Westbury on Severn - Gray/Grey, mid 1700s (General)

by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Wednesday, March 20, 2019, 23:02 (2067 days ago) @ MPGriffiths

Think you've def got the right William there, M.

Ref his recorded Birth Place: Stroud Water, Gloucester.

The River Frome, once also known as the Stroudwater, is a small river in Gloucestershire, England, approximately 25 miles long.

The Frome rises from several springs at Nettleton (about a mile southeast of Birdlip)and in springs at Climperwell Farm (southwest of Brimpsfield). The two branches meet in Miserden Park, just south of Caudle Green and Syde. The Frome continues to meander its way south to Sapperton, then west to Brimscombe where it turns northwest towards Stroud. The river flows through Stroud, past the Frome Banks nature reserve, then through Ebley and Stonehouse where it goes under the M5 motorway, and past Saul to enter the River Severn at Upper Framilode.

The Stroudwater Navigation is a canal which linked Stroud to the River Severn. Opened in 1779, it was a commercial success, its main cargo being coal. It was 8 miles in length and had a rise of 102 ft 5 in through 12 locks. Following the opening of the Thames and Severn Canal in 1789, it formed part of a through route from Bristol to London, although much of its trade vanished when the Kennet and Avon Canal provided a more direct route in 1810. Despite competition from the railways, the canal continued to pay dividends to shareholders until 1922, and was not finally abandoned until 1954.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroudwater_Navigation

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However it must be said that the name Stroudwater, besides being used as an alternative name for the river Frome and to designate the whole of the Stroud Valley region, was also sometimes applied to the town of Stroud itself.
Indeed, the first London stagecoach service from the town was apparently the Stroudwater Flying coach, established in 1769, making the journey three times a week through Cirencester and Oxford.

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/glos/vol11/pp99-104