Description:James Brindley (1716-1772) was a civil engineer and was a pioneering builder of canals. His engineering works include the Bridgewater Canal which links Manchester and Liverpool, the Trent and Mersey Canal, the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal, and the Caldon Canal. By the early 1740s he had set up his workshop on Mill Street, Leek, where is believed to have built Brindley Mill in 1752.
In 1772, while he was surveying a new branch of the Trent and Mersey between Froghall and Leek, Brindley was soaked in a heavy rainstorm. He was unable to dry out properly at the inn at which he was staying, and fell ill. His condition deteriorated and he returned to his home at Turnhurst Hall, near Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent where he died on 27 September 1772. He is buried in the churchyard of St. James' Church, Newchapel.