Murals painted by Ford Madox Brown between 1879 and 1893. The Opening of the Bridgewater Canal A.D. 1761 shows the Duke of Bridgewater standing on a barge decorated with flags of his coat of arms, alongside engineer James Brindley, observing the launch of the first coal barges on his new canal. In 1905, Francis Egerton, 3rd Earl of Ellesmere erected a fountain in Worsley Green, Salford, in memory of the Duke of Bridgewater, after a former factory built by the duke there was demolished. In 1996, a new concert hall named after the duke was opened in Manchester, the Bridgewater Hall — although the hall is actually situated next to the adjoining Rochdale Canal. Ancestry Scroop, 1st Duke of Bridgewater (1681–1745), the son of the 2nd Earl of Bridgewater, was created a duke in 1720. He was the great-grandson of John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater (. 1617; . 1649), whose name is associated with the production of Milton's Comus and the latter was the son of Sir Thomas Egerton (1540–1617), Queen Elizabeth's Lord Keeper and James I's Lord Chancellor, who was created Baron Ellesmere in 1603 and Viscount Brackley in 1616. Notes References Attribution: External links Duke of Bridgewater Archive from the University of Salford site Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater 1736 births 1803 deaths 103 People associated with canals Burials in Hertfordshire Francis