The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was incorporated in 1846 following the granting of the Royal Assent to no less than three Acts of Parliament. All three Acts included a provision for the railway company to acquire the shares held by the Proprietors of the Trent & Mersey Navigation either by a share swap, exchanging canal shares for railway shares, or, for those shareholders not wanting to swap, by outright purchase. Subsequently the shareholders of the canal company made an extremely hard and lucrative bargain for themselves in selling their undertaking to the NSR. The Trent & Mersey Canal, originally known as the Grand Trunk Canal, runs from its junction with the Bridgewater Canal at Preston Brook in Cheshire to a junction with the River Trent at Derwent Mouth in Derbyshire, where the River Derwent joins the Trent. The length of the canal is 93 miles and three furlongs.
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