The Game Acts of 1784 and 1785 had made it compulsory for those wanting to kill game to pay for a certificate, which cost 2 guineas per annum, and was obtainable from the Clerk of the Peace. A Gamekeeper's certificate cost 10s 6d. Individuals caught killing game without a certificate had to pay a penalty of £20, and gamekeepers were fined the same amount if they were caught killing game outside the Manor where they were employed^[1].
«There is more information. See The Eighteenth Century Games Duty Lists

By 1809 the cost of a certificate had risen to three guineas and this increased by small amounts during the first half of the nineteenth century, which is the period covered here. In 1831 the new Game Act, which came into operation on the 1st of November, did not affect the existing laws for those holding Game Certificates. It was intended to protect game birds (by having a closed season) and also dealt with trespass^[2]. The Game Laws Act, which received the Royal Assent in 1842, transferred the collection of revenue arising from the sale of game certificates from the Stamp Office to the Board of Excise, and increase the penalty for sporting without a game certificate from twenty to fifty pounds!^[3]

Names were to be published in county newspapers and for many years "The Derby Mercury" printed lists of Derbyshire people who had applied for a certificate, either for themselves or for their gamekeeper.

• All the Matlock & District extracts below (1800 - 1852) have been taken from "The Derby Mercury".
  
  
• There is more information elsewhere on this web site to explain who some of these men were. Follow the hyperlink (e.g. ^[6]) against the first time a name is mentioned. This takes you down to the bottom of the page and you can then navigate to other parts of the site.
  
  
• If there is no link against an individual, check:
  19th Century Trade Directories | 1841 Census, Matlock, Matlock Bath & District | 1851 Census, Matlock, Matlock Bath & District

1800 - 1804 | 1805 - 1809 | 1810 - 1814 | 1815 - 1819 | 1820 - 1824 | 1825 - 1829
1830 - 1834 | 1835 - 1839 | 1840 - 1844 | 1845 - 1850 | 1851 - 1852

DM = Derby Mercury

References (coloured hyperlinks are to transcripts elsewhere on this website):

^[1] "The Derby Mercury", 26 Aug, 1784 and "The Times", 21 Jul, 1785. Game Act.
^[2] "The Times", 19 Oct 1831. Also see: Game Act 1831 (external site).
^[3] "The Derby Mercury", 7 Sept 1842
^[4] See Pedigree of Arkwright | Arkwright's Cotton Mill (these will lead you to much more information)
^[5] Rev Holcombe was the Rector of Matlock. See Rectors
^[6] See Pedigree of Leacroft
^[7] Peter Nightingale was a landowner. See Biographies and Pedigree of Nightingale
^[8] One of the James Swettenham's owned Hurker Hall
^[9] W. E. Shore became W. E. S. Nightingale. See Biographies and Pedigree of Nightingale
^[10] Joseph Notzel Cumming, see Biographies and Cumming's Old Bath Hotel
^[11] Edward Payne built the Lower Tower, Tor Cottage and then Rockville (The Rocks) in Matlock Dale. See, for example, Heights of Abraham, Wooded Slopes | Artists' Corner | Gem of the Peak
^[12] William Blunden was a surgeon who worked with Dr. Chinnery. He moved away from Matlock Dale, but his children can be found in Strays - B (also Blundell)
^[13] Walter Evans: See Temple Hotel
^[14] Charles Clarke: see Biographies | Holy Trinity Church, Matlock Bath - Interior
^[15] H. J. S. Collingwood. See High Tor Guest House, 1945-50 | Gem of the Peak