Log Books of the Flower of the Severn and the Independent

Trows at work 1901-1912

By Peter Smith

The Flower of the Severn and the Independent

The documents refer to one of the trows mastered by my great grandfather William Smith and his son, also William Smith. They lived and operated from Bristol and lived in the dock area. Although they mainly worked together William the younger also crewed other vessels. I did some research a few years ago at the Records Office to find the vessels they worked on. The "Flower of the Severn" was one of them as well as the "Independent". They operated a circuit mainly between Lydney, Newport, Barry, Cardiff, Bristol, Gloucester and Bridgewater making about 3 trips per month. So they were frequent visitors to the Sharpness canal.