The Narrowboat Register of Ellerton Wharf

≈ 6 min

The Ellerton Carrying Company operates a fleet of narrowboats along the Grand Junction Canal and files a toll and wharfage schedule with the Canal Trustees each quarter, claiming reimbursement for tolls pre-paid on behalf of shipper-clients at lock stages and wharves. The schedule for the quarter ending 30 June 1874 has been flagged by a Trustee who noticed a boat identifier that did not match company records. You are asked to examine the six line items and four cross-reference records and determine which filed line contains a discrepancy and which record reveals it.

The scene

Ellerton Wharf, Grand Junction Canal, Northamptonshire, England, 1874

Source documents

Grand Junction Canal Company — Boat Registration Register, 1868–1875
Ellerton Carrying Company — Cargo Manifest Book, April–June 1874
Grand Junction Canal Act — Toll Schedule (Consolidated 1861)
Letter from Alderton & Fenn to the Canal Trustees, 8 July 1874

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This case first aired on July 28, 2026. A fresh audit runs every morning — same rules, five minutes, one solution.

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