Paisley Canal Disaster


1810

Popular barge trips had been operating on the Glasgow, Paisley and Johnstone Canal when a particularly fine day attracted a large crowd of prospective passengers. Anxious to ensure their passage, the crowd surged forward causing a number of people to fall into the canal and several to drown. These unfortunate circumstances were compounded by panic, bringing a crowd suddenly onto the barge which then capsized with more than sixty individuals trapped. When the barge was righted some days later, the death toll had reached 84, many of whom were children.


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