Derbyshire, England Genealogy



Derbyshire is an inland county in central England.

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"DERBYSHIRE, or Derby, a midland and almost central county in England; nearly alike distant from the eastern and the western seas, and from Scotland and the English channel. It is bounded on the NW, by Cheshire; on the N and NE, by Yorkshire; on the E, by Notts; on the SE, by Leicestershire; on the S, by Warwickshire and Staffordshire; on the W, by Staffordshire and Cheshire. Its length south-south-eastward, is 52 miles; its greatest breadth, 30 miles...

"Derbyshire contains 132 parishes, parts of 6 others, and 6 extra-parochial tracts; and is divided into the borough of Derby, and the hundreds of High Peak, Wirksworth, Scarsdale, Appletree, Morleston and Lit-church, and Repton and Gresley...

"The county is governed by a lord-lieutenant, a high sheriff, about 90 deputy-lieutenants, and about 200 magistrates; is in the midland military district and judicial circuit; and constitutes an archdeaconry in the diocese of Lichfield. The assizes and the quarter sessions are held at Derby...

"The places of worship in the county proper, in 1851, were 250 of the Church of England, 45 of Independents, 39 of Baptists, 6 of Quakers, 11 of Unitarians, 1 of Moravians, 222 of Wesleyan Methodists, 10 of New Connexion Methodists, 132 of Primitive Methodists, 6 of the Wesleyan Association, 34 of Wesleyan Reformers, 2 of Lady Huntingdon's Connexion, 2 of the New Church, 2 of isolated congregations, 6 of Latter Day Saints, and 8 of Roman Catholics...

"Population in 1801 was 161,567; in 1821, 213,651; in 1841, 272,202; and in 1861, 339,327..."

The above extract is from: John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72). To see the full account, go to Vision of Britain.

Research Tools
For more help with Derbyshire ancestry, visit one of these websites:


 * Derbyshire Family History Society.

Civil Districts
When civil (government) registration of births, marriages and deaths began in 1837, Derbyshire was divided into registration districts, each including several parishes. For a list of districts and the parishes they include, click here.

Read more about England Civil Registration.

Parishes
See a list of parishes of Derbyshire with links to articles.

Probate Jurisdictions
Before 1858, every town and parish in Derbyshire was under the probate jurisdiction of several ecclesiastical courts. To read more about probate records and see a list of Derbyshire towns and parishes and the probate courts that had jurisdiction over them, go to Derbyshire Probate Records.