(Not in my opinion), but arguably Derbyshire Record Office did not exist in 1957 when Major Barker deposited his family archives at what was then the Department of Local History and Archives in Sheffield Central Library (now Sheffield Archives). Along with a number of other Derbyshire collections that had been deposited there, these records were transferred to us a few years ago, and until today the only catalogue available online was a scanned copy of the list copied by the National Register of Archives in 1962. We have now reformatted the entire list, using the arrangement suggested in the original but with a corresponding numbering system to aid navigation through the online catalogue – see D7674 – Barker family of Darley, Rowsley and East Lodge, Bakewell.
This collection consists primarily of the papers and title deeds of the Barker family (D7674/B), plus a number of other families with whom they intermarried, particularly from north Derbyshire, including:
- D7674/C – Charlesworth of Castleton
- The Charlesworths lived at Castleton and were related to the Barkers through the marriage of Catherine, daughter of Thomas Charlesworth to John Barker, son of Henry. Thomas Barker acted as executor for Robert Charlesworth the elder, and John Barker acted as executor for Robert Charlesworth
- D7674/ST – Scholler and Twigg of Rowsley and Ecclesfield, Yorkshire
- The Scholler family of Rowsley acquired, by marriage and purchase, estates in Bakewell from the Twigg family and in the parish of Ecclesfield from the Hawkesworths. The Twigg connection arose from the marriage of Ruth Scholler and John Twigg of Bakewell in 1683. Robert Scholler (d.1748) married Elizabeth Calvert and his daughter Elizabeth married Godfrey Watkinson of Brampton. Their daughter Jane was the wife of John Barker (1731-1795) and subsequently of John Beaumont of Greenwich.
- D7674/T – Thorpe of Monyash
- The connection of this family with the Barkers is not clear, but it probably derived from the fact that the Revd. Robert Charlesworth acted as executor for Elizabeth, widow of John Thorpe.
- D7674/W – Watkinson of Brampton and Chesterfield
- As with the Scholler family, the Watkinson had a family link with the Barkers, as the wife of Godfrey Watkinson the younger was Scholler and her daughter, Jane, married John Barker (d.1755). The family estates centred on Brampton, Holme Hall, Wadshelf and Newbold, all near Chesterfield. The Wadshelf papers include some early surveys and and Agreements between the tenants.
- D7674/ZA – Ashby of Edensor
- Thomas Ashby of Edensor, merchant (d.1810), married Suttonia, daughter of Thomas Barker of Belvoir. Their son, Henry, was a partner in a firm of mercers in Bakewell.
- D7674/ZC – Calvert of Yeaveley
- Robert Scholler married a daughter of Dorothy Calvert of Rowsley and also acted as executor for George Calvert who had been in business as a silkweaver.
- D7674/ZG – Gardom of Ashford
- Thomas Barker (1767-1816) of Ashford married in 1803 Sarah, daughter of William Gardom of Bakewell and Mary, daughter of Joseph Broom head of Baslow. William Gardom was associated with Gardom and Pares, cotton spinners, of Calver Mill and some of the deeds relate to this.
The documents themselves are primarily muniments of title, with related estate papers for properties in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Norfolk, Middlesex, Leicestershire, Cheshire, Hampshire and Lancashire.
The collection also contains:
- D7674/ZML – Lead mining accounts, deeds and other papers, including a Written Defence of the Magpie Miners, 1834
- Several members of the Barker family were engaged in business as lead merchants and smelters including John barker (1751-1795), his sons, Thomas (1767-1816) and John (1769-1841), and his grandson, Thomas Rawson Barker (b. 1812). The latter was a partner in the Sheffield White Lead Works in Pond Mill Lane. In addition to lead the possession of the Brampton estates gave the Barkers an interest in coal and ironstone which is also represented here (see D7674/ZMC).
- D7674/ZMR – Papers of Robert Scholler, John Barker and Thomas Barker, as the stewards of the Duke of Rutland in the 18th century, with some records dating to 1632
- D7674/B/6 – Correspondence and papers of William Barker (1738-1825), Smyrna Merchant
- William Barker, who was born on 31 January, 1738, was the youngest son of Thomas Barker (1709-1754), of The Hall, Bakewell, Steward of the Duke of Rutland. He emigrated to Florida, where he purchased an estate, but in 1760 he left and settled in Syrma where he remained until his death, which took place on 25 July 1825. He married, firstly in 1763, Flora Robin (1739-1775) and, secondly in 1776, Maria Elizabeth Schonell of Smyrna (b.1760), and had 25 children. One of his sons, John (1771-1849), was Consul-General in Egypt from 1829-1833 and a well-known horticulturist.
- D7674/ZP 17th-19th century ecclesiastical and civil parish records for Bakewell and Darley, probably derived from the office of overseer or churchwarden; including
- a militia muster for 1745 and assessment to collect £93 for the charges of quartering five troops of horse
- poor rate assessment for 1731 and highway rate assessments for 1736 and 1740
- an assessment for Darley, in accordance with a rate levied on Births, Marriages and Deaths, Bachelors and Widowers, 1696
A small series of printed material, presumably collected by the family include:
- A panorama of Corfu
- “Short sketch of the evidence for the abolition of the slave trade”, 1792
- “An Address to the People called Methodists”, 1792
- St. Thomas’s Hospital: Statement of accounts, 1867-1886; proposed scheme for admitting paying patients, 1879-1880; Statement on paying patients, 1882.
- Memoir of Sir George Burrows, surgeon, (1801-1887) by Sir James Paget.
Derbyshire Record Office 