regulatory Fines: In 1886, Twine was fined for failing to register his boats and failing to provide proper water vessels for his crew. That same year, one of his boatmen was fined for overcrowding the sleeping quarters on one of Twine's vessels.

Notable Accidents

His shipping business was occasionally marked by tragedy and misfortune:

• 1876 Bristol Disaster: Two of his coal barges were swept onto a dam during a flood on the River Avon; a man who attempted to assist the crew was swept away and presumed drowned.
• 1882 Devizes Accident: Two of his timber barges were involved in an accident where the towing horse was pulled into the canal at a sharp curve near London-road bridge.

Wealth and Legacy

By the end of his life, Adam Twine had amassed considerable wealth. He was a large owner of house property in Swindon, Wootton Bassett, and Highworth, and owned significant land. He died at his residence on Thursday, June 1, 1893, at the age of 71 after suffering a sudden seizure of apoplexy. He left two sons to succeed him in his business.

More

Newspaper archive

Adam Twine and family of Vastern Wharf

The Twine family had long been based at Vastern Wharf, involved in the timber trade.

The 1841 Census records for Hunts Mill Road list Thomas Twine aged 23, timber dealer, at one house, while George and Elizabeth Twine and their son Adam, also timber dealers, lived at another.

Twenty years later in 1861, Thomas Twine was a coal merchant and beer-seller with his wife Elizabeth and growing family, while Adam Twine, a timber merchant, was also married – to Mary Ann, 12 years his senior; one young son was named George while another was Adam, carrying on the family names.

By 1881, George had retired as an inn-keeper, but Adam, 58, was both a timber merchant and builder, while Adam junior, by now aged 32, was also a timber merchant. According to newspaper accounts, ‘Adam Twine’, elder or younger, was also a boat-owner and a director of the canal company.

Adam senior died in 1893 aged 71 and is buried in Wootton Bassett Cemetery.

Adam junior continued as a timber merchant, coal merchant and builder; by 1901 he was living in High Street, Wootton Bassett with his wife Amelia. Ten years later, the 1911 Census tells us that Adam, by now a widower, was living in the Manor House in Wootton Bassett, with no fewer than 24 rooms for him and his two servants. We read in the Surrey Mirror on 8th May 1917 that: “Whilst hurrying to catch his train at Swindon Mr. Adam Twine, a retired timber merchant, of Wootton Bassett, Wilts, dropped dead on the platform immediately after showing his ticket.” It took a few days for the news to reach Surrey, because he was buried at Wootton Bassett Cemetery, aged 68, on 4th May.

Article by Steve Bacon