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England Derby (city)

Guide to Derby (city) history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



HISTORY
The history of Derby is somewhat obscured by the lack of written records, many of which have been destroyed. However, it started most probably as the Roman camp of 'Derventio' that was probably at Little Chester/Chester Green, the site of the old Roman fort. Later the town was one of the 'Five Boroughs' (fortified towns) of the Danelaw, until it was captured by Lady Aethelflaed of Mercia in July 917, subsequent to which the town was annexed into the Kingdom of Mercia.

The name was probably of Anglo-Saxon origin, Djúra-bý, recorded in Anglo-Saxon as Deoraby "Village of the Deer". This popular belief is asserted by historian Tim Lambert who states, "The name Derby is derived from the Danish words deor by meaning deer settlement."

Modern research into the history and archaeology of Derby suggests that the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons probably co-existed in this central part of England, occupying two areas of land surrounded by water.

IN the middle ages, Bonnie Prince Charlie of Scotland set up camp at Derby on 4 December 1745, whilst on his way south to seize the British crown. The prince called at The George Inn on Irongate, where the Duke of Devonshire had set up his headquarters, and demanded billets for his 9,000 troops. He abandoned his invasion at Swarkestone Bridge on the River Trent just a few miles south of Derby. As a testament to his belief in his cause, the prince – who on the march from Scotland had walked at the front of the column – made the return journey on horseback at the rear of the bedraggled and tired army.

While Lancashire and Yorkshire lay claim to the major efforts in spinning and weaving, Derby and Derbyshire were centers of Britain's Industrial Revolution. The first cotton spinning mill opened in Nottingham in 1770 and was driven by horses. In 1771 Richard Arkwright, Samuel Need and Jedediah Strutt built the world's first commercially successful water-powered cotton spinning mill at Cromford, Derbyshire, developing a form of power that was to be a catalyst for the Industrial Revolution.

The beginning of the next century saw Derby emerging as an engineering centre with manufacturers such as James Fox, who exported machine tools to Russia. In 1840, the North Midland Railway set up its works in Derby and, when it merged with the Midland Counties Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway, to form the Midland Railway, Derby became its headquarters.

Derby has remained a major center for both light and heavy engineering works in the UK until today.

LOCATION
Derby is located in central England, and is situated just south of the Derbyshire uplands Peak District region.

It was not until the Bronze Age that real signs of agriculture and settlement are found in the county. In the moors of the Peak District signs of clearance, arable fields and hut circles were discovered after archaeological investigation. However today the area adjacent, and particularly to the south, of Derby city is now a fertile, important, agricultural area of Britain.

RELIGION
Derby never had any outstanding history of religious activity. The area has been very accepting of different religious beliefs, and in 1750 the Moravian Church established a settlement here, one of only three remaining in the country. This was on the edge of the old village and separate from it. The buildings are Georgian red brick and two of them, the Manse (1822) and the Chapel (1751–1752) are grade II listed buildings.

In the twenty first century, only half the people in Derby class themselves as Christians, according to statistics released from last year's national census – a drop of about 14% compared to a decade ago.

The Muslim population has increased dramatically with the move to the UK of many persons whose previous citizenship was from Pakistan and Bangladesh. The religious make up of Derby as of 2013 is 52.7% Christian, 27.2% No religion, 7.6% Muslim, 3.6% Sikh, 0.9% Hindu, 0.3% Buddhist.

INDUSTRY
In the twentieth century, a major industrial boom began in Derby when Rolls-Royce opened a car and aircraft factory in the town in 1907. In 1923, the Midland Railway became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway with headquarters in London. However, Derby remained a major rail manufacturing center, second only to Crewe and Wolverton. Moreover, it remained a design and development center and in the 'thirties, on the direction of Lord Stamp, the LMS Scientific Research Laboratory was opened on London Road.

In December 1947 the Locomotive Works unveiled Britain's first mainline passenger diesel-electric locomotive. In 1964 the British Rail Research Division opened to study all aspects of railway engineering from first principles. Its first success was in drastically improving the reliability and speed of goods trains, work which led to the development of the Advanced Passenger Train.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has its headquarters in The Wharf, a facility in Derby. RAIB has one of its two operational centers in Derby.

Despite being one of the areas of Britain furthest from the sea, Derby holds a special place in the history of marine safety – it was as MP for Derby that Samuel Plimsoll introduced his bills for a 'Plimsoll line' (and other marine safety measures). Previous to this measure, ships were routinely overloaded and many were lost at sea. The Plimsoll line sets the maximum loading level for ships, and ensures that vessels cannot be overloaded causing loss of vessels and life in storms.

CIVIL REGISTRATION
Birth, marriages and deaths records have been kept by government since July 1837 to the present day. Prior to that, local parishes of the Church of England, and local branches of other faiths were the only repositories of this information. There are several locations for BMD records for Derby. These follow:


 * Archives.com.for Derby


 * BMD Index for Derby


 * Derby City Council records


 * Findmypast Derby records

CENSUS RECORDS
Census records for Nottingham can be found using the following links:


 * UK census on line, Derby


 * genuki Derby


 * Family search, Derbyshire

PROBATE RECORDS
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by several locations for Derby. Please follow the links below:


 * Genuki Derby Probate Records


 * Derbyshire Probate Records


 * Familysearch.org Derby Probate Records

CEMETERIES AND GRAVES
The links to information on cemeteries for Derby follow:


 * Derby City Council


 * Nottingham Road cemetery


 * Interment.net Derbyshire


 * Derbyshire Gov Records

GENEALOGY SOCIETIES AND GENEALOGY

 * Derbyshire Family History Society


 * Genuki Derbyshire


 * Findmypast Derbyshire


 * Familysearch Derbyshire genealogy