A Carte de Visite (CDV) of Brunswood Terrace on the road towards Matlock, taken by the Matlock Bath photographer William Potter. This picture was taken to Canada by John Allen Potter when he emigrated in 1913 and is part of a collection of photos of both his birthplace and the relatives he left behind. John was born at the "Mill House", Darley Bridge. His grandson, Denis, who very kindly sent the image, thought the CDV may not have been looked at for almost 100 years! The trees have grown up in the meantime and the road is not quite so peaceful. It must have been taken from the iron bridge which crosses the river and connects to the station and the path to Starkholmes.

The earliest pictorial evidence of these houses is from a wood block engraving published in 1866; it shows the row of four houses with another, lower, building attached to the Matlock end of the row^[1]. The earliest newspaper reference to a property in Brunswood Terrace was in 1869 when No. 4 was advertised as "To Let" by James Pearson. It was described as having a drawing room with a plate glass bay window, a dining room, seven bedrooms, plus a kitchen, a W.C. and a garden^[2]. The householders in 1876 were Mrs. Mary Walker (no.1), Mrs. Pearson (no.2), Alfred Biddle (no.3) and Thomas Chaplin (no.4)^[3].

Mrs. Elizabeth Robinson, whose name is hand written on the back of the CDV (below), did not move to Brunswood Terrace until after the death of her husband William but the family had been Cromford residents since their marriage and their four children (Annie, Kate, Harry and Lizzie) were all christened at Cromford^[4]. William and his family were living at Rock House Lodge in 1871 as he was employed as a Coach man by James Arkwright, a banker and landowner. In 1881 the Robinsons were in Scarborough, where Alfred J. Arkwright was also living with two family members. William was still employed as a coachman, and it is likely that he was there with the Arkwrights.

Elizabeth had become a Lodging house keeper at 4 Brunswood Terrace by 1891^[5]. She seems to have moved to Fountain Villas^[6] where she remained for a number of years before returning to Dale Road^[7].

The 1911 census shows that year the residents of Brunswood Terrace were:

Mary Walker, a widow, who lived at number one with her grand-daughter;
Elizabeth Robinson, a widow, who was living at number two with her two unmarried daughters and her unmarried son;
the superannuated railway clerk Frederick Knowles was at number three with his wife and grand-son;
Louis Pearson, a retired barytes manufacturer, and his wife Sara were at at number four with an unmarried son and daughter.

Elizabeth continued to advertise^[9] and she her daughters were still at no.2 in 1921. She passed away not long after the census was taken. Her daughters remained at the house for a time and Annie died at there in 1925. Kate was to move to Little London, Holloway and died at Lea Hurst in 1959.

Mary Walker (nee Hardy) and her family had lived at number one, closest to the camera, since at least 1861^[10]. Her son Arthur, who was baptised at Crich on 23 May 1852, emigrated to Canada in 1879 and then moved to the USA. He was a carpenter by trade. He and his wife Isabelle (nee Staton)^[11] never saw their families again although packages of food were sent to England during the war. They both lived to be 90 years old^[12]. Interestingly, they had taken a postcard of the top image with them when they emigrated.

The property later became the home of the two Miss Holmes, who rented out a flat in the upstairs rooms. These two ladies were members of the local church and two of the kindest women one would wish to meet.

Dale Terrace, consisting of three brick built houses at the far end of Brunswood Terrace, was not built when this picture was taken. The Dale Terrace residents were first mentioned in the 1891 census, so this image was already fairly out of date when it was taken to Canada by the Potter family.

The photographer who took the picture for this CDV, William Potter, who set out as a Marble Worker's Apprentice. But by the 1881 census, when he was living in Matlock Dale, he was a draper's traveller and photographer. His wife, Louisa, was working alongside him as a photographer's printer although in 1891 she was the proprietor of a fancy repository on Derwent Parade. William kept up his photography business and also became the collector to the Urban District Council and assistant overseer. He advertised in several trade directories^[13].

References:

^[1] "Illustrated London News", 1 September 1866. Matlock Bath, from High Tor.

^[2] "Derbyshire Times", 10 April 1869. To Let. James Pearson passed away at No. 2 Brunswood Terrace on 27 Feb 1875, aged 60.

^[3] See the entries in Kelly's 1876 Directory.

^[4] William Robinson and Elizabeth Elliot were married at Matlock St Giles on 1 Oct 1865. William had been born at Rempstone, NTT and christened there on 23 May 1830; he was the son of William, a groom, and Mary. William and Mary's children were all christened at Cromford between 1868 and 1873. He died at Wirksworth in 1887.

^[5] See the 1891 census transcripts and Kelly's 1895 Directory.

^[6] See the Kelly's 1899 Directory transcript.

^[7] See the 1901 census transcripts. Mrs. Robinson was still listed at Fountain Villas in Kelly's 1908 Directory.

^[8] The 1911 census is available on FindMyPast.

^[9] The final trade directories entries for Mrs. Robinson were Kelly's 1912 Directory and Kelly's 1916 Directory (although she advertised in Kelly's 1922 this was published after her death).

^[10] Mary Walker and her family lived at no 1. Her husband was alive in 1861 the 1861 census | the 1871 census | the 1881 census | the 1891 census | the 1901 census | An MI for Mary and her husband William is in Holy Trinity churchyard

^[11] Arthur Walker married Isabella C Staton at Salford St Simon in 1874. Isabella was born at Little Eaton in late 1855, the daughter of John and Sarah Staton.

^[12] This information was provided by a relative, Ellen, in 2010.

^[13] There is more about the photographer William Potter on the page about Matlock's Matlock and Matlock Bath's Photographers.