March’s #PhotoFriday Digest

It's time for our monthly round up of #PhotoFriday tweets, where we look at images from the local studies collections across the county which you can find on http://www.picturethepast.org.uk . To celebrate World Book Day we remembered a much loved Derbyshire author, Deric Longden. Deric was famous for books such as Diana’s Story and Lost …

February’s #PhotoFriday Digest

Here is our monthly round up of February's #PhotoFriday, where we look at images from the local studies collections across the county which you can find on http://www.picturethepast.org.uk . We started off the month by celebrating #NationalStorytellingWeek, with this charming photograph of Lady Hartington reading to her sons William and Andrew, at Chatsworth House c.1926. …

New catalogues now available for Chesterfield collections

During 2020, we did add a small number of these to the online catalogue (for example, D9 Dakeyne of Darley), and work continues to process the remaining drafts and recent transfers, so there are lots more to come this year. Last week, catalogues for several collections that were transferred to us from the Local Studies …

A Wayward Ward

Although much has changed in the last 200 years, some things remain constant, and the troubles of teenagers is one of them. I recently found a wonderful set of letters within the Miller Mundy family archive that tell the tale of a ward of Edward Miller Mundy, whose transition into adulthood didn't go very smoothly! …

An Insider’s View of north Derbyshire Libraries around 1950 – part 2 (Buxton)

Last week, Roger shared some stories from Dora Axon relating to her experiences as a librarian in Whaley Bridge and Chapel-en-le-Frith; this week, we hear about her experiences in Buxton, where she started work in 1949. At this time the library at Buxton was the responsibility of the borough council, in contrast to the libraries …

Celebrating Florence

Tomorrow sees the 200th anniversary of the birth of the woman credited as the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale (12 May 1820-13 August 1910). Florence served as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, in which she organised care for wounded soldiers. Shocked by conditions in the hospital Florence began to …

An update on Elizabeth Appleton for Women’s History Month

March is Women's History Month, and a few weeks ago I planned to write about my research about Elizabeth Appleton, a highly independent young woman of the Regency era, who I've previously blogged about.  Of course a lot has happened since the beginning of March, as the world has responded to the coronavirus pandemic.  Record Office …

Lost Legacies

Last week, I attended the annual Black History Month event at County Hall and have previously blogged about the first speaker, Paul Crooks, who "pioneered research into African Caribbean genealogy during the 1990s and is credited with an upsurge in the interest in Black and British ancestry" (ref: http://www.blackhistorymonth.org.uk). Like Paul, the second speaker, Dr …

“History is no good if it doesn’t empower you in some way” – Paul Crooks

October is Black History Month in the UK, and for several years the Record Office has taken part in the annual event hosted by the Council’s BME Employee Network.  Today I was fortunate to be able to attend on behalf of DRO, and take the opportunity to promote to local organisations our collections and deposit services, …

The (very) Young Victoria… Miss Appleton and the Duchess of Kent

ITV's 'Victoria' is back on television, and so this seems a good time to follow up on my previous blog post about Miss Elizabeth Appleton, where I mentioned that some sources suggested she had been considered as a governess for the future Queen Victoria.  The reason for this suggestion can be found in William Porden's diary …