Progress and Travelling thoughts

Its now mid-June and we've already had two Bank Holidays in the last month. The weather is getting warmer (hopefully!) and the days are getting longer. Can you guess where I'm going with this? Yes, the holiday season will soon be upon us and for many of us that means we will be dusting off …

Saying Hello

My name is Frances Lund and I've been volunteering at Derbyshire Record Office for the last two weeks now, although it feels like longer than that! I'm actually a qualified archivist and am developing my skills whilst looking for my next employment opportunity which is why I'm volunteering. The task I've been working on so far is an …

Treasure 17: The George Woodward cartoon collection

This treasure is a collection of nearly 500 prints and drawings by the artist George Murgatroyd Woodward (1765-1809). Brought up in Stanton by Dale, Derbyshire, Woodward's artistic talents were apparently evident at a young age, and according to his father 'he used to draw before he could speak plain'. The Woodward collection includes his earliest …

Guilty of High Treason – the Pentrich Revolution

Reading Sarah's post about the Pentrich Revolution of a few days ago, made me think of the material we have in the Local Studies Library, here at the Record Office, on this important local event.  Over the years there have been many books and articles published, which you can come to the library to look …

Treasure 9: The Gregory Mine Reckoning Book

This treasure has been chosen by Matthew Pawelski, who is working towards a PhD on the history of the Derbyshire lead industry, as a part of a collaboration between Lancaster University and Derbyshire Record Office, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Matthew's chosen record is a reckoning book from Gregory (or Gregory's) Mine in Ashover, covering …

Explore Your Archive – Prisoners of War

I first became aware that there had been Napoleonic prisoners in Derbyshire when I came across an unusual gravestone at St Mary and All Saints church, Chesterfield, aka the Crooked Spire.  The inscription translated as 'In memory of Francois Raingeard, thirty years of age, Prisoner of War, died 1oth March 1812' and bore the message 'Stop Traveller!  If …

Explore Your Archive – Pride and Pugilists: Round Two

Jem Belcher had been left partially blind since 1803 after the ball struck his left eye during a game of rackets.  All too familiarly, he carried on after his 1805 defeat to Henry ‘Hen’ Pearce ‘The Game Chicken’, and suffered further losses against the future champion Tom Cribb in 1807 and 1809.  He seems to …

Explore Your Archive – Pride and Pugilists: Round One

Sir William Gell (1777-1836), archaeologist and topographer, author and illustrator, enjoyed a social circle that encompassed the royal court and the square ring. ...as I was to dine at the Princess of Wales’s to day at Kensington Palace I thought it proper as a specimen of rising & falling in poetry to send for Jim …

Explore Your Archive – Get the Ball Rolling

As we await kick-off of the first Explore Your Archive week, here is a vigorous selection of images for sporting ladies and gentlemen.

Explore Your Archive – Breeches, Bonnets & the Brutus Crop

Miss Ellis respectfully takes the liberty of informing the public, that she has selected a fashionable and elegant assortment of images from the Derbyshire Record Office collection, which are now ready for inspection.