[pp. 177-188]

THE state of Derby in early times has been already noticed:^[1] the want of records prevents us from enumerating many of the interesting events, which must have happened during the lapse of the several succeeding centuries; but a short sketch shall be given of those which must have been recorded^[2] and which have taken place in the town since the year 1513.

" In the year 1514, Sir William Milnes, the judge, was obliged to keep his assize and county court at the Market-cross.

"In 1534, two gallows were erected for hanging prisoners ; and in 1535, the dissolution of the abbies in the neighbourhood commenced.

"In 1545, Mr. Griffin was at St. Peter's church, and would have taken Mr. George Curson away, being a ward. The town bell was rung, and resistance made."

In 1554, Sir John Marriott, vicar of St. Alkmund, hung himself by one of the bell-ropes in the belfry.

"In 1555, Joan Waste was burnt as a heretic in Windmill-pit, near the road leading to Burton." This woman, who was poor and blind, been in the habit of attending the service of the church during the reign of Edward VI. when the protestant doctrines were taught ; and when Mary came to the throne; she became the object of persecution to the ministers of that furious bigot, because of her disbelief the doctrine of transubstantiation, She was accused of heresy before the bishop of the diocese, and commanded to renounce her opinions but persisting in her error, she was committed to the custody of the bailiffs, who took care of her till the writ arrived, when she suffered as a martyr to the protestant faith.

"In the year 1586, the plague carried away many of the inhabitants of St. Peter's parish.

" In 1587, a great flood broke down. St. Mary's-bridge and carried away the mills, situated at the bottom of St. Michael's-lane.

" In 1588, there was a great affray between Mr. Vernon and Mr. Langford's men, who were parted by the burgesses, and the inhabitants collected by the ringing of the town bell."

In 1595.— Sir Thomas White gave £400 for the use of the town.

In 1601.—A woman burnt in Windmill-pit, for poisoning her husband.

" In the year 1603, the burgesses began to break open the commons, which had been inclosed. The year ensuing they continued the practice, and the justices of peace were sent for to decide the matter; several were indicted and suffered imprisonment." It is thought that the land, which lies between St. Alkmund's and Darley, on the banks of the Derwent, was the common in dispute.

" 1608, during the reign of James I. the witches of Bakewell were executed.

" In 1610, a violent quarrel took place between the electioneering parties of Sir Philip Stanhope and Sir George Gresley ; in consequence of which, the assizes for that year were held at Ashbourne." In the same year three prisoners were drowned in the gaol, by a sudden rise in the brook.

1634..—A great snow, in which four persons perished between Chaddesden and Derby.

" In 1635, King Charles I. visited Derby, on his return from Ripton in Yorkshire, and slept at the great house in the Market-place. The corporation presented the Duke of Newcastle, by whom he was attended, with a fat ox, a calf, six fat sheep, and a purse of gold, to enable the king to keep hospitality in the town. They also presented the Elector Palatine with twenty broad pieces.

"In the year 1636, the spring was uncommonly forward; and the plague again made its appearance in the town.

" In August 1643, king Charles I. marched through Derby, and erected his standard at Nottingham." On this occasion he borrowed £300 of the corporation, and all the small arms they could procure, which he promised to return at the end of the war; but this promise he was never able to fulfil." In the November following, Sir John Gell took possession of the town, and garrisoned it for the parliament ; keeping the main-guard at the Town-hall.— About the end of the summer of 1645, the town was disgarrisoned and the soldiers disbanded. The assizes were held this year in Friar's-close, owing to the plague raging in the town.

" In the year 1652, during the Commonwealth, the ceremony of marriage was performed by the justices of the peace.

" In 1659, an insurrection was raised against Richard, son to Oliver Cromwell: who, a short time after, resigned the Protectorship.

" 1660.—The present mace was made; before this time the mayor had two old ones, formerly used by the bailiffs.

" In 1661 the Derwent was dried up, and in many places the water was so shallow, that people might walk over its bed dry-shod. The hall was also regulated this year; and Sir Simon Degge chosen recorder."

" In 1659, an insurrection was raised against Richard, son to Oliver Cromwell: who, a short time after, resigned the Protectorship.

" 1662.—A terrible hurricane blew up trees, broke down the pinnacle of St. Werburgh's, untiled the Town-hall, and many houses in the Market Place, Full-street, and the South of All Saints; but on the North not a tile, nor scarcely a straw was moved. A woman drowned herself at St. James's-bridge : a young child in her arms, was carried down the stream to a sand-bed, where, recovering breath, it cried, was taken up, and saved.

1665.—Derby was again visited with the plague, at the same time in which London fell under that severe calamity. The town was forsaken; the farmers declined the Market-place; and grass grew upon the spot where the supports of life had been sold. To prevent a famine, the inhabitants erected at the top of Nun's-green, a little way out of the town, what bore the name of Headless-cross, consisting of about four quadrangular steps, covered in the centre with one large stone; the whole near five feet high. Hither the market-people, having their mouths primed with tobacco as a preservative, brought their provisions; taking care, at the same time, to stand at a distance from their property, and at a greater from the town's-people, with whom they were to traffic. The buyer was not suffered to touch any of the articles before purchase; but when the agreement was made he took the goods, and deposited the money in a vessel filled with vinegar, set for that purpose. A confidence, raised by necessity, took place between the buyer and seller, which never existed before or since; the first could not examine the value of his purchase, nor the-second that of his money. It was observed, that this dreadful affliction never entered the premises of a tobacconist; tanner, a soap-boiler; or a-shoe-maker.

In 1673, there was a great flood upon Markeaton brook, which carried away the hay, filled the cellars of houses at the upper-end of Rotten-row, and broke down three of the then ten bridges.

1674, on the 18th of February, the funeral of Christiana, Countess of Devonshire, was solemnised in great state. The Earl of Aylesbury with his son, and many other honorable persons and gentlemen, and four heralds attended at the solemnity. Dr. Frampton preached a funeral sermon from Prov. xiv, 1. In the afternoon a funeral oration was made by Mr. Nealer from ii. Samuel chap iii, 38, in commemoration of Colonel Charles Cavendish, who was slain in the intestine wars about Newark, in the year 1643, whose bones were brought at the same time, and like-wise laid up in All-hallows church. One hundred pounds were given as a dole to the poor of Derby.

" In the year 1680, the association of the inhabitants to preserve their rights against the encroachments of the crown was burnt ; the town charter given up, and the present one procured, at the expence of nearly four hundred pounds.

" On the twenty-first of November, 1688, the Earl of Devonshire came to Derby with a retinue of five hundred men. He invited many gentlemen to dinner, and openly declared his sentiments in favor of the Prince of Orange, who had just landed in England. After reading to the mayor, and the commonalty, the declaration of the prince, he delivered another made by himself, and the nobility and gentry in concert with him; declaring,—'that they would, to their utmost, defend the protestant religion, the laws of the kingdom, and the rights and liberties of the subject.' But through fear, the inhabitants did not immediately declare themselves the supporters of the Prince; for a detachment of his troops entering the town a little time after, the mayor durst not billet them: a spirited constable, however, of the name of Cook, sent them into quarters.

" On November 5, 1698, a great flood caused a great part of St. Werburgh's church to fall.^[3]

[One story has been omitted]

In the year 1715 frequent riots were raised in favor of the house of Stuart. There were several persons in the town, who wished for the re-establishment of the Pretender on the throne of England. Among the Jacobites three of the established clergymen of the town ranked themselves: Sturges of All-saints prayed publickly for "King James"; but after a moment's reflection, said, "I mean king George." The congregation became tumultuous; "the military gentlemen drew their swords, and ordered him out of the pulpit, into which he never returned. He pleaded a "slip of the tongue" but had he been as conversant in his New Testament as in politicks, he might have pleaded as an excuse the commandment, "to pray for our enemies".

1735.— The steeple of All-saints church was within a few minutes of being consumed by fire. This was occasioned by a plumber, who, going to close some leaks in the leaden roof, made a fire on the top of the steeple upon a hearth of loose bricks, which he carelessly left unextinguished. Some days elapsed before smoak was observed issuing from the battlements: and it was some time before any one, would venture upon the on the dangerous, but necessary business of exploring it. At last, however, this was done: the aspect was, dreadful; the roof was melted, the sleepers burnt, the main beam consumed to the very edge of the wall which supported it.—Thus a masterpiece of elegant workmanship was snatched from the flames in the moment of destruction.

[pp. 188-200]

But the most remarkable event that happened in Derby within the last century, is the entry of the Pretender, in the year 1745.

James, son of James II, after his two unsuccessful attempts to reinstate himself on the throne of his ancestors in the years 1708 and 1715, was compelled to take an assylum at Rome; where Pope Clement VII. granted him an annuity of about £3000. This fugitive prince, during his residence at Rome, publicly professed the popish religion, and was treated with every external appearance of royalty.—His eldest son was styled Prince of Wales, and treated as the presumptive heir of a crown ; and the younger son retained the imaginary title of the Duke of York.

Charles Edward, which was the name of the elder son, and the second who bore the name of Pretender, was now in the twenty fifth year of his age. His person was all, genteel and graceful; his manners free, generous, affable, and engaging; his spirit brave, active, and enterprising. Since his disappointment of the intended invasion of England in 1744, the young adventurer was wholly intent on raising an insurrection in that country. The ambitious hopes of ascending a throne perpetually fired his heart; this was his principal mediation, and this he was determined to attempt. ...

The inhabitants of Derby, aware of the dangers which threatened them, had done all in their power, to provide for their own safety. A subscription was made by the town and country gentlemen: which had enabled them to raise near six hundred men ; which they added to the one hundred and fifty levied and maintained at the sole expence of the Duke of Devonshire. The confidence which they placed in this small corps, together with the expectation that the Duke of Cumberland would come to an engagement with the rebels the next day, put the town's people in high spirits. But when they were informed, that a division of the Pretender's army had arrived at Ashbourne, the greatest terror and confusion prevailed.—About ten o'clock the night preceding the entry of the Chevalier, the drums beat to arms, and the soldiers, on whom they had a few hours before rested their hopes, marched by torch-light to Nottingham, with the Duke of Devonshire at their head. Several of the principal inhabitants of the town, after having conveyed away or secreted their most valuable effects, departed themselves with their families: nothing but distraction appeared in every countenance, while inevitable destruction seemed at their very doors.

About noon the following day, (the fourth of December) the Pretender's vanguard entered the town; and, after seizing a valuable horse, belonging to a respectable inhabitant, they proceeded to the George Inn, and demanded billets for nine thousand men. They then enquired for the magistrates, but upon their being informed they had fled, they seemed satisfied: however, they afterwards found an alderman, whose lameness had prevented his flight, and seizing upon him, he was obliged to proclaim the Prince. To prevent any unfavorable impression being made on the minds of the army, the bells were rung, and several bonfires were kindled. About two o'clock in the afternoon, Lord Balmarino arrived, accompanied by thirty, of the life-guards. These composed the flower of the army, and being dressed in the same uniform, which was blue, with scarlet waistcoats trimmed with gold lace, made a fine appearance. They were drawn up in the market-place, where they continued till three when Lord Elcho arrived with one hundred and fifty men; the remainder of the guards: these, upon the whole, were fine figures, but were very much jaded.

Soon after, the main body of the Pretender's entered the town in tolerable order, marching six or eight a-breast; carrying eight white standards with red crosses. This part of the army, composed of all ages and sizes, was clad in almost every kind of dress, and marked with fatigue and dirt. Their music was chiefly the bagpipe, which it is well known has a surprising effect on the martial spirit of the hardy Highlander. Orders were immediately issued to proclaim the Prince, which was done by the common cryer. At dusk the young Chevalier arrived: he entered the town on foot, accompanied by a part of his guards. Although fatigue had made some impressions upon him, he yet was handsome: He was dressed in a green bonnet laced with gold, a white bob wig, the fashion of the day, a Highland plaid, and a broad sword. He was surrounded by a large body of men, who conducted him to Lord Exeter's, now N. Edwards's, in the Full-street, where he took up his quarters. The Dukes of Athol and Perth, Lord Balmarino, Lord George Murray, Lord Gordon of Glenbucket, Lord Nairn, and, other persons of distinction, with their; chief and general officers, took possession of the best houses in the town. Many of the inhabitants had forty, and some fifty men each, quartered upon them, and some gentlemen's houses nearly a hundred.

On their arrival at Derby, the rebel chiefs held a council of war; but the only resolution they appear to have formed, was that of levying money on the inhabitants. Having obtained a list of those persons, who had subscribed for the support of the lawful government, they obliged them to pay an equal sum towards the support of the Pretender. They demanded the produce of the land-tax, excise, and post-office; the latter was refused them; but from the two former, added to the contribution, they actually procured a sum little short of ;pound;3,000. Articles of dress were everywhere applied for, for they were very much wanted, as many of the misguided men, were but half covered; some they procured with money, but when that was wanting, they did not hesitate to take them without payment. The conduct of the inhabitants towards their unwelcome visitors, was humble and obliging, and every care was taken to prevent insult and depredation: but and efforts to attain this end were ineffectual. On the second day, they seized on all kinds of property, and behaved in so outrageous a manner, that many of the more respectable inhabitants, thought it prudent to conceal themselves. During their stay they beat up for volunteers, at five shillings advance, and five guineas, which was to be on their arrival in London: but they were joined by only three unprincipled and idle fellows:—Cook, a travelling journeyman blacksmith ; Edward Hewit, a butcher; and James Sparks, a stocking-maker: men of degraded lives and sullied characters.

On the evening of the second day; instead of marching forwards, as was expected, another council of war was privately held at the headquarters. Their situation by this time appeared critical: and many of the chiefs assumed a bold and commanding tone: so warm at last did their debates grow, that they were overheard by Alderman Eaton, who constantly attended to the Duke of Perth, and was waiting for him near the Prince's lodging. It was urged by the chiefs, that ;—" they had followed their Prince with alacrity; that their love for his cause, was equal to the hazard they ran. That the French had not fulfilled their engagements in sending the necessary supplies, nor in making a diversion in the West to draw the military attention. That the English promises were still more delusive; for they had been given to understand, as soon as the Prince's standard should be erected in England, the majority would run with eagerness to join it; instead of which, they had raised only one: slender regiment their long march, which barely supplied their travelling losses. That the English were extremely loyal to the House of Stuart, when warmed by a good fire and good liquor; but the warmth of their fire, their liquor, and their loyalty, evaporated together. That they were then in the centre of an enemy's country, with a handful of men: to retreat was dangerous; but to proceed must be certain destruction."

The situation of the Pretender at this time was most critical: the Duke of Cumberland had, encamped his army on Meriden-common, near Coventry; while Marshal Wade was advancing by rapid marches from the town of Newcastle. These dispositions of the royal forces, threw the rebels into the greatest perplexity, as they found themselves enclosed by two considerable armies; and the nearest of them under the command of a young, intrepid, and well-esteemed General. Their fear naturally bred confusion, and their danger created distrust. Their councils were agitated with all the disorder and passion, attendant on men in their dangerous situation, and desperate circumstances. Some were for advancing; and giving the Duke battle: but the majority were for returning to Scotland; and joining the forces of Lord John Drummond, before they were cut off from all possibility of effecting their retreat.

It was therefore determined upon, to re-tread their steps towards Scotland: and early on Friday morning the drums beat to arms; and their bagpipes played about the town. The pass at Swarkston-bridge had been previously secured, and it was therefore expected, that they would march thither, and pursue their rout towards London. But about seven o'clock, they left the town, and took the road to Ashbourne. In their retreat the Prince rode a black horse, said to have been Colonel Gardiner's, slain at Preston-Pans. Their hussars rode into the adjacent country, and plundered the inhabitants of horses, and every other kind of valuable property. Two of the rebels went to Clifton near Ashbourne, and demanded a horse, which being refused, they: shot the person to whom it longed. They likewise in the same violent manner, took away the life of the inn-keeper at Hanging Bridge, between Ashbourne and Leek.

When the rebels had quitted Derby, the magistrates ordered a return of their number in every house to be made, during the two nights of their stay; when it appeared that there were,

First night........7,098,
Second night.......7,1498.^[4]

[The account continues with what happened after their abandonment of Derby, the fatal battle at Culloden, Bonnie Prince Charlie's escape to France, his death in 1788 and that of his younger brother in 1807.]

1786. The King of Denmark arrived at the George.

[pp. 209-232]

Among the eminent men, which Derby has produced, DR. THOMAS LINACRE or LINAGER, claims the first place as to priority of time.— He was born at Derby about 1460, and received the rudiments of his education at the King's School at Canterbury. He went from there to All-souls College, Oxford, where he pursued his studies, particularly physic, with great attention; and soon became a fellow. After completing his academical studies, he travelled for his improvement, and spent a considerable part of his life in Italy; where he learned Greek, and practised physic with remarkable success. He was much noticed on the continent, for his learning and general knowledge ; and was pronounced by the Duke of Tuscany, who shewed him many favors, the politest scholar of his age. On his return to England, he took his doctor's degree, and was made professor of physic at Oxford. After that he took up his abode in London, and became first physician to Henry VII. who appointed him preceptor to Prince Arthur : —he also was made physician to Henry VIII, Prince Edward, and the Princess Mary. He founded two medical lectures at Oxford, and one at Cambridge: but that which most effectually immortalized his name among the faculty; is his being the founder of the College of Physicians in London. Grieved at the wretched state of physic in England, he applied to cardinal Wolsey, and obtained a patent by which the physicians of London were incorporated ; and by this means prevented illiterate and ignorant quacks, to practise the art of healing, He erected the edifice on the scite of his own building; in Knight-Rider-Street, which was afterwards destroyed by the great fire in 1666. Linacre was the first President of the College, and held the office as long as he lived. In 1509, he entered into orders, and obtained the Precentorship of York, which he resigned on being made Prebendary of Westminster. He died in 1524, aged 64, and was buried under a stately monument at St. Paul's. He was a man of great natural sagacity, a skilful physician, a profound grammarian, one of the best Greek and Latin scholars of his time, and intimate with Collet, Erasmus, and most of the eminent literacy characters of the age. He published : 1. A Latin translation of Proclus's Sphere, 1499; 2. The Rudiments of Grammar, for the use of Princes Mary; 3. De emanadata Structura Latini Sermonis; 4. A Translation of some of the Works of Galen. He was not forgetful of his native town, for he left an annual benefaction to Derby, which even to this day, is called Linager's Charity. Some of his descendants, or those of a part of his family, are still residents in the town, and go by the name of Linney.

JOHN FLAMSTEAD, the great astronomer, it is generally supposed, was born in Derby ; though some affirm, that the village of Denby, had the honor of giving him birth. At present it is seems impossible to ascertain which was the place of his nativity ; as the registers of the parishes of Derby, and that of Denby, have been examined, without affording any satisfactory evidence. He was born on the 19th of August, 1846^[5]; at which period, or very shortly after, his father resided in the town^[6]. He received the first part of his education, at the Free-School in St. Peter's church-yard : but was prevented by ill health from prosecuting his studies, and duly preparing himself for the University. — During his confinement, he accidentally met with an astronomical book, the perusal of which pleased him, and determined the complexion of his future life. When very young he discovered a taste for mathematical learning, and pursued it with unabated ardor to the end of his days. His first attempts in astronomy, which were calculations of the places of the planets, and of an eclipse of the sun by the Caroline tables, procured him the patronage of Mr. Emanuel Halton^[7], a mathematician of some eminence, who resided at Wingfield-manor. This gentleman very liberally supplied the young astronomer with the means of prosecuting his favourite studies, and presented him with the best books then extant, on the science. From this time, he made a very rapid progress in his attainments; and in 1669, at the age of twenty-three, he calculated some remarkable eclipses of the fixed stars, which were to happen the following year, and sent to the Royal Society. For this paper, he received the thanks of that learned body and commenced a correspondence with several of its most respectable members. Soon after this he visited London, and was introduced to the most learned mathematicians of the age: and in order to increase his knowledge, and preserve the reputation he had already acquired, he entered himself as a student of Jesus College, Cambridge. In the year 1674, passing through London, in his way to the University, he was informed by Sir Jonas Moore, that a true account of the tides would be acceptable to the king, (Charles II.) and advised him to compose a small Ephemeris for his majesty's use, as a very proper recommendation of himself to the royal favor. By this means, he was introduced to the king, and through the friendly offices of Sir Jonas, who, on every occasion, extended the fame of his industry and acquirements, he was, in the following year appointed astronomer to the king, with a salary of £100 a year. This appointment did not lessen his inclination to go into the church; for in a few months afterwards, he was ordained by the Bishop of Ely; and in the year 1684, was presented by the crown with the living of Burstow in Surry, the only Church preferment he ever received. On the 10th of August, 1675, during his residence at Greenwich, he laid the first stone of the Royal Observatory, built by king Charles II, at the solicitation of Sir Jonas Moore, the surveyor-general of the ordnance. He took possession of the observatory in 1676, as first astronomer royal, and directed his whole attention to the advancement of that science, which had been the means of raising him to the honorable station he then held; and on which his future discoveries threw so much light. Most of the instruments which this indefatigable man used, were made by himself, and his ingenious assistant Mr. Abraham Sharp ; the principal of which, were the great sextant and mural quadrant, which after his death were delivered to his heirs. After having made many important discoveries in astronomy, he died on the last day of December, 1719, aged 73, and lies buried in his own church-yard at Burstow, where, at present, no remains of any tomb or monument to his memory can be found; nor does anyone in the place know in what part of the church-yard he was buried^[8]. He was married, but left no issue. In 1725 appeared his great work, Historia Coelestis Britannica, in 3 vols. folio : —it had been prepared, and in part printed, before his death. In the Philosophical Transactions, are many of his papers and in Sir Jonas Moore's System of Mathematics is a tract by him on the Doctrine of the Sphere. Mr. Flamstead was intimately acquainted with Sir Isaac Newton, and most of the learned men of the age in which he lived ; many of whom have spoken of him in terms of the highest admiration.

THOMAS PARKER, Earl of Macclesfield, though not born in the town of Derby, yet claims our notice, as having spent the active part of his life in the place; and having there laid the foundation of those riches and honors, which, in mature life, he acquired. He was born somewhere in Staffordshire in the year 1667 ; and early in life came to live at Derby, and resided many years in Bridge-gate, practising as a common attorney. Possessing good abilities and industry, he soon came into great practice; which, raising him to wealth and consequence amongst his fellow citizens, he was chosen to fill the office of recorder. This opened a wider field for his talents. The man who is conscious of his abilities, and assisted by activity seldom stops in his progress towards excellency, or is disappointed in his expectations. Mr. Parker, soon after his being made Recorder, became a pleader at the bar, and was esteemed an eminent counsellor on the Midland circuit. His reputation was so great as a speaker, that he was denominated the silver tongued counsel, and in a short time acquired a very large fortune. So great was his interest in the town, that in 1705, he was chosen one of its representatives in Parliament, with Lord James Cavendish, son of the first Duke of Devonshire: and at the election of 1707, a similar honor was conferred upon him. Thus introduced on the great theatre of the political world, his abilities became conspicious. The House of Commons, sensible of his powers, appointed him one of the managers, of the trial of Dr. Sacheverell, in 1709, which he conducted with credit to himself, and satisfaction to the House. From this period, he advanced towards preferment with rapid strides: for before the election of 1710, he was made Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench. On this appointment he quitted Derby, and resided in the Metropolis. An offer was soon after made him, of the Chancellor's Seals: but he declined the acceptance, because his sentiments did not coincide with those of the existing ministry. But George I. entertaining the high opinion of his merit, in 1716, created him Baron Parker and Viscount Parker of Ewelme, 1718; upon which he accepted the office, of Chancellor. He was created Earl of Macclesfield in 1721 ; and continued Lord Chancellor for six years; when being accused of selling places in Chancery, he was brought to trial, found guilty, and condemned to pay a fine of £30,000, and to be deprived of the Chancellorship. The king, in erasing his name out of the council-book, is said to have dropped a tear, for the loss of his beloved minister. The last eight years of his life, were spent in retirement; after struggling with political broils, for the greatest part of his days; he died in the arms of philosophy and friendship, on the 28th of April, 1732, at the age of sixty-five. In the height of his prosperity, Lord Macclesfield was not forgetful of the place where the scene of his future greatness had opened. In 1722, twelve years after he had left Derby, he contributed one hundred guineas; and his son Lord Parker, twenty more, for the erection of the church of All-saints.

Mr. JOHN WHITEHURST, an ingenious mechanic and philosopher, like the above mentioned man, was not a native of Derby; but, having spent forty years of the prime of his life in the place, and having acquired his popularity during that residence, he deserves our notice, as one its eminent men. This worthy man, was born, in the year 1713, at Congleton in Cheshire; where, his ancestors are said to have resided upon a small estate, during the lapse of 700 years. He was brought up to his father's business, which was that of a clock and watch-maker, This gave him a taste for mechanics; which increased to such a degree, that even while yet a young man, he went over to Ireland, for the sole purpose of inspecting a curious clock to be found in that country. —:About the year 1735, he opened a shop at Derby as a clock and watch-maker; but that being a corporate town, and he not a freeman, some objections were made, as to the legality of his practising his trade. But in 1737, he set up a clock of his own workmanship in front of the Guildhall, at his own expence; in return for which, the corporation presented him with the freedom of the town. Sometime after, he made a clock, and constructed a set of chimes, for the tower of All-saints' church. In 1775, he was appointed stamper of the money-weights; for regulating the gold coin, at the mint, on which he left Derby and his occupation, and removed to London. Whilst he lived in Derbyshire, the Peak could not less than attract his attention, and furnish an ample field for his philosophic mind. The book of nature lay open before him: and he has perused its pages and examined its natural phenomena, with a patience and assuidity seldom equalled. "These appearances, " he says,^[9] "engaged his attention very early in life, to search and enquire into the various causes of them: " the fruit of his research was, "An Enquiry into the Original State and Formation of the Earth, " in one Vol. Quarto; a work by which he is advantageously known in the world of letters. It is the labor of years, bearing evident marks of reflection and minute examination ; he treads upon a new ground, advances positions unknown to former philosophy, and, to use his own language, endeavours "to derive the nature of things, from causes truly existent, and to inquire after those laws by which the creator chose to form the world; and not those on which he might have formed it, had he so pleased." This work was first published in 1788, and again, with improvements, in 1786. He also wrote Thermometrical Observations; an Account of a Machine for raising Water; Experiments upon Ignited Substances; and Attempt towards obtaining invariable Measures of Length, Capacity, and Weight, from the Measuration of Time ; a Treatise on Ventilation, particularly on Smoaky Chimneys; and some Papers in the Philosophical Transactions. He also examined the nature of garden stoves, the properties of air, and the laws of fluids. Mr. Whitehurst died on the 18th of February, 1788, at the age of seventy-five, in Bolt-Court, London, in the very house, as Mr. Hutton remarks, where a few years before, died that great self-taught philosopher, James Ferguson. He was near six feet in height, straight, and well made; but as it appears, from an excellent likeness of him by Wright, (now in the possession of his nephew, Mr. Whitehurst of Derby), thin, and wore his own dark-grey bushy hair: he was plain in his dress, and appears to have had a contemplative countenance. Mr. Whitehurst was a Fellow of the Royal Society, before which he laid some very curious papers : he was also a member of several other Philosophical Societies; and his house was, the resort of ingenious and scientific men, of whatever nation or rank.

MR. JOSEPH WRIGHT, the late celebrated Painter, was a native of Derby: he was born on the 3d of September, 1734, and was the son of a respectable attorney in the place. A taste for mechanical employments discovered itself of his boyish years; and those hours, which were generally consumed by boys of a similar age in juvenile sports and amusements, were passed by him in the company of mechanics whose performances he frequently imitated. But very early in life, his mind seemed to have been principally occupied in the acquirement of the art of drawing; and the comparative correctness of his likenesses at this time, was a promising indication of that genius, which, in after life, was to immortalize his name. The discovery of the bent of his mind, was not lost on his parents: he was sent to London and placed under the tuition of a portrait-painter of the name of Hudson ; who, though not a person of extraordinary talents, was peculiarly fortunate, either in his mode of communicating instruction, or in the geniuses of his pupils, as he had the honour of instructing three of the most eminent painters of the age:—Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mortimer and Wright. With Mr. Hudson, young Wright continued two years : upon the termination of which he returned to Derby, where he practised in the portrait line. Not satisfied, however, with his own performances, he returned to London in 1756, and pursued his studies for fifteen months, under the direction of his former preceptor. He then came back to Derby, after having made considerable progress in the art, and executed several portraits in a superior style. About the year 1760, he produced a set of historical pictures, which deservedly rank among the earliest valuable productions of the English school: because prior to this time scarcely any paintings of consequence in the historical line, had been produced. The principal in this set, were, the Gladiator, Orrery, Air-Pump, Hermit, and Blacksmith's Forge; paintiugs, whose excellency, established his reputation as an artist on so firm a basis, that neither the jealousy nor the calumnies of his brethren in the profession, could ever overturn. The Royal Academy was established some time after the production of these pieces, but through the invidious jealousy of some of the members, Wright was not elected a R.A. This distinction, was afterwards gratuitously offered him, by the hands of their Secretary, Newton, who was deputed to visit him at Derby, and solicit his acceptance of a diploma, which he then indignantly rejected. In 1773, at a mature age, he went to Italy, to visit the precious remains of art to be found in that country. Here he resided two years, improving himself and studying the works of the greatest masters; particularly, the inimitable productions of Michael Angelo, in the Capella Sistina of the Vatican, from which he took several correct copies. During his abode in Italy, he had the good fortune to witness an extraordinary eruption of Vesuvius, which increased his passion, and very much improved his taste, for representing the superior effects of light: and his different paintings of this sublime phenomenon, are deservedly ranked as chef d' oevres in that style of colouring. His moonlights are also particularly beautiful; and his mountain and lake scenery superior to most similar productions :—for, unlike many artists who study nature within doors, he passed his days and evenings, in contemplating the beautiful and delicate hues of objects under the various circumstances, attendant upon scenes of this description in the open air. On these kind of subjects, his pencil was last employed; and his view of Ulls-water Lake, from Lyulph's Tower, may justly be considered as the finest of all his landscapes, and a production, which alone would rank him, among the most eminent artists of the English school. On his return from Italy, he settled in his native town, where he died, on the 29th of August, 1797, esteemed and lamented by all who were favored with his friendship , but the time he devoted to his professional studies, prevented the circle of acquaintance from becoming extensive. "It is pleasing to record," observes his biographer^[10], "that 'in his works, the attention is ever directed to the cause of virtue; that his early his historical pictures, consist of subjects either of rational or moral improvement; and he has succeeded admirably in arresting the gentler feelings of humanity; for what eye or heart ever remained unmoved at the sight of Maria, Sterns's Captive, or the Dead Soldier? In his works, not 'one immoral, one corrupted thought' occurs, to wound the eye of delicacy, or induce a wish, that so exquisite a pencil had not found employment on more worthy subjects."^[11]

The late celebrated DR. ERASMUS DARWIN, equally famed as a Physician and a Poet, spent the last twenty-one years of his life at Derby, and its Vicinity. He was the son of a private gentleman, of Elton, near Newark, Nottinghamshire ; where he was born on the 12th of December, 1732. He went through the usual routine of Grammar-school education at Chesterfield, under the tuition of the Rev. Mr. Burrows: and was sent to St. John's College, Cambridge. There he continued until the year 1755, when he took his batchelor's degree in medicine; and in his thesis on that occasion, , maintained that the movements of the heart and arteries, are immediately produced by the stimulus of the blood. While at Cambridge, he composed a poem in 1751, on the death of Frederic Prince of Wales: it was printed among the Cambridge Collection of Verses on that occasion, but in merit does not rise above mediocrity. From Cambridge he went to Edinburgh, to complete his studies; which being finished, and having taken the degree of doctor of medicine, he went to Litchfield, and there commenced his career of practice.
At this time he was four and-twenty years of age: " and somewhat above the middle, size ; his form athletic, and inclined to corpulency; his limbs too heavy for exact proportion. The traces of a severe small pox; features, and countenance, which, when they were not animated by social pleasure, were rather saturnine than sprightly; a stoop in the shoulders; and the then professional appendage, a large. full-bottomed wig, gave him at that early, period of life, an appearance of nearly twice the years] he bore. Florid health; and the earnest of good humour, a sunny smile, on entering a room and accosting his friends, rendered, in his youth, that exterior agreeable; to which beauty and symmetry had not been propitious."^[12]
Soon after the arrival of Dr. Darwin at Litchfield, his skill and discernment were put to the test. Being, sent for to a young gentleman of family and consequence of the Litchfield neighbourhood, who lay sick of a dangerous fever, and whose case had been pronounced hopeless by a celebrated physician, who had for many years possessed the business and confidence of the Litchfield neighbourhood he, by a reverse and entirely novel course of treatment, gave his dying patient back to a fond and despairing mother, with renewed existence and renovated health. This success gave him so high a degree of reputation at Litchfield, and in the neighbouring towns and villages, that his competitor finding himself neglected, and his reputation eclipsed by his youthful and ingenious rival; gave up the contest and left the place. From that moment his practice became very extensive; and his future efforts, were attended by a success equal to his first fortunate exertion.
In the year 1757, he married Miss Howard, of the Close of Litchfield, who is represented as a "a blooming and lovely young lady of eighteen: " possessing "a mind, which had native strength; an awakened taste for the works of imagination ; ingenious sweetness; delicacy animated by sprightliness, and sustained by fortitude, made her a capable as well as a fascinating companion, even to a man of talents so illustrious. —"^[13] ... By this lady he had three sons, who lived to the age of manhood: two of them he survived; the third Dr. Robert Waring Darwin^[14], is now in considerable practice as a physician at Shrewsbury.
Dr. Darwin's house during his residence at Litchfield, is represented as the resort of a knot of philosophic friends, who frequently met together. Among these are enumerated ; —The Rev. Mr. Michell, a skilful astronomer : the ingenious Mr. Kier, of West Bromich, then Captain Kier; Mr. Boulton, the celebrated mechanic; Mr. Watt, the improver of the steam engine; the accomplished Dr. Small, of Birmingham, who bore the blushing honors of his talents and virtues to an untimely grave; Mr. Edgeworth, well-known in the literary world; Mr. Day, author of The Dying Negro, The Devoted Legions, and the ingenious story of Sanford and. Merton; Sir Brook Boothby ; F. N. C. Mundy, Esq. of Markeaton; and Miss Seward, who wrote the Memoirs of the Doctor's Life.
In the year 1781, Dr. Darwin married a second wife; Mrs. Pole, the widow of Colonel Pole, of Radburn, Derbyshire. This lady he had first seen in the year 1778, when she had brought her children, who had been injured by a dangerous quantity of the cicut, injudi[page 229]ciously administered to them in the hooping cough, by a physician in the neighbourhood, to be under his care. Mrs. Pole remained with her children at the Doctor's house for a few weeks : till the poison was expelled from their constitutions and their health restored : and by her external accomplishments she contributed to inspire Dr. Darwin's admiration, and to secure his esteem. —In 1780 Colonel Pole died: and an opportunity was thus afforded the Doctor of disclosing an affection, which he had long entertained, but which he was obliged to confine within his own breast. His addresses were accepted ...
Dr. Darwin died in his sixty-ninth year. — ...

Some of Dawin's poems can be found on Matlock & Matlock Bath: Inspiration of Poets and Kelly's 1891 transcript of Breadsall mentions Darwin's family monument inside the church there.

^[1] see page 126

^[2] " The articles distinguished by inverted commas, are extracted from a parchment roll, in which remarkable events, for a long series of years, are recorded by different attornies of the town of Derby."-Pilkington.

^[3] This produced a paltry rhyme from, a person name of JOHN PEGGE :
Fifth of November, Gunpowder plot,
The Church is fall'n ; and why not?
which was thought at that time, (though to us their less zealous descendants, it appears devoid of sense as of harmony) of so criminal a nature, and of so much consequence, that it raised the clamour of the Establishment against its rhyming author, and the body of Christians to which he belonged.

^[4] The following is an exact account, as they were quartered in several parishes:

^[5] Davies cannot have had access to Flamsteed's PCC Will, in which he states that he was born in Denby (TNA: Will of John Flamsteed, of the Observatory in Greewich Park His Majesty's Astronomer and Rector of Burstow in the County of Surrey of East Greenwich, Kent, Pobate: 16 January 1720). A marginal note refers to both the Asronomer Royal and his wife as Flamstead.

^[6] His father, Stephen Flamsted, buried at St. Werbughs, Derby 10 Mar 1687/8. A copy of his Will is held at TNA (PROB 11/391/106: Will of Stephen Flamsteed, Ironmonger of Derby, Derbyshire, 2 May 1688. He mentions his son and two daughters, Elizabeth and Katherine. His brother, John Flamsteed of Litttle Hallam, was joint executor with his son.

^[7] Emanuel Halton was related to the ancestors of the web mistress. One of his sundials can be seen on Wingfield Manor (1), The Early Years to Mary Stuart and there is a little more about him on Wingfield Manor (2), during and after the Civil War.

^[8] Flamsteed's Will did not stipulate where he wished to be buried. He and his wife Margaret lie in the chancel of Burstow Church. "For 160 years no memorial marked his burial place". The East window and a suitable plaque were not placed in the church until 1893, when the owner of the Hall, Mr. William Tebb, ensured he was properly commemmorated (Birmingham Daily Post, 7 Jan 1893 and Surrey Mirror or County Post, 16 Aug., 1946 which calls him Mr. Turton).

^[9] Preface to Enquiry.

^[10] Rev. Thomas Gisborne.: Monthly Mag, Oct. 1797.

^[11] Wright spent the last five of his life living in the Flamsteed home on Queen Street, Derby. A blue plaque has been placed on the building.

^[12] Miss Seward's Memoirs of the Life of Dr. Darwin.

^[13] Memoirs; p.11.

^[14] Dr. Robert Waring Darwin was the father of Charles Darwin, known for such great works as "The Origin of the Species", "The Descent of Man" and "The Voyage of the Beagle".

An Ann Andrews book transcript