George Hayne

Who was George Hayne?

George Hayne was a merchant and entrepreneur who was responsible for the creation of the Trent Navigation in England and hence the development of Burton upon Trent as the pre-eminent beer brewing and exporting town.

Hayne was the son of John and Elizabeth Hayne of Ashbourne Green at Ashbourne, Derbyshire, and was originally a merchant at Wirksworth. In 1711, he obtained the lease of rights to undertake the Trent Navigation from Lord Paget. Paget had revived a scheme to make the River Trent navigable between Burton and Wilden Ferry, in Castle Donington. Paget was named as undertaker in an Act of 1699, which empowered a toll of up to three pence per ton and authorised a levy of £600 from the inhabitants of Burton, but by 1711 had made little progress.

Hayne was to pay £10 a year for the 31-year lease and went into partnership with Leonard Fosbrooke, a carrier based at Wilden Ferry. He set about quickly creating and opening the navigation and by 1713 had built a warehouse near Burton Bridge. He leased part of Burton-on-Trent Abbey to construct a wharf and extended the navigation to there.