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A wherry (meaning "boat") is a boat used for carrying cargo on rivers and canals in England. Wherries evolved into a gentleman's rowing boat. They are generally long and narrow, with a straight stem, a wineglass stern and usually carvel planked (smooth sides). The boat usually has two seats, one for the rower, and one in the stern sheets for the passenger, although longer ones can have a third seat forward. Modern longer craft are often set up to be rowed with a sliding seat as either a single or a double.

The original wherries along the Thames were water taxis. In Elizabethan times, prior to Admiral Anson and the rise of the Royal Navy, and before landing stages were built along the river, the wherries were built with long overhanging bows so that patrons could step ashore dryshod. Once landing stages were built along the river, their bows took on the proportions still seen today.

In the time of Shakespeare, their use was widespread. One interesting account concerning Shakespeare’s Globe Theater said that, “Patrons were transported across the River Thames to Southwark by ‘wherry boats’. At one time over two thousand wherries made their way to and from the theater district. The term “wherry” or “wherrie”, and presumably knowledge of them, had become so much a part of the culture at the time that the Coverdale Bible of 1535, speaks of "All whirry men, and all maryners vpo the see…", in the Book of Ezekiel.

In North America, particularly in the Penobscot Bay region of the Gulf of Maine, wherries became the preferred boat for the 'longshore Atlantic Salmon fishery. The Lincolnville Salmon Wherry, the Rhodes Wherry, the Duck Trap Wherry, and the Christmas Wherry are still being built, though for recreational use.

For a complete account, please see [Wherries]http://www.duck-trap.com/wherries.html by Walter J. Simmons, published in 2004.

People in Ireland with the name Wherry, may be related to the Wherrys of England, but there is another possibility. The name Wherry is an Anglicization of the Irish name o'eHeighir, the o'eH being aspirated and indeed, the name O'Hare, is another Anglicization of the root name o'eHeighir. The name originates from County Down.

See also: Norfolk wherry, Thames wherry

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