The Derby Book of Days E-Book

Sarah Seaton

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Book of Days
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 382

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Taking you through the year day by day, The Derby Book of Days contains quirky, eccentric, shocking, amusing and important events and facts from different periods in the history of the city. Ideal for dipping into, this addictive little book will keep you entertained and informed. Featuring hundreds of snippets of information gleaned from the vaults of Derby's archives and covering the social, criminal, political, religious, agricultural, industrial and sporting history of the region, it will delight residents and visitors alike.

Leseprobe

THE

DERBY

BOOK

OF

DAYS

SARAH SEATON

For my children and theirs infinite …

First published in 2013

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2013

All rights reserved

© Sarah Seaton, 2013

The right of Sarah Seaton to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

EPUBISBN 978 0 7509 5171 5

Original typesetting by The History Press

CONTENTS

January

January 1st

January 2nd

January 3rd

January 4th

January 5th

January 6th

January 7th

January 8th

January 9th

January 10th

January 11th

January 12th

January 13th

January 14th

January 15th

January 16th

January 17th

January 18th

January 19th

January 20th

January 21st

January 22nd

January 23rd

January 24th

January 25th

January 26th

January 27th

January 28th

January 29th

January 30th

January 31st

February

February 1st

February 2nd

February 3rd

February 4th

February 5th

February 6th

February 7th

February 8th

February 9th

February 10th

February 11th

February 12th

February 13th

February 14th

February 15th

February 16th

February 17th

February 18th

February 19th

February 20th

February 21st

February 22nd

February 23rd

February 24th

February 25th

February 26th

February 27th

February 28th

March

March 1st

March 2nd

March 3rd

March 4th

March 5th

March 6th

March 7th

March 8th

March 9th

March 10th

March 11th

March 12th

March 13th

March 14th

March 15th

March 16th

March 17th

March 18th

March 19th

March 20th

March 21st

March 22nd

March 23rd

March 24th

March 25th

March 26th

March 27th

March 28th

March 29th

March 30th

March 31st

April

April 1st

April 2nd

April 3rd

April 4th

April 5th

April 6th

April 7th

April 8th

April 9th

April 10th

April 11th

April 12th

April 13th

April 14th

April 15th

April 16th

April 17th

April 18th

April 19th

April 20th

April 21st

April 22nd

April 23rd

April 24th

April 25th

April 26th

April 27th

April 28th

April 29th

April 30th

May

May 1st

May 2nd

May 3rd

May 4th

May 5th

May 6th

May 7th

May 8th

May 9th

May 10th

May 11th

May 12th

May 13th

May 14th

May 15th

May 16th

May 17th

May 18th

May 19th

May 20th

May 21st

May 22nd

May 23rd

May 24th

May 25th

May 26th

May 27th

May 28th

May 29th

May 30th

May 31st

June

June 1st

June 2nd

June 3rd

June 4th

June 5th

June 6th

June 7th

June 8th

June 9th

June 10th

June 11th

June 12th

June 13th

June 14th

June 15th

June 16th

June 17th

June 18th

June 19th

June 20th

June 21st

June 22nd

June 23rd

June 24th

June 25th

June 26th

June 27th

June 28th

June 29th

June 30th

July

July 1st

July 2nd

July 3rd

July 4th

July 5th

July 6th

July 7th

July 8th

July 9th

July 10th

July 11th

July 12th

July 13th

July 14th

July 15th

July 16th

July 17th

July 18th

July 19th

July 20th

July 21st

July 22nd

July 23rd

July 24th

July 25th

July 26th

July 27th

July 28th

July 29th

July 30th

July 31st

August

August 1st

August 2nd

August 3rd

August 4th

August 5th

August 6th

August 7th

August 8th

August 9th

August 10th

August 11th

August 12th

August 13th

August 14th

August 15th

August 16th

August 17th

August 18th

August 19th

August 20th

August 21st

August 22nd

August 23rd

August 24th

August 25th

August 26th

August 27th

August 28th

August 29th

August 30th

August 31st

September

September 1st

September 2nd

September 3rd

September 4th

September 5th

September 6th

September 7th

September 8th

September 9th

September 10th

September 11th

September 12th

September 13th

September 14th

September 15th

September 16th

September 17th

September 18th

September 19th

September 20th

September 21st

September 22nd

September 23rd

September 24th

September 25th

September 26th

September 27th

September 28th

September 29th

September 30th

October

October 1st

October 2nd

October 3rd

October 4th

October 5th

October 6th

October 7th

October 8th

October 9th

October 10th

October 11th

October 12th

October 13th

October 14th

October 15th

October 16th

October 17th

October 18th

October 19th

October 20th

October 21st

October 22nd

October 23rd

October 24th

October 25th

October 26th

October 27th

October 28th

October 29th

October 30th

October 31st

November

November 1st

November 2nd

November 3rd

November 4th

November 5th

November 6th

November 7th

November 8th

November 9th

November 10th

November 11th

November 12th

November 13th

November 14th

November 15th

November 16th

November 17th

November 18th

November 19th

November 20th

November 21st

November 22nd

November 23rd

November 24th

November 25th

November 26th

November 27th

November 28th

November 29th

November 30th

December

December 1st

December 2nd

December 3rd

December 4th

December 5th

December 6th

December 7th

December 8th

December 9th

December 10th

December 11th

December 12th

December 13th

December 14th

December 15th

December 16th

December 17th

December 18th

December 19th

December 20th

December 21st

December 22nd

December 23rd

December 24th

December 25th

December 26th

December 27th

December 28th

December 29th

December 30th

December 31st

JANUARY 1ST

1756: On this day, William Duesbury, a china maker and founder of Royal Crown Derby, moved to the town. He had acquired a share in some pot works on Cockpit Hill, just outside Derby, which were owned and run by banker John Heath. After a brief partnership with Andrew Planche failed, Duesbury, with Heath’s financial backing, started up a new, successful factory in Nottingham Road. Duesbury was described as a talented entrepreneur; he had created a new paste containing glass frit, soaprock and calcined bone, and he also hired the best talent available to model and paint his wares. The new porcelain allowed Duesbury to begin manufacturing luxury tableware, and his reputation for first-class dinnerware quickly grew. As a result, in April 1757, he employed the services of a London agent and took over the Chelsea pottery factory, moving into the London market.

In March 1775, Duesbury and Heath were given a Royal Warrant by George III, appointing them ‘China Manufacturers in Ordinary to His Majesty’. From this point on their Duesbury ‘D’ was topped with a crown – proof they were ‘Derby China Manufacturers to His Majesty’. When Heath became bankrupt in 1779 Duesbury became sole proprietor, and in 1784 all manufacturing became centralised in Derby. (www.wikipedia.org)

JANUARY 2ND

1884: On this day, the Derby Mercury gave its readers a free almanac for the coming year. It featured an alphabetical list of borough and county magistrates, Councillors of the Borough of Derby, and committees within the borough, stating that the Mayor was ‘ex officio’ a member of all committees. Borough officers, such as the coroner, inspectors of gas meters, petroleum and hackney carriages, were named, as well as others such as the sanitary inspector, examiner of canal boats, medical officer of health, and police surgeon. Ten banks were recorded in the town, including the Penny Bank on Full Street, and Derby Commercial Bank Limited on St Peter’s Bridge. A full list of trustees and staff were given for the Derbyshire General Infirmary as well as its visiting hours, which were Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. until 12 noon, and 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. The Derby Post Office, situated on Victoria Street and St James Street, gave details of the districts that letters could be posted to, and at what times, and the post boxes were also listed street by street with collection times. Members of the Poor Law Union, Mechanics Institute and Derby School Board were listed, amongst others. (Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 3RD

1899: On this day, builder William Eaton and draper and warehouseman J. Hitchens entered into a contract to erect numbers 2 and 3 St Peter’s Street, Derby. Hitchens employed architect Arthur Eaton (not related) to draw up plans of the buildings, and William Eaton to build the properties according to the plans and specifications of the architect. The project had to be completed by March 18th of the same year, otherwise they would be subjected to a penalty clause whereby William Eaton would have to pay £10 a week for the delay. The building was not completed until October 2nd, a period of twenty-eight weeks, which caused Hitchens a great amount of loss and inconvenience. Hitchens and Eaton were in dispute over the matter, and Arthur Eaton acted as arbitrator between the two parties. The issue was taken to the Queens Bench Division on Wednesday, November 7th 1900 before the Lord Chief Justice and Mr Justice Kennedy, sitting as a Divisional Court. Hitchen requested that Arthur Eaton be removed as arbitrator, as he had acted in favour of the builder – the court denied his request. (Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 4TH

1870: On this day, Thomas Williamson, a thirty-six-year-old engine driver, stole a wheelbarrow belonging to John Parker, a broker from Siddals Road. Parker had attended a sale in Upper Brook Street on January 4th when the wheelbarrow went missing – he valued it at 13s or 14s – and notified the police straightaway. Williamson was taken before the Derby Borough Quarter Sessions on April 7th 1870, in front of George Boden QC. Mr C.F. Roe stood for the prosecution and the prisoner was undefended. Parker claimed he met Williamson in the Morledge on January 21st and that Williamson had the wheelbarrow with him. Parker told him that it was his wheelbarrow but Williamson claimed he had bought it. A statement by Harriet Wigley, with whom Williamson had lodged with for the last five years, did Williamson no favours. When interviewed, Harriet stated that Williamson had turned up with the wheelbarrow a week or fortnight before he was taken into custody and had told her that he had got it instead of payment for a days work at a sale. However, he later told her he had bought it. Consequently, the jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to three months with hard labour. (Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 5TH

1915: On this day, an order titled ‘Defence of the Realm (Consolidation) Act, 1914 Closing Order’, was made and signed in Derby by Major J.A. Reeks. The Act was introduced to regulate pub opening hours during the Great War and stipulated that:

All licensed premises for the sale of intoxicating liquor within the areas specified in the schedule shall be closed for the sale of intoxicating liquor to any persons not resident therein at 9 p.m., and shall also be closed as respects the members of His Majesty’s forces except during the hours between 12 noon and 1 p.m. and the hours between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.

The Act covered a three-mile radius around Derby market place, and included the same radius around Chesterfield, Baslow, Buxton, the Hayes, Swanwick, Nottingham, Newark-on-Trent, and Retford. The order was criticised in the trade, as landlords were already paying higher taxes and the same law did not extend to private clubs. The war had badly affected trade and it was feared that many men would lose jobs because of it. (Mansfield Reporter; Sutton-in-Ashfield Times)

JANUARY 6TH

2012: On this day, the Derby Telegraph reported on high winds and how they had caused a debate over a fallen chimney pot. Jason Ryall’s chimney had fallen off his roof at 5.30 a.m. the previous morning, but when he tried to make a claim he was told by the insurance company Legal & General that they would only accept ‘storm force’ winds of over 45mph and, according to their records, the winds in Derby had not reached that figure. However, the winds in the East Midlands were confirmed by the Met Office to be ‘gale force’, reaching up to 54mph. The Derby Telegraph contacted Legal & General on behalf of Jason about this and they admitted their error, claiming that their records had since been updated to show a higher rate of wind; they agreed to pay for the damage. The wind, combined with heavy rain, caused disruption throughout the area, with falling trees causing problems on the roads. The weather also caused power cuts and flooding throughout the county, with the council and fire brigade staff having to work throughout the day at various incidents. Flood alerts were issued by the Environment Agency for parts of the River Trent, River Dove and River Derwent. (Derby Telegraph)

JANUARY 7TH

1846: On this day, the Derbyshire Advertiser was established. It was recognised as an independent newspaper with no political persuasion and was published by John and William Hobson of 2 Market Head every Friday. There were three other weekly Derby newspapers: the Derby Mercury, established in 1723 by Mr Samuel Drewry, and later published by Mr Thomas Newbold of 35 Irongate every Wednesday; the Derby and Chesterfield Reporter, established in 1823 and published by Walter and William Pike of 39 Cornmarket every Friday; and the Derby Telegraph, established January 1st 1854 and printed by Richard Keane of 22 Irongate every Saturday.

There were also several newsrooms in the town: Amen Alley, established 1835 in Full Street, moved to the Town and County Library in 1840. With thirty-five subscribers, it was open daily, from 8 a.m. to 9.30 p.m.; the Athenaeum, Victoria Street, had ninety-nine subscribers and was well supplied with London and country papers; the Derbyshire Club, or County Newsroom, was established in 1854 and consisted of 152 members; and the Albert Club and Newsroom in Albert Street, which was established in 1855, had about 100members. (Francis White & Co., History, Gazeteer and Directory of the County of Derby, Sheffield, 1857)

JANUARY 8TH

1849: On this day, a new Ragged School for children of the poor opened in Back Parker Street, leading out of Lodge Lane, Derby. It was created for children who were not permitted to attend other types of schools due to their clothing and lack of education. The children behaved ‘most orderly and proper showing they were desirous of profiting by the opportunity thus afforded them and grateful for it’. It was an evening school, starting at 7 p.m., on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for boys, and Tuesdays and Thursdays for girls.

The readers of the Derby Mercury were asked to support the school to help improve the spiritual and moral fibre of the unfortunate children and help steer them away from crime, as it was far cheaper to prevent it than to punish for it. They could help by making a donation or, more importantly, volunteering as teachers there.

The Derby Mercury reported that eighty children attended the Ragged School and that numbers were set to vastly increase, which they did. However, some of them were also enrolled at other similar schools, and so children’s details were then recorded to ensure that each child had one place at one school. (Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 9TH

1989: On this day, the Derby Evening Telegraph printed a special morning edition reporting on the ‘Night Flight To Disaster’ – the Kegworth air crash. It was the worst ever accident to occur in the Derby area. The plane had engine trouble soon after take-off and, along with further indications of fire after smoke poured into the cabin, the Heathrow flight was diverted from Belfast to Derby’s local East Midlands Airport. However, with only 150 yards to go to reach the start of the runway, the British Midland Boeing 737, flight BD 92 crashed onto the M1 motorway, ploughing into the trees of the embankment on the other side with one hundred and twenty-six people on board. Forty-seven died, seventy-four survived – but with serious injuries – and five people were recorded with minor injuries. A major rescue operation followed, with Derby emergency services and hospitals working alongside Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire ones. A professional statistician and survivor of the crash, who was treated at the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary, was happy that his odds of one in many thousands of being involved in an air crash had been drastically reduced, commenting, ‘I’ve got my one over with now’. (Derby Evening Telegraph; www.wikipedia.org)

JANUARY 10TH

1730: On this day, the Revd Michael Hutchinson, Doctor of Divinity, died. A memorial to him was erected at All Saints’ Church in Derby where he had been minister. It read: ‘From a pious zeal and unwearied application obtained subscriptions, and afterwards collected and paid three thousand two hundred and forty nine pounds or upwards for the rebuilding of the church.’ The church had fallen into disrepair so he had it demolished, leaving only the perpendicular, Gothic-style tower intact. The tower measured 212ft (65m) high and was built in the early sixteenth century, housing the oldest ring of ten bells in the United Kingdom. The renowned architect James Gibbs was commissioned to rebuild the church. He created a beautifully light space, and £157 10s was spent on a nave with a wrought iron rood screen made by Robert Bakewell. Alongside Revd Hutchinson’s there are a number of superb monuments, many dedicated to members of the Cavendish family of Chatsworth fame: Bess of Hardwick; Henry Cavendish; and Georgiana Spencer, the wife of one of the Dukes of Devonshire. (Glover, S., The History of the County of Derby: Part 2, Ulan Press, 2012; www.derbyinpictures.com)

JANUARY 11TH

1859: On this day, George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, was born into a long line of Derbyshire nobility at Kedleston Hall just outside Derby. His start was not as easy as may be assumed; his cruel governess, Ellen Mary Paraman, ruled the nursery with an iron fist, which may have instilled aggressive traits in the young George, who also showed an obsessive nature. During her ‘reign’ she made him parade through the village wearing a conical hat bearing the words ‘liar, sneak, and coward’. Curzon later stated, ‘No children well-born and well-placed ever cried so much and so justly.’ He was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford. Whilst studying at Eton he had a relationship with his tutor Oscar Browning, which led to Browning’s dismissal. Curzon evoked extreme reactions from people; he was described as a contentious person, liked and disliked with equal passion, which stayed with him all his life. He was Under-Secretary of State for India and Foreign Affairs, and on Andrew Bonar Law’s retirement in 1923, Curzon was passed over for the job of Prime Minister in favour of Stanley Baldwin. (www.wikipedia.org.uk)

JANUARY 12TH

1867: On this day, Sarah Staton was apprehended at Derby railway station by Detective Inspector Davis for having stolen silk in her possession – fifteen large quills of silk and eleven small ones. She led them to Alfred Jennings, alias Jenney, who police arrested and charged with theft. Staton claimed she had gone to Mansfield’s public house on the night of January 12th and met Jennings, who had thrown a package to her and said, ‘There’s a small parcel’. Staton took the parcel and left for the train station. When she was in the lock-up, she picked out Jennings from a line-up of men matching the description she had given; her husband, John Staton, backed up her account. Jennings had been suspected of stealing silk by his employers Messrs Rickard and was duly dismissed. Mr Rickard advised the silk was ‘exactly similar’ to what they used, as did Charles Willatt, an overlooker and mechanic at the mill. However, as a ribbon weaver Jennings had no business in the part of the factory where the silk was kept and it was, therefore, decided that a man named Powell, previously discharged, had taken it. Jennings was found not guilty. (Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 13TH

1585: On this day, Mary, Queen of Scots lodged at Babbington House in Derby, and her custodian, Ralph Sadler, wrote:

We remove this Queen to Derbie, and tomorrowe to Tutbury, the wayes beinge so foule and depe, and she so lame, though in good health of bodie, that we cannot go thoroughe in a daye. Again, I have given strait order to the bailiffs and others of Derby, to provyde that there be none assemblie of gasing people in the stretes, and for all quietness as much as may be done. I have written letters to Sir John Zouch, Sir John Byron, Sir Thomas Cokayne, Mr. John Manners, and Mr. Curzon, to be ready to attend this Quene to Derbie, with but a small trayne.

On arriving, Mary offered to salute and ‘kiss a multitude of towns women’, before speaking with them. Her hostess was a widow named Mrs Beaumont, and to ensure Mary’s safety Sadler appointed bailiffs to gather a watch of ‘honest householders to be at all the corners of the towne, and in the market-place, and eight to walk all night yn that strete wher she lodged.’ He then went on to comment: ‘As myself, lyeing over against that lodging, can well testify, by the noise they made all night.’ (Lysons, D. & S., 1817 Magna Britannia, Volume 5, Derbyshire)

JANUARY 14TH

1652: On this day, a covenant was entered into concerning official’s food during the assizes. There had been a long-standing issue regarding the lavish meals that were provided there and the extortionate amounts of money they cost. One such official, Sheriff George Sitwell, appointed Henry Francis Gentle to negotiate on his behalf with Hugh Newton, Innkeeper of Derby, that ‘The said Hugh Newton shall pvide all manner of provision for both the Assizes at his house in Derby’. The cost was 4s and 6d per person, with over twenty people at the sheriff’s table. The sheriff’s expenses in entertaining the judges of the assizes became so serious that, in 1690, forty-four of the leading county gentlemen entered into a contract to limit costs and provisions.

Sitwell wasn’t the only official to lay on extravagant meals. In 1613, High Sheriff Sir Thomas Reresby ordered ‘several sorts of fowl, among others young swans, knots, herns (heron), bitterns, etc., three venison pasties appointed for every meal, 13 several sorts of sea fish,14 several sorts of fresh-water fish, each appointed to be ordered a different way’ for his table at the assizes. (Cox, John Charles, Three Centuries of Derbyshire Annals, Ulan Press, 2012)

JANUARY 15TH

1883: On this day, George Harrison, a native of Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, was released from Derby Gaol; he had served two months. By January 19th he was dead. An inquest revealed that Harrison had spoke of mistreatment and how broken he had been by his time within the prison; they had stopped his food on several occasions and for the second month he had slept only on boards. Charles Edward Farquharson, governor of the gaol, recalled that Harrison was declared fit for work and was punished six times for misconduct, of which he never made any complaint. He was on a second-class diet that entailed no solids for the first month and 3¾oz of beef on a Friday in the second month, although sometimes his food had been stopped for misbehavior, such as singing in his cell or talking to other prisoners. The jury decided that Harrison died from injudicious eating and drinking, brought on by his restricted diet in prison and his resulting inability to digest food properly, but as the diet was prescribed by law the prison officials were exonerated from blame.(Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 16TH

1825: On this day, and the following day, Abraham Harrison entered Sarah Johnson’s Cook’s Shop on Broadside and paid her with fake half crowns for her penny pies. Johnson did not notice the coin on the first day, but became suspicious on the second day and refused to accept the coin. She checked her takings from the previous day, of which Harrison’s half crown was the only one, and found it was also counterfeit. She called for Constable Edward Bennett, and handed the coin over and described Mr Harrison to him. On May 17th, Constable Bennett arrested Harrison in the market place and took him to the police office where he was searched. During this time Bennett noticed the prisoner put his hand up to his neck and duly found a counterfeit half crown between his shirt collar and neck. He also found twenty-one genuine shillings on him. On Tuesday, May 24th at the Borough Sessions in Derby, Harrison was found guilty of ‘uttering or tendering false money and imprisoned for one year, and also had to provided sureties for himself for £40 and two sureties of £20 for his good behaviour for two years.’ (Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 17TH

2012: On this day, the Derby Telegraph reported on the discovery of a live hand grenade found by sixty-four-year-old Leslie Radford whilst gardening at his home at Alvaston Mobile Home Park, just off London Road. Even though Mr Radford was aware it could be live, his first thought was to get it away from the 180-property site in order to keep his neighbours safe. He then contacted the park manager who called the police and bomb squad. Seventy homes on the site were evacuated, and residents were allowed back into their homes after it was confirmed the bomb was a dud.

The site had, at one time, been a Royal Air Force (RAF) station during the Second World War, and was reported to have been used for army purposes as far back as the First World War. One of the residents, ninety-year-old Una Bruen, had lived on the park for over thirty years and was an equipment assistant when it was an RAF station. It was turned into a mobile home park in the 1960s. (Derby Telegraph)

JANUARY 18TH

1861: On this day, joiners Charles Wallis and John Teale met up at the Green Man public house on St Peter’s Street, where they drank and ate supper. Around midnight they went to the Bee Hive on Devonshire Street and met Henry Shenton. After leaving the pub, Shenton approached a couple on Devonshire Street who told him to ‘keep off’, but the men continued to follow them along London Road. The couple entered a house and Shenton, who had been lagging behind, asked where they had gone. Wallis offered to find out whilst Teale offered to kick the door of their house, which he subsequently did. They returned to Shenton, who was at the top of Borough Walk, and wished him goodnight. Only 20 yards up the road they were followed by Shenton and the man whose door had been kicked, who asked Teale if he had kicked the door. Shenton got angry with Teale, accusing him of framing him for the kick. Teale ran away shouting ‘Police!’, but Shenton caught up with him and attacked him. Teale later died. Good references were given for Shenton when he was tried for manslaughter and he was sentenced to three months prison without hard labour. (Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 19TH

1847: On this day, the electric telegraph transmitted the Queen’s speech to the large towns and cities throughout England and Scotland. The speech had been sent out early by the palace so that it got to people in time, and was dispatched to the Central Station in the Strand, and also to Euston Square, where it arrived at about 1.15 p.m. before being transmitted out to the nation. Immediately on its arrival at the Derby telegraph office in the Midland Station, the speech was printed and distributed. The Derby Mercury edition reported that the Queen talked about the lack of food in Ireland and Scotland, and the great suffering, diseases and high mortality rates that were rife because of it. The lack of harvest in France, Germany and other parts of Europe also contributed to people’s hardships. It was telegraphed at the rate of sixty-five letters per minute – 430 words in an hour – with several of the long words, such as ‘embarrassments’, ‘infringements’, and ‘manufacturing’, taking longer as no abbreviations were used. The 730-word speech took two hours to convey. (www.pbenyon.plus.com; Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 20TH

1892: On this day, the Derby High School for Girls at Oxford Villas, on the corner of Osmaston Road and Hartington Street in Derby, opened; it was intended to be a middle-class girls’ school. Previously, it had been known as Mrs Coates’ School, a private enterprise, and lessons there were described as being broad by contemporary standards. The new school was owned by the Church Day Schools Company and the Bishop of Derby was the school’s president – academic studies were closely linked with religion.

The headmistress Miss Tuke, described as ‘austere-looking’, had been educated at Cheltenham Ladies’ College and Somerville Hall, Oxford. The thirty founder pupils were the ‘daughters of gentlemen and members of the professions such as lawyers, doctors and clergymen, and some daughters of tradespeople’. Two girls that attended were Annie and Lily Corney who lived with their parents Joseph and Elizabeth (née Tunaley) at their drapers shop at 5 Tenant Street. The Derby High School was the only girls’ school in Derby in the nineteenth century where pupils could sit for public examinations leading to a university education, a recent improvement for the female movement. (Derby Telegraph Bygones)

JANUARY 21ST

1869: On this day, the Lent school term began at Normanton Road School in Derby. The Revd Phillip R. Price MA informed Derby Mercury readers that children would be educated in English, French, classics and mathematics. Boarders were charged at 45 guineas a year, weekly boarders 40 guineas, day boarders 20 guineas, and day scholars 10 guineas. It boasted a special preparatory class for public schools, and a new schoolroom, dormitory and playground had also recently been added to the schoolhouse. Between 1863 and 1865, Revd Price had been the French teacher at Derby School. The first mention of him and the Normanton Road School appeared in 1868 in the Derby Mercury. In 1874, Mr W.J. Cox was listed as principal of the Normanton Road School, and in 1878 Cox described himself as ‘late’ principal of Normanton Road School in his advertisement in the Derby Mercury for children to attend his school at Tutbury in Staffordshire.

The area of New Normanton began life in the nineteenth century and was almost exclusively artisan and ‘petit bourgeois’ in those days and was a good place for rising workers to educate their children. (Derby Mercury; Derby School and Tacchella Benjamin (ed.), The Derby School Register, 1570-1901, 2010)

JANUARY 22ND

1901: On this day, Queen Victoria died, aged eighty-one, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. She had been ill for a few days before her death – a court circular had commented that she had ‘not lately been in her usual health and is unable for the present to make her customary drive’. On the Saturday the Derby Telegraph’s headline was ‘Illness of the Queen’, but by Monday it had changed to ‘The Queen Dying’. On Tuesday, the newspaper ran bulletins from the doctors, the 8 a.m. edition reading, ‘The Queen’s condition assumes a more serious aspect’, followed by, ‘Queen sleeping at noon and by 4 p.m. she was “sinking slowly”.’

The first notification of her death was printed in the 7.30 p.m. edition, where it was reported that the ‘Queen just passed away surrounded by her children’. Derby Mayor, Councillor Edgar Horne addressed the town’s message of condolence to the Home Secretary at Osborne House. The funeral took place on February 2nd, which was declared a national day of mourning. At the same time, people representative of all of Derby went in procession from the Guildhall for a service at All Saints’ Church. As a mark of respect, no newspaper, including the Derby Telegraph, was published on that day. (Derby Telegraph)

JANUARY 23RD

1828: On this day, the Derby Mercury contained an advert by Messrs Drewry and Son for their supply of ‘inestimable medicine’ – ‘Woolrich’s Improved Diuretic Horse Balls’. The horse balls had been in use for over forty years and were confidently recommended as a safe and infallible remedy for swollen legs, greasly heels, the gravel, stranguary, dropsy, inflammation of the eyes, eruptions of the skin, impurities of the blood, and all diseases arising from obstructed perspiration. The balls, it was claimed, were invaluable to people such as noblemen, gentlemen, commercial travellers, coach proprietors, dealers in horses, innkeepers, and farmers, and stated that the ingredients could not be found in any other preparation. They were prepared by T. Woolrich, a chemist from Uttoxeter, and could be purchased in Derby from Messrs Drewry at the Derby Mercury offices.

Also advertised by Drewry were ‘Blaines Celebrated Powders for Distemper in Dogs’, and also the distemper balls for dogs in the more advanced stages of the condition. Similarly to Woolrich’s remedy for horses, Blaines claimed to have operated for over thirty years. The price for both powder and balls was 1s 6d each. (Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 24TH

1853: On this day, at the Mechanics Institute, Derby, the Revd John Griffith of Darley delivered a lecture on the Pastoral and Lyric Poetry of Greece. The lecture began at 8 p.m., front seats were 6d, back seats 3d. Members of the Institute were allowed half-price entry to the front seats and free entry to the back seats.

The Derby Mechanics Institute was founded in 1825, by Joseph Strutt, part of the cotton-spinning Strutt family who held collections of antiquaries, including an Egyptian mummy, and paintings of ordinary people going about their work. The Strutts were instrumental in the Institute’s development and success, along with the Duke of Devonshire. The Strutts believed in the general education of the lower classes, although the popular lectures were mainly aimed at the middle classes, as they were angled toward the scientific or artistic subjects. In the first address made at the Institute by Revd Edward Higginson, its first secretary, he stressed that ‘by improving the workers lot, their usefulness, comfort and happiness will be greatly increased’. (Derby Mercury; Chadwick, A.F., The Derby Mechanics’ Institute 1825–1880, The Vocational Aspect of Education, volume 27, issue 68, 1975)

JANUARY 25TH

1827: On this day, the price and Assize of Bread was set by John Crompton, Mayor of the Borough, and was to be in force for seven days, when it would then be reassessed. The peck loaf wheaten was to weigh 17lb 6oz and was to be sold for 3s 2d; the household wheaten was to weigh the same but could be sold for 2s 9d; the half peck loaf wheaten was to weigh 8lb 11oz and sold for 1s 7d; the household half peck was to be the same weight but sold for 1s 4½d; the quarten loaf wheaten was to weigh 4lb 5oz 8dr(s) and sold at 9½d; the household, was to weigh the same but be sold for 8¼d; the half quarten wheaten loaf was to weigh 2lb 2oz 12dr(s) and sold for 4¾d; and the household half quarten wheaten was to weigh the same but sold for 4¼d. Under the heading ‘The Assize Bread’, weights were much lighter, starting with the white penny loaf at 5oz 7dr(s) up to the two penny household wheaten at 1lb 13dr(s). White bread was to be marked with a large ‘W’, wheaten bread ‘WH’ and household ‘H’, and bakers had to imprint their initials onto all loaves. (Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 26TH

1938: On this day, Felicidad Montisino Salem, the last of the Basque refugee children who had been evacuated to Burnaston House, Derby, began her long return journey home. She travelled to London with her teacher, Señorita Maria Teresa Gonzalez, to join other children on their way back to Spain. Most of the evacuees came from the Bilbao region and had to leave the area when it was under threat from Franco’s army, but on June 18th 1937 Bilbao fell. News was initially kept from the children but they found an old newspaper reporting that Bilbao had fallen, and the fact that their parents may have been killed sent them into a panic. By the end of July, the children eventually received news from their families and arrangements were made, when it was deemed safe, for them to return home. In January 1938 the children – travelling in two groups of eighteen and twenty-one, and accompanied by the warden – left Burnaston House for St Pancras station in London, where they were joined by other evacuees to begin the arduous journey back home to Spain. Some girls who had been evacuated to Burnaston House were transferred on January 15th to Evington Hall in Leicester. (Derby Evening Telegraph)

JANUARY 27TH

1945: On this day, the Soviet Red Army liberated Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. This day is now designated Holocaust Day in the United Kingdom to remember the millions of Jews who were killed by the German Nazis during the Second World War; the largest programme of organised murder in Europe within living memory. A Derby resident who claimed to be the first medic to enter Belsen death camp, which was liberated by British troops, told how he witnessed horrific sights that still haunted him in his eighties.

Derby held its own annual Derby City Holocaust Memorial Day Working Party, however, in 2012 the event was moved to January 26th, as the 27th fell on a Friday. The Jewish community begin their Sabbath (Saturday) at dusk on that day, therefore, out of respect to the Jewish community, Derby kept Thursday, January 26th as Holocaust Memorial Day. Events were put on throughout the city and survivor speakers were present to tell their stories. Derby citizen Bernard Grunberg, a regular speaker, talked about the kindertransport; trains that transported himself and thousands of other Jewish children over to England before the war began. (Derby Telegraph; www.sdcvs.wordpress.com)

JANUARY 28TH

1839: On this day, an important Chartist meeting was held on Chester Green in Derby. The main speaker was George Julian Harney, an activist in Chartism who had been touring the country with William Benbow to encourage the working-class delegates to adopt Convention. Harney was a confident speaker, and won support and laughter when he compared the aristocracy and elite to bed bugs:

If bugs molest me as in bed I lie, Shall I desert my bed for them? Not I, I will arise and every bug destroy, Now make my bed and all its sweets enjoy.

Expecting a disturbance, thirty-nine special constables were drafted in for the occasion; however, none transpired. Harney told the crowd: ‘Again I say, we are for peace, but we must have justice … we must have our rights speedily; peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must.’

Chartism was a working-class movement following the principles of the People’s Charter of 1838 wanting a vote for every man over twenty-one, a secret ballot, no property qualification for MP’s, payment for MP’s, constituencies of equal size, and annual elections for Parliament. (www.grahamstevenson.me.uk; Davison, A.W., Derby: Its Rise and Progress, Ulan Press, 2011)

JANUARY 29TH

1853: On this day, William Sperry violently attacked Mrs Mary Barber in Canal Street. At 9 p.m., Mary had gone to the Pearson’s Railway Tavern in Canal Street to buy three penny’s worth of rum to put in her husband’s gruel. Whilst she was being served by the landlady, Sperry, dressed in a light coat and wearing a Billy-cock hat, came out of the Tap Room and asked the landlady a question before going out the door. A few minutes later, Mary left the tavern to return home, but as she turned into the arched entry towards her house she was knocked down from behind. She fell on her hands and knees and then felt someone on her back, hitting her on the back of the head. She shouted out, ‘Oh you wretch Sperry you’ve killed me!’ She then turned her head and saw him run off. Mrs Gill, who was at a nearby gardeners shop, came out and saw the man get up and run away, and Samuel Brown, who had come out of the tavern, helped Mary up and took her back inside; she was bleeding from wounds on her head and fingers. Several witnesses described seeing a man similar to Sperry, wearing the same clothing that he had been wearing, run off. The judge found him guilty of the ‘cowardly and diabolical assault’. (Derby Mercury)

JANUARY 30TH

1649: On this day, King Charles I of England was beheaded at Whitehall in London. Surrounded by rows of soldiers, his last speech could only be heard by those closest. He had put on extra warm clothing – so that the crowd did not mistake his shivers for fear – lay his head on the block, said a prayer and waited for his fate.

During Charles I’s reign, the people of Derby had firmly resisted paying the King’s unauthorised taxes; in September 1626 the Commissioners for Derby reported to the council that in some administrative areas, known as hundreds, every man refused to pay, whereas others agreed to pay, but only through Parliament. Desperate for finances, Charles I revived a tax on ship money to cover all inland and maritime counties. Derby was rated at £120 and it was the Sheriff Sir John Gell’s job to impose the tax; however, he was met with resistance from Derby. He claimed it was setting a bad example as taxes were not paid, giving people a neagative impression of Derby people, and that instead of the £120, Derby was ‘very well able to bear £250 or £300’, there being ‘many very rich men in the town.’ Subsequently, the levy was raised to £175, but several of the townspeople still refused to pay. (Davison, A.W., Derby: Its Rise and Progress, Ulan Press, 2011; www.wikipedia.org.uk)

JANUARY 31ST

1972: On this day, Mr Walter Johnson, MP for Derby South, raised a question in Parliament concerning the shares owned by the workers of Rolls-Royce, after the company had gone into liquidation. Many men had invested not only their lives by working for the company but also, on the recommendations of their supervisors, their life savings; its collapse had resulted in their financial hardship. Tragic cases were reported to MPs and Johnson received 230 letters on that subject alone by those affected. Johnson ended his address with:

I ask the Minister, in all seriousness, to reconsider the answer which he previously gave to me and to look again at the problem in the interests of everyone concerned. This is not a political or party issue. We are trying to get justice for people who have done a jolly good job in the service of the nation. In that spirit, I ask the Minister to respond to my plea.

Over the following months, the issue was referred to many times in Parliament, and the minister dealing with the issue advised Johnson ‘That no special treatment can be afforded to the holders of Rolls-Royce Ltd workers’ shares.’ (House of Commons Hansard Debates, www.parliament.uk)

FEBRUARY 1ST

1667: On this day, an indenture was drawn up between the mayor and burgesses of Derby and ten parishioners belonging to the parish of St Alkmund. It referred to a parcel of land, containing 4 acres, 2 roods and 36½ perches, situated in High Grave Field, Little Chester. It had been given to the parish of St Alkmund for the use of the poor, in lieu of other lands held by them for the same purpose, which were dispersed amongst the lands of the mayor and burgesses; they in turn would use those lands. The field was rented out for £16 a year and paid to the vestry clerk, who entered it into the overseer’s account book. The parish poor had long been a problem for officials, but the introduction of the Elizabethan Poor Law (which came into effect in 1601 and stayed in place until 1834) attempted to address the issue. Each parish became responsible for supporting the justifiably poor in their own communities, and the wealthier were taxed more in order to pay to provide the needy with basic shelter, food and clothing. However, this caused problems when some communities were more generous than others and paupers began to migrate, so to combat this the Poor Law Relief Act was passed in 1662. (White’s Derbyshire 1857 Directory)

FEBRUARY 2ND

1592: On this day, the parish register at St Alkmunds Church, Derby, read: ‘Incipit pestis pestifera obit mortem Margeria Cotes Ffeb 2, prima ex peste