River Medina Oyster Fishery
In 1866, the Isle of Wight Oyster Fisheries Company took a 25 year lease on the river Medina between Newport and Cowes from the Corporation of Newport.
The fisheries were initially prosperous but in 1870 disease spread through the oysters and the fisheries failed.
The company alleged that the failure was due to the increased quantity of sewage discharged into the river from the town of Newport and brought a case against the Borough of Newport before Vice-Chancellor St James Bacon in November 1873[1].
The Corporation won the above[2].
A lease to the Medina River oyster fishery was surrendered January 1888 and a new lease granted to the Medina River Oyster Fishery Company Ltd[3].
Captain E. Johnson, the manager and secretary of the Medina River Oyster Fishery Company died in January 1893 [4]. Later that year the Medina River Oyster Fishery Company surrendered the lease to the Mayor, etc. of Newport in September 1893[5].
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