‘Is there any post?’ -FitzHerbert project catch up

The FitzHerbert project has been quiet for some time so I wanted to write a catch up blog to update you on progress and share with you one of the highlights of the collection. Firstly, I want to mention the title of the post: this is surely a familiar phrase in every British household. Especially with …

Treasure 36: The Edmund Potter ‘shirt’ and fabric pattern books

I have chosen this collection because I was lucky enough to be involved in cataloguing and arranging the records (D1589). It is titled the Calico Printing Library of Alderman J G Hurst of Glossop, and includes records of Edmund Potter & Company Ltd, calico printers, Dinting Vale, Glossop. The Edmund Potter & Company Ltd swatch …

Dastardly Deeds, Danger and Drinking Dens in Draycott & Church Wilne!

Just in time for Halloween, our Local Studies Library has an intriguing set of booklets on display, describing some of the 'darker' history of  Draycott. These have been produced by the Draycott & Church Wilne History Group. 'Rogues and Miscreants' starts with an interesting summary of Crime and Punishment including the 'The Bloody Code,' the justice …

Bomb nearly takes out the Blue Bell Inn at Melbourne

A post from Bernadette currently on a work placement at the Record Office As part of my work placement at the Record Office, I currently working on a transcript of information gathered from the Derbyshire County Council Air Raid Precaution’s Register of Occurrence’s (Ref: D4710/1).On the first page of the register I came across the occurrence at …

Pop Up -a Follow Up

Tomorrow we'll be holding an open day at the record office for anyone who visited us at the Wirksworth Festival this year, when we 'popped up' with The Amazing Pop Up Archives Project. For more information on The Amazing Pop Up Archives Project click on the 'Treasure' page above. We'll have all the wonderful contributions …

Preserving Your Past at DRO tomorrow

As part of the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site Discovery Days festival, I will be holding a talk at the Record Office tomorrow to explain how you can protect your family's photographs, letters, diaries, etc. so they will survive to be enjoyed by generations to come.  You're welcome to stay on after the talk for …

Past Times Discovery Day at Alfreton Library

Come and join us at Alfreton Library today, discover local treasures from the archives, old photos with Picture the Past, dress up through the decades, touch and feel everyday objects from the recent past and explore the tracks of our lives from the 50s to the 80s - We're here until 4pm, come down and …

Treasure 35: Records of the National Union of Mineworkers, Derbyshire Area, 1880s-2015

The archive of the National Union of Mineworkers’ Derbyshire Area documents 135 years of trade unionism within the north-east Derbyshire coal industry, from the early days of the Derbyshire Miners’ Association, formed in 1880, through to the formation of the NUM in 1945 and the Area’s closure in 2015. It reflects the great changes that …

Treasure 11: An Exact Mapp of Risley and Breaston

Today’s the first day of National Map Reading Week.  To mark the occasion, we’re re-blogging one of our 50 Treasures, an amazing map of Risley and Breaston dating from 1722. To find out about local map reading events, or to see if you can beat my score on a special maps quiz (75%), visit the Ordnance Survey’s Map Reading Week page.

Derbyshire Record Office

This wonderful map was purchased by Derbyshire County Council in 1966 for £20.  It was surveyed by Matts [Matthias] Aston, in 1722, and the man standing beside the scale on the map is presumably Matts Aston himself.  The scale is 20 perches:1 inch; a perch was an old form of measurement (also called a rod or pole) equal to 5 1/2 yards.

In the top left corner is the coat of arms of the baronets of Aston in Cheshire, so this map must have been made for the 3rd baronet, Sir Thomas Aston (1666-1725).  It measures 60 x 30 inches (about 150cm x 75cm) and is made of parchment which has been backed with linen.  These are two very long-lasting materials, which explains why the map is still in such good condition.

Paula Moss, our Artist in Residence between 2011 and 2013 chose the map for our 50 treasures.  She says:  “I love the fact that…

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A Victorian Lobster Curry to celebrate National Curry Week

Lobster Curry Get fresh boiled lobsters, and take as much of the meat, spawn & head as will be about a pound. Melt a table spoonful of butter in a stew pan, and add to it the Lobster and two table spoonful of fish curry paste to be had of the oilmen (not powder) and …