DERBYSHIRE
The information on this page, and on the accompanying
Town & Parish pages is organised by the set of subject
headings which the LDS Family History Library use for categorising
genealogical research material. Below are the available headings for
Derbyshire; but see
How the information on this server is presented to the user for
further details, and an overall list. [Hint: Press the "Back" arrow
on your browser's toolbar to return to this page after reading, as
there is no return link.]
Description in 1887
"DERBYSHIRE, midland county of England
[Map (above) shows location],
having Yorkshire on the north, Notts on the east, Leicestershire,
Warwickshire, and Staffordshire on the south and Staffordshire and
Cheshire on the west; length, north and south, 52 miles; greatest
breadth, 85 miles; average breadth, 20 miles; area, 658,624 acres;
pop. 461,914. The surface in the south is either flat or undulating,
irregular in the middle and NE., and picturesquely mountainous in the
NW. or Peak district. The principal rivers are the Trent, Derwent,
Dove, and Wye; river communication is supplemented by the Erewash and
Grand Trunk Canals. The road and railway systems are highly
developed. The soil in the Vale of the Trent is alluvial and very
productive. In the hilly districts the land is mostly in pasture;
much of it is rocky and unproductive. Oats, barley, potatoes, and
wheat are cultivated; and there are many excellent dairy-farms. Warm
mineral springs are numerous, the most popular being those at Buxton,
Matlock, and Bakewell. Coal is abundant; iron ore and lead are
worked; among the other mineral products are zinc, manganese, and
barytes. There are numerous and extensive quarries of limestone and
marble; fluor-spar is found in the caverns, and is manufactured into
a great variety of ornamental articles. Silk, cotton, and lace are
the chief manufactures, but malting and brewing are also carried on,
and there are some extensive iron foundries." [Bartholemew's
Gazetteer of the British Isles, 1887]
- All Derbyshire pages may be searched using the
GENUKI Search engine.
The GENUKI Parish Locator, or John Palmer's
DERBYSHIRE PLACENAMES Index, listing 7,000 places within the county,
may be used to identify which town or parish a place is located in.
- There is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) file
for these Derbyshire pages.
- Researchers may find one or more of the
Derbyshire Mailing Lists useful in their research; and Derbyshire
Surnames are listed within Hugh Winter's database of
Derbyshire Surname-Interests.
- Glenn's mantras, for research in Derbyshire:-
- don't conjure - don't invent ancestors!
[Rosemary adds: and don't look for a complicated solution when a simple one will suffice]
- trust the weird names:
Francis and Cornelius Hallams seem pretty much always to have
Stoney/Eyam/Curbar/Baslow connections (as opposed to
Godfrey and Roland Hallams, who are all from Hope/Castleton/Tideswell.
[Rosemary adds: substitute the weird names, and surname of your choice.
Rejoice in the fact that 'Hercules' may also be found spelled 'Archelaus',
and 'ELLIOTT' may appear as 'YELLOT' - don't give up on the names that
(apparently) don't appear anywhere else just yet!]
- when in doubt, look for a stray marriage in
Peak Forest.
Thanks to Glenn Trezza for a refreshing look at some common problems
in Derbyshire Research.
- Volunteers are being sought to help to transcribe the
1891 Census for Derbyshire, to make the whole part of
a free searchable database online. Visit the
FreeCEN
web site for more details, and if you'd like to volunteer.
- A list of the major items (including external links) in the Derbyshire section of
GENUKI is provided on a separate page of Quick Links.
-
Derbyshire Book Reviews & Summaries - reviews
of recently-published books relating to Derbyshire.
-
Publishers of Derbyshire-Related Books - information about some
specialist book publishers.
- Turbutt, Gladwyn -
A History of Derbyshire. Merton Priory Press, 1999.
At 120 pounds sterling this book is a considerable investment, but
the serious student of Derbyshire History will find it an essential
source of reference. Read more in this
Review of ‘A History of Derbyshire’
(Peak Advertiser 5th June 2000)
- Salter, Mike - The Old Parish Churches of Derbyshire. Folly Publications.
I can recommend this book personally - like
others in his Old Parish Churches series, it is
extremely well-researched, and for me, a regular source of reference.
-
David Blackwell has scanned a great number of old,
and out-of-copyright books, many of which relate to his county of
origin, Derbyshire. However as of June 2008 his website, formerly
at http://www.usigs.org/library/books/buk.shtml is unavailable.
- Search for Derbyshire Anglican Churches on
The Diocese of Derby website.
Added 15 Jun 2007.
- Hoskyns, Edwyn - Under the Heavy Clouds.
Merton Priory Press, 2005.
Subtitled ‘The Church of England in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire,
1911-1915’, this book is an account of Edwyn Hoskins, Bishop
of Southwell's parochial visitation of the diocese between 1911 and 1915.
Read more in this
Review of ‘Under the Heavy Clouds’
(Peak Advertiser, 14th February 2005)
- Combes, Isobel - Anglican Churches of Derbyshire.
Landmark Collector's Library, 2005.
Read more in this
Review of ‘Anglican Churches of Derbyshire’
(Peak Advertiser, 17th January 2005)
- Derbyshire Sundials -
a most interesting in-depth study, with photographs.
-
"TAKE A LOOK AT: Maidens' Garlands and Memorials" -
copy of an article by Julie Bunting, published in The Peak Advertiser,
25 Jun 2001 (p13).
- Tomkins, Rodney -
Derbyshire Churches & Chapels Open to Visitors.
Scarthin Books, 2000.
Covers over 200 places of worship in Derbyshire.
The content is also available online at
www.derbyshirechurches.org.uk - a very attractive Website, built by
Rev. Clive Thrower, Derby Diocese Tourism Officer.
- Information about
Derbyshire's Parishes, 1811 is available from
Ann Andrews.
- The Britannia, "America's Gateway to the British Isles"
Index of Parish Churches amazingly features no Derbyshire Churches,
but it's a nice site and other counties are represented (!).
- You may also find it worthwhile searching in the GENUKI church database.
Enter the name of the place in which the church is located:
-
Family History Sources on CD from Valerie Neal - transcriptions of original Parish
Registers &c. for sale from Ivor and Valerie Neal. Added 11 Aug 2005;
latest update Longstone, 20 Sep 2008.
- Ancestral Archives - CDs -
transcriptions of original source material available for purchase on CDROM, including
School, Orphanage, Medical, and Parish Records. Added 21 Jul 2005;
latest update Ault Hucknal, Spondon, 25 May 2008.
- The searchable LDS website - IGI and Familysearch
Note on using IGI Batch Numbers:
It is not always easy to locate your ancestors in the IGI using the search mechanisms provided at
the above LDS site. Manually typing the batch numbers into the IGI search screen can be tedious.
Hugh Wallis has made an exhaustive search of the likely ranges of batch numbers and created a
database of those numbers and the source records that they apply to. A very powerful feature included
is a hotlink from each batch number to the actual search engine provided at the Family Search site,
including the ability to enter the surname you are looking for. This makes it very easy to search all the
batches for a particular geographic location using just the last name you are searching for - something
that is not possible directly from the LDS site without doing a lot of typing. This is
Hugh Wallis's site.
- The searchable database of GenoGold
contains a growing number of Michael Spencer's transcriptions of various
Derbyshire Parish Records (mostly burials).
- Derbyshire Record Office's complete Parish Register Guide is now
available on their web-site at
www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/record_office/. The guide is a Microsoft Word document,
which you can view online if you're using Internet Explorer, or you can save it to
disc and view it offline. As well as providing essential background information for
research, the guide also provides covering dates of Church of England Parish
Registers held at the DRO (begins with Abney, ends with Youlgreave).
- Information about Derbyshire Church Records -
provided by courtesy of Jayne McHugh.
- Dawn Scotting has compiled a list of
Stray Marriages in Winster - where one or both parties were not
of the parish - parties are from all over Derbyshire.
- The Society of Genealogists web site has a
list of their holdings of
Parish Register Copies for Derbyshire.
- Information on the location of
Quaker Records in
Derbyshire provided by the Quaker FHS.
- Brett Langston has provided details of
Derbyshire Registration districts 1837-1930.
DERBYSHIRE REGISTER OFFICES, September 2000
The following eight Register Offices for Derbyshire all have different
opening hours. None of them has email facility. Telephone is the
simplest method of contact. Fax may be used for enquiries and
searches only. For obtaining certificates, please clarify payment details
with the office concerned.
Note: Certificates of birth, death and marriage can be obtained
locally only from the Register Office for the District in which they were
issued - or if the District no longer exists, the Office to which
its registers have been moved.
If ordering from a District (Superintendant's) Register Office, please note the following:
- the cost of a certificate is £7.00 (from 1st April 2003)
- send a Sterling cheque payable to the Superintendent Registrar
plus return postage or two International Reply Coupons;
- the General Register Office (GRO) Index references (available via FreeBMD) are of no value;
- for marriage certificates, the precise place of marriage must be given;
- Civil Registration in England and Wales began on July 1st 1837.
- If you have a GRO reference, you can now order certificates online via
the General Register Office's own website, and their
Certificate Ordering Service for the same price as locally.
You can obtain a GRO reference in several ways:-
- Searching microfilm or fiche at a Library or LDS Family History Centre.
- FreeBMD is an ongoing project to make the General
Register Office (GRO) Indexes freely available online. More volunteers are needed and details of how you can help are available on-site.
- findmypast.com (formerly 1837online) - images of the complete BMD indexes from the GRO online. Fee payable
- The images are also available on Ancestry.co.uk for which
a subscription provides access to a wide range of other records.
- The
Police Memorabilia Museum in St Mary's Gate, Derby -
closed at the moment, but "isn't it amazing what you
can find on the web!"
- The Prison Service Museum near Rugby houses HM Prison Service's historical
collection of exhibits, illustrating the history of imprisonment from medieval times
to the present day. Housed in a converted stable block, the museum contains
reconstructions of Victorian prison architecture, and exhibits include the
last set of Gibbet Irons used in England. Smaller items include bone
carvings and paintings made by prisoners in their cells, and a nineteenth
century sampler embroidered by a female prisoner from her own hair
Admission to the museum is by appointment only, please contact:-
The Curator,
HM Prison Service Museum,
Newbold Revel,
Rugby,
CV23 0TH
Tel: 01788 834168
[Information compiled from "The Penal Lexicon Home Page",
formerly at www.penlex.org.uk/pages/index.html.]
- The Geograph British Isles project -
"aims to collect geographically representative photographs and information
for every square kilometre of the UK and the Republic of Ireland..."
Added 16 Jun 2007.
- I know many of us are likely to be past the age for taking a run(!),
but I was captivated by the descriptions and photos on the
Peak Trail Runner
site. Added 13 Jan 2006.
- Picture the Past -
project being managed by Derbyshire County Council to digitise thousands
of historic images from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, some as early as.1850.
You can also read about it in this
Review of ‘Picture the Past’ Website
(Peak Advertiser, date of publication unknown)
- Discover Derbyshire
and the Peak District - site featuring a walk-through of (at present - 6 Dec 2003)
20 Peak District towns and villages, with an emphasis on local history. Whilst I
haven't explored it fully mself yet, of the villages I looked at, all the salient aspects
of local folklore appear to be covered, and with more to be added over the coming
months. I can fully recommend this attractive, and well presented site.
- Helen Wilson (of Genealogy-Links) has begun an online image
archive - www.photo-ark.co.uk -
of pre-1950 photographs, postcards, &. At present the site covers
Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire, to which contributions of your
own images are most welcome.
- Derbyshire UK
has descriptions and photographs of many towns and villages in Derbyshire,
and provides a wide range of information about other aspects of
the county.
-
Hedgerow Publishing are selling high quality goods
featuring scenes in Sheffield, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.
Their Nostalgic Prints are of particular interest.
-
North East Derbyshire, a comprehensive site featuring items
of interest for this area, with an A-Z of Towns and Villages, provided
by Jon Rouse.
- A Website for the Peak District.
(Cressbrook Multimedia). Provides useful information for visitors,
featuring on individual Towns and Villages in the
Peak District, and including maps and photographs.
- The City of Derby - an excellent
site. Of particular interest to the Family Historian are photographs of
Churches in the
the City of Derby and surrounds, and a list of
Executions in Derbyshire.
- The Peak District
National Park - History and features. Contains
some fascinating information on individual towns and villages.
- Ok, so I'm a sucker for Peak District sites - how about a
Peak District Sightseer's Guide - pages with information on
Arbor Low (Stone Circle), Chatsworth, Cromford, Haddon Hall, and more.
- Nigel Batty-Smith's site providing
UK Genealogy Archives of Derbyshire, has a description of the county
from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1894-5.
- The transcription of the section for Derbyshire from
the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson.
- The transcription of the section for Miscellaneous Descriptions from
the National Gazetteer (1868) provided by Colin Hinson. Included
here are the descriptions of major topological features (rivers, hills &c.)
and a descriptions of the county hundred divisions.
- Nigel Batty-Smith's site of
UK Genealogy Archives - Derbyshire, includes transcriptions from Stephen
Glover's "History, Gazetteer, and Directory of the County of
Derby", 1829.
- You may also find it worthwhile searching in the GENUKI Gazetteer:-
The GENUKI Gazetteer covers the whole of England, Wales and Scotland and can be searched by
place-name (or part of a place-name) or Ordnance Survey Grid Reference (six-figure, eg SK350350).
If there are multiple place-names matching the name you enter, you will be presented initially with a
drop-down list of the matching place-names with their distances and bearings from Derby.
- The
Derbyshire section of 'Curious Fox' - "The village-by-village contact
site for anybody researching family history, genealogy and local
history in the UK and Ireland". Added 29 Nov 2006.
- A very useful new (as of January 2001) site of
Genealogy Links
has been created by Helen Wilson. Covers the counties of
Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Suffolk; also
includes Ancestors' Tales and Resources for Sale & Wanted.
It's easy to become immersed in this site - do remember to
come up for air, or refreshment from time to time!
- Helen also offers a very wide range of free lookups on
Derbyshire resources in her
Derbyshire County Free Look-Up Index. Sources available
include 1851 and 1891 census indexes, Parish Records, the
Derbyshire Vital Records index, and a series of Directories.
-
Genealogy and Derbyshire - one of a very comprehensive
selection of pages on
Genealogy and Family History provided by Jim Fisher. Jim
has a well structured site, and I recommend his pages as
offering a very wide variety of research tips.
- Jayne McHugh's
North East Derbyshire website provides information about
Staveley, Brimington, Chesterfield, &c.
- The
Derbyshire Surname-Interests list, complete with location index,
is hosted by Hugh Winters.
- Details of
Derbyshire Mailing Lists, povided by John Fuller - part of a much larger collection
of "Genealogy Resources
on the Internet" - pages maintained jointly by John Fuller, with Chris Gaunt.
- The
Derbyshire Look-Up Exchange - a list of
volunteers who hold reference material relating to Derbyshire and who are willing to
undertake small searches.
- The Derbyshire GenWeb pages,
parts of the England GenWeb Project.
These are in turn part of the British Isles GenWeb Project,
and overall part of the World GenWeb hierarchy.
- Ann Andrews' website
The Andrews Pages, whilst focussing primarily on Matlock and Matlock Bath
has a great deal of more general interest, including many transcriptions of Directories and
Census, and a growing
Derbyshire Picture Gallery
- John Palmer's Wirksworth Parish Records
site. A host of transcriptions (parish registers, MIs, Census, etc.) covering an area of
40 square miles around Wirksworth.
- Brett Payne's
South Derbyshire Genealogical Resources web site. Features transcriptions of
South Derbyshire research material for Church Gresley, Newhall, Stapenhill, etc.
- Marjorie Ward's
North West Derbyshire Sources. Features Chapel en le Frith, Glossop, etc.
- Eric Youle's
Sheffield Local History: Reference and Online Information site features
two Derbyshire-related lists:-
- Derbyshire Alehouses, Inns and Taverns 1577
- A List of Vills and Freeholders of Derbyshire 1633
These two items may be found towards the end a list of mainly
Sheffield-related material - use "Find" in your browser
to search for "vills" if you don't spot them immediately.
- Peak District Landscapes -
a study of the Peak District from prehistory to the present, with some
interesting 'TimeLines'. It also has some genealogy content, as
amongst its 'Frequently Asked Questions' is an answer to their #12,
'Do people from Biddulph Moor have Arab ancestors?'.
-
English Heritage Viewfinder - site with historic photographs,
searchable by county. Has some unusual ones of the Industrial
Age which won't be found amongst the more usual postcard collections!.
-
The Francis Frith Collection - a collection of
over 700,000 photographs of the UK, Europe and the Middle East taken by the
Victorian photographer Francis Frith.
- A Vision of Britain Through Time -
information about your home area from the 2001 census, and from each British
census back to 1801. Presented both as maps of the whole country and as graphs
showing change over time.
- A digital library of medieval and modern sources of the history of the British Isles -
British History Online.
Notable souces include Journals of the House of Commons and House of
Lords, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, and the Victoria County History.
Added 14 Oct 2005.
- Peakland Heritage,
a wonderful new (as of March 2002) site provided by Derbyshire's Libraries &
Heritage Department, the British Library and Peak District National Park
Authority. A MUST to visit for background research material - has many
mentions of individuals who achieved fame in their own modest ways, and
provides insights into work and pastimes of days gone by.
- About
The Feudal History of the County of Derby, Volume 1,
by John Pym Yeatman.
- About
The Feudal History of the County of Derby, Volume 5,
by John Pym Yeatman.
- A list of Contents of
Topographical and Historical Account of Derbyshire, 1817,
by Daniel and Samuel Lysons, transcribed by Barbarann Ayars.
- The Domesday Book
site - "to enable visitors to find out the history of the Domesday Book and to
give an insight into life at the time of its compilation". Note this site does not
provide the original text, but does include a list settlements existing in 1086.
- An
Encyclopaedia of British History: 1700-1950 - useful for seeing
local events against a national perspective. Scroll down the introductory
page on this site to see topics - Monarchy, Child Labour, The Railways, &c.
- Joseph Platt has begun a collection of
Local History Essays - stories or short essays about Derbyshire,
beginning with his own, a critique of the writings of (amongst others)
the oft-quoted Daniel Defoe and Celia Fiennes, focussing on their
presentation of the 'Wonders of the Peak'. Part of his much larger
Ashbourne Derbyshire - "Derbyshire Online Family and
Local History Magazine" site.
-
Alastair's Derbyshire Stone Circle Pages - the site opens with a quite
delightful photograph of the Nine Ladies Stone Circle at Stanton
("Clickable picture, pick a stone...").
- The Derby Evening Telegraph's
This is Derbyshire
site has a wide range of information about Derbyshire's History and Traditions,
Historic Buildings, Towns & Villages, &c.
-
The Wolley Manuscripts for all Derbyshire.
Abstracts from this superb collection of pre 1828 Documents have been
transcribed by Ann Andrews from articles written by Rev. Charles
J. Cox, LL.D., F.S.A. and published in the Journals of the Derbyshire
Archaeological and Natural History Society. Many
places, people and relationships are mentioned - an absolute
"MUST" to visit! Full details, and explanation,
are available on Ann's site.
- Pat Johnson has a large collection of original
Family Deeds. Abstracts, with name and parish indexes are provided onsite,
with transcriptions of the full documents available for a modest fee. In addtion, the original
deed may also be available for purchase if required. Added 19 Sep 2007.
- Information about
Derbyshire Feet of Fines (land conveyances) - on
Chris Phillips
Medieval English Genealogy web site. Added 22 May 2007.
- Mike Durtnall is providing a country-wide collection of
Historical Manuscripts
Pages recording details of deeds that have been offered for sale on eBay
and in auction catalogues. In most cases whereabouts of the documents will be
unknown, but sufficient details of the property involved and of buyers, sellers,
mortages, &c. is provided to make them a useful research tool.
Added 9 Mar 2007.
- Details of a selection of leases relating to 17th century property rental
(cottages and land) may be found amongst Catalogue of Leases from the
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire estates of the Dukes of Portland
(PI E12/8) available as part of the
University
of Nottingham Manuscripts Online Catalogue.
- The Harvard Law School Library's
English Deeds Collection contains detailed summaries of some Deeds relating to
Derbyshire. The site 'Search' for 'derbyshire' may be expected to return eight entries.
Updated 27 Apr 2006.
- Robin Alston has created
The Country House Database, a very useful reference source,
"listing country houses in the British Isles from the late medieval
period to ca. 1850, together with an index to all the families so far
traced as having occupied them." Includes a section on
Derbyshire.
- Access to various satellite map sites (Google, MS Live, &c.) via the
convenient front end of Flash Earth.
Added 16 Jun 2007.
- Paul Jones is providing a
Lower Dove Valley Tithe Map Viewer - maps cover parishes of both Derbyshire
and Staffordshire.
- The London Ancestor
site has maps from the 1885 Boundary Commissioners report for all parts
of the British Isles, including
Derbyshire (Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1885)
- Interactive
Road Map of Seventy Miles About Sheffield. This detailed
map is dated between 1893 and 1902, and may help to find
placenames not recorded on more modern maps. There is more detail
than the one mentioned above, but it is harder to read.
- A most useful set of maps for the whole of England and Wales,
showing parish boundaries, on a one inch to the mile scale, is available on
CD-ROM for a modest price - see:
Kain, R.J.P., Oliver, R.R.,
Historic Maps
of England and Wales: Boundaries before 1850. Available on CD from
History Data Service, UK Data Archive, 17 May 2001. SN: 4348.
- The Old Maps web site
has a wonderful series of 1:10,560 scale historical maps for
the whole of the UK available online. The Derbyshire ones are dated
circa 1883.
- The
Genmaps site contains a fine collection of Old Maps of the British
Isles for Genealogists and Historians. In particular, see
Old Maps of Derbyshire.
- The above Genmaps Links pages lists
Great Britain - Medieval Maps, which in turn provides several maps
including an intriguing
Ecclesiastical Map of the British Isles in the Middle Ages,
which shows the principal Monasteries, demonstrating some of the
earliest centres of habitation and influence.
- Detailed Maps of the area you may be interested in Derbyshire
are viewable at the
UK Street Map Page.
The site provides a most useful service, with superb address searching
and street map facilities for anywhere in mainland Great Britain.
- Whilst not in Derbyshire, John Speed's
Map of Lichfield in 1611 may be of interest because at that time
Derbyshire was part of Lichfield Diocese. The Cathedral is immediately
recognisable, but otherwise it seems so tiny!
-
Old Maps - Derbyshire, 1878 with interactive browsing.
- Clear, Large Type and Braille Maps. Added 11 Feb 2006.
David Hawgood has produced
Maps of Derbyshire with Braille labels (large print labels) to help people
with visual disabilities, with similar
Tactile and large print Maps for other English counties.
There is an article on David's website,
Production of Tactile maps with Braille labels
explaining how these maps have been produced.
- An article by Julie Bunting on Archery (in Warfare) -
"Bending the Bow". Added 10 Mar 2007.
- Two very comprehensive sites featuring Castles and Fortifications -
CastleUK.net, and
The Gatehouse.
Added 3 Sep 2005.
- The Age of Nelson - a
website providing general information about the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic
Wars 1793-1815, and specifically searchable databases of those present at
Trafalgar (and more) and of all Commissioned Naval Officers 1787-1822.
- Jean Durbin has extracted the Derbyshire entries from
a list of
Military Deserters 1828-1840 posted in the Police Gazette
(hosted on John Palmer's
Wirksworth site).
-
Chesterfield Sherwoods on the Somme
A site commemorating the men of Chesterfield and surrounding
districts of North Derbyshire who died during the Battle of the
Somme. A very evocative, and thought provoking site, which
warrants a study in depth.
- Cameron, Kenneth,
The place-names of Derbyshire.
One of the English Place-Name Society Series; Volume XXIX.
Published by Cambridge: University Press (1951-2). In 3 Volumes:
- Part 1: Introduction, river-names, High Peak Hundred, Maps.
- Part 2: Scarsdale, Wirksworth, Morleyston & Litchurch Hundreds.
- Part 3: Appletree, Repton & Gresley Hundreds; Analyses and Indexes.
- John Palmer has created an online
DERBYSHIRE PLACENAMES Index, listing 7,000 places within the county,
including the parish and Hundred each lies in, and with a simple (text)
map to locate the parish.
- Lists of some Derbyshire Lead Miners may be found in a
Petition of miners of Derbyshire to the House of Commons for relief
from the tax on lead, PRO Ref: E101/280/18. This was a petition to
the Long Parliament in 1641 or 1642 to reduce the tax on lead from 48
shillings to 28 shillings per fother. It lists by name miners in the lead
mining townships of the Hundred of High Peak, the Wapentake of
Wirksworth and the townships of Crich and of Ecton in Staffordshire.
The list of about 1900 names is almost complete, being slightly damaged
for Castleton, Hope, Youlgreave and Stanton. By the name of each miner
is the number of his dependants and servants. The Derbyshire Record
Office have a handwritten transcription - DRO Ref: D3504/1/1-2.
- The same bundle, DRO Ref: D3504/1/1-2, also contains a handwritten
transcription of the 1642 Protestation Return, a document in the House of
Lords Record Office in the Main Papers for Feb 26 1642. The townships included
are Tideswell, Monyash, Bakewell, Sheldon, Birchill, Rowsley, Overhaddon,
Ashford, Longsden [sic], Baslow, Taddington, Beeley, Hope and Castleton.
I am indebted to Lynn Burnet for this, and the previous item of information.
- What's in a Name?,
a series of articles from The Peak Advertiser featuring the derivation
of surnames - with special emphasis on their occurrence in Derbyshire -
reproduced by kind permission of their author, Desmond Holden.
- Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section:
Indexes to parish returns towards the rebuilding of St Paul's Cathedral, ca.1678,
with their Library Reference numbers. The returns themselves, which
need to be consulted by personal visit, promise to be useful, as a record
of those individuals who contributed, and in a number of instances those
who did not. A number of the returns indicate status of the contributors,
e.g. widow, or servant.
- The
Derbyshire Surname-Interests List, complete with location index,
is hosted by Hugh Winters.
- If you get a chance to visit the Peak District of Derbyshire, look for
a copy of
The Peak Advertiser, available at Post Offices, and
local village shops, free of charge. Although this is a free advertising
newspaper, each issue usually contains one or more local history
articles, a family walks feature, and on the back page "What's in
a Name" in which the author offers his own unique insight into
the meaning behind readers' surnames. Website link added 20 Jan 2007.
- Flindall, Roger -
What The Papers Said .... Published by
The Peak District Mines Historical Society.
Derbyshire in Nottingham Newspapers 1714-1776 -
"Researchers using What the Papers Said ... will have at
their fingertips full and accurate transcriptions of significant references
without need to consult the original newspapers"...
read more in this
Review of ‘Derbyshire in Nottingham Newspapers 1714-1776’
(Peak Advertiser, 11th September 2000)
- The Newspaper Library at Colindale - my current information (October 2007) is
that the BL is going to close Colindale, transferring its archives to Boston Spa.
Newspapers will be viewable on film only at the British Library, until such time as
their holdings are digitised. See
British Library Newspapers for up-to-date details of research facilities.
Updated 23 Oct 2007.
- The Burton Daily Mail and associated publications cover large parts of the county,
particularly South Derbyshire.
- The following sites, sponsored by the appropriate local newspaper, all have a
similar "Look-and-Feel"
Links to Newspapers' sites are provided not only for the Newspaper
content, but also because they may contain links to other items
or sites of local interest.
- For other English Newspapers see
OnlineNewspapers.com - England.
- The Worshipful Company of Curriers -
information about the history of this trade. Added 1 Apr 2008.
- The Virtual Waterways Archive -
"Hundreds of years of British waterway history brought together in one
online catalogue". Added 19 Nov 2007.
-
Pubs and Breweries of the Midlands past and present -
select 'Pub Histories' for listings by county. Added 2 Nov 2005.
-
Derbyshire Apprentices in London - list compiled by Jean Durbin.
Added 5 Sep 2005.
-
Photographers and Photographic Studios of Derbyshire - a site created by Brett
Payne, provides an index of Derbyshire Photographers, mainly from trade directories,
together with biographies of selected photographers, also plenty of hints and tips for
dating old family photographs. There is already a substantial collection of examples from
the various studios; however further contributions of images are always welcome to this
ever-growing collection.
- Registers of the Company of Stationers, London :
Apprentices from Derbyshire,
transcribed by Leslie Mahler.
-
"BYGONE INDUSTRIES OF THE PEAK - copies of a series of article by
Julie Bunting, published in The Peak Advertiser, relating
to various old occupations.
-
"TAKE A LOOK AT: Inn Signs" -
copy of an article by Julie Bunting, published in The Peak Advertiser,
27 Jan 2003 (p1 & p7) - fascinating account of how the names of many of
Derbyshire's Inns were derived.
- An account of
The Apprentice System, with particular reference to Derbyshire Cotton Mills
is provided by Frank Hackett. This is part of his account of
A Hackett Family History - the Story of a Derbyshire Mill Owning Family
which may provide background material for those interested in the Derbyshire Cotton Industry.
- A wonderful resource, the
Hallamshire Cutlers:
List of Apprentices and Freemen, provided by Eric Youle. If you think they
are just Sheffield-based, think again! There are many individuals from
North Derbyshire who were apprenticed to Master Cutlers, and even from
further afield. I even noted apprentices from as far afield as Edinburgh and Belgium!
- The
Society of Brushmakers' Descendants assists those with
Brushmaking Ancestors, or with an interest in discovering more
about the brushmaker's trade.
- A
List of Coal Mines in Great Britain, 1880 -
includes all the Mines in Derbyshire, giving the
name of the Colliery, where situated and who owned it.
- For further information about Coal Mining generally visit the
Coal Mining History Resource Centre.
- Michael Spencer is providing details of a large number of Settlement
Certificates, Removal Orders, &c. of Derbyshire folk - see
Yesterday's Journey. Added 11 Dec 2007.
-
Board of Guardians 1837-51. Lists of names of those who
were examined as being in need of poor relief, transcribed by
Michael Spencer. Covers Poor Law Unions of Bakewell, Belper,
Shardlow, Hayfield, Ashbourne and Chesterfield. The records
for Derby Union have been lost.
- The Workhouse
a site "dedicated to the workhouse - its buildings,
its inmates, its staff and administrators, and even its poets..."
created by Peter Higginbotham - promises to be a rich source of reference.
- The Rossbret Web site
provides extensive information about Workhouses and Poor Law Institutions,
but also includes Asylums, Almshouses, Gaols (Prisons), Dispensaries,
Hospitals (Infirmaries), Reformatories (Industrial Schools), and Orphanages,
in many cases listing individual premises.
- We have begun a collection of pages listing details of
Derbyshire Probate Records.
You are invited to submit abstracts of Wills collected during your
own research, as well as to use the information for locating those
elusive female lines. Please help us in building this collection!
- Leslie Mahler's abstracts of Wills from
the
Commissary Court of London 1629-1634
contain a few entries for Derbyshire.
- See also Derbyshire Probate Records
Online for an overview, and links to online collections elsewhere.
- The General Commission on Archives and History (GCAH) of the United Methodist Church
has a list of
John Wesley's Preachers, 1740-1791. Added 10 Jul 2006.
- John Blaylock provides
Definitions of (Ecclesiastical) Words and Phrases used in his account of the History of
Boulton St Mary's Parish Church
(Derbyshire) - for example 'Advowson' , 'Curate', 'Rector', 'Tithes', &c.
- The Derbyshire Papist Returns of 1705-6,
Edited by Richard Clark. 1983. provides a detailed list of the names
of Papists, or those of the Catholic faith, together with their estimated
wealth of their property, their occupations, and any
ecclesiastical patronage they received.
Although recusancy in Derbyshire was concentrated in a small
number of parishes, virtually all parishes made a return for the
two years in question, although for most the return is Nil. The
parishes featuring a large concentration usually had the common
factor of a member of the Catholic gentry living there, or
possessing large estates. For instance, Ashbourne had the Pegges &
Whitehalls; Hassop, the Eyres; Barlborough & Eckington, the
Poles; Norbury, the Fitzherberts; West Hallam & Wingerworth, the
Hunlokes.
Tideswell, Wormhill and Hathersage are the exceptions, where the
origins of Catholicism can be traced back to influence of Catholic
gentry during Elizabeth I's reign. In Tideswell, these were
Bishop Robert PURSGLOVE (c1503-1580), and William
FIELDSEND (the rector between 1551 and 1576); in the case of
Hathersage, the EYRE and FITZHERBERT families.
Published by The Derbyshire Record Society, in 1983.
- An article by Julie Bunting on
Customs of Marriage and Married Life. Added 10 Mar 2007.
- Mother Bedford -
"a website devoted primarily to the history of Old-Bedford County,
Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War period" -
a fascinating site including items of general historical interest eg:
- Apposite to the time of adding:
The Celebration of Christmas.
- Examples of music our ancestors may have enjoyed:
The Music of the 1770s: a Directory.
-
"TAKE A LOOK AT... - copies of a series of article by
Julie Bunting, published in The Peak Advertiser, relating
to various social activities with special emphasis on the Peak District.
-
Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516 -
The Gazetteer, compiled by Dr Samantha Letters is a catalogue of Markets and Fairs
in Medieval England and Wales. First comprehensive National Survey, with detailed
information about grants of Charters to all Market Towns.
Mentions some names of grantees - eg for Bakewell,
"John (Gernoun, kn) successfully claimed that he and his ancestors
had held the fair from time out of mind".
-
Victorian Social History: An Overview - Public Health,
Education, Conditions of Life and Labour.
- Costume
History - from Ancient Babylon through to 1990s - a very comprehensive
site on Fashion and Dress through the ages. Has images to illustrate
what my great*6 aunt Mary OUTRAM might have been wearing on top of her
"second best stays", one of the items she left in her will of 1769
to a young female relative!
- The E 179 Database
(on the National Archives website) contains detailed information about over
26,000 documents relating to the taxation of lay people in England and Wales
between c.1200 and c.1700. These documents are likely to contain many names.
- The Hearth Tax, popularly referred to as "Chimney Money"
was introduced in 1662 but presumably like our 1980s Poll Tax, it was not a
popular form of taxation, as by 1689 it was withdrawn. However, for
the purposes of genealogical research the returns provide a unique
"head count" and assessment of the social status of one's
ancestors - the more hearths they paid taxes for, the larger the house
they lived in. The Hearth Tax Assessments have been transcribed for
Derbyshire, and are published by the Derbyshire Record Society.
Derbyshire Hearth Tax Assessments, 1662-70.
Edited by David G. Edwards. 1982.
The volume lists the names of heads of households, and the number of
hearths they were taxed for.
- Marjorie Ward has transcribed A Copy of a Poll taken for the County of Derby
The 16th, 17th, 18th and 20th days of May 1734 to include
Voters in Bowden Middlecale & district and
Voters in Other areas of (North) Derbyshire. Her transcription also lists where the Freehold land
which made the Voter eligible was situated (this was not necessarily the place where he lived)
and for which of the three candidates he voted (Lord Charles Cavendish,
Sir Nathaniel Curzon Bart. or Henry Harpur Esq.)
This county is maintained by
Rosemary Lockie with help and information
provided by a number of other volunteers.
[Beginning on 12th March 1999 - maintained previously by Clive Henly.]
© Copyright GENUKI and Contributors 1996-2008, &c.
GENUKI is a registered trade mark of the charitable trust GENUKI, see
About GENUKI as an Organisation
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If so, use the up-arrow(s) at the top of the page to go up the hierarchy.
URL of this page: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/DBY/index.html
[Adopted 12 Mar 1999. Last updated 24 Sep 2008 - 13:23 by Rosemary Lockie]
