Lost Cause?

Happy St Simon & Jude's Day! (28th October). Saint Jude is also known as "Jude the Obscure", and is known as the patron saint of lost causes, a last resort as it were. Here at Derbyshire Record Office we can't absolutely guarantee to find that lost ancestor or the last tantalising piece of a genealogical …

A Cautionary Tale

Our microfilm readers are very popular with customers wanting to view parish registers or newspapers on microfilm, and we enjoy welcoming visitors for this and other research. So it was very sad to have to take one out of circulation. The reason? Someone had spilt a drink next to the machine, which had caused electrical burnout. …

Mining the Archives Project – Talk

As part of the Mining the Archives Project, I will be giving a talk at Derbyshire Record Office on Friday 30th October 10.30am-12.00noon, all about the conservation work I have done on the project so far. If you would like to find out more about exactly how I've conserved and preserved these fantastic historical documents, and also see them …

Explore Your Archive: Poet Jane Weir talks design inspiration

For this year’s Explore Your Archive week we are delighted to welcome poet and designer Jane Weir to the record office. Jane will be here to talk about working with the archive of the modernist textile designers, handblock printers and dyers, Phyllis Barron and Dorothy Larcher, who were commercially successful during the inter war years. …

Archives rescue team swings into action!

A few weeks ago, the Ripley Heritage Trust alerted us to the possibility that there were historic Butterley Company records at the former company works in Ripley that were in danger of being severely damaged or destroyed.  The works was sold after the Butterley Company closed down in 2009, since when the company that owns it has …

Jane Eyre and her Derbyshire connections

A quick look on the internet to see what happened on this day in history tells me that Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre was first published in London in 1847.  The novel was written after a visit Charlotte made to North Lees Hall in Derbyshire, which then became her inspiration for Thornbridge Hall, home of Mr Rochester. …