Wealthy swap town grime for cleaner suburbs

A colourful bunch of showmen, one of the world’s most prominent phrenologists and a comedy duo – they were all visiting Derby on the night of March 31, 1861, as Nicola Rippon discovered during a search of the city’s archives.

IN 1861, the newest census of Great Britain found many permanent residents of Derby in dire circumstances – not least of them three-week-old John Thomas Stevens.

Too young to be separated from his mother, the baby spent his early life at the county jail on Vernon Street, where Sarah Stevens was a prisoner. Like the other 250 or so prisoners, the census gives no clue to her crime, or her sentence. Indeed, there were two more babies in residence that same night, a three-month-old and one just a month older.

Several other children, some as young as 11, were prisoners themselves. At the other extreme, the oldest inmate was 65. Curiously, the register of prisoners also included Henry Godden Garratt, a clergyman.

The jail’s governor was 46-year-old James Henry Simms, from Woolwich. He lived within the grounds of the prison with his Irish-born wife, Maria, and their eight children. Also in residence were servants and prison staff.

Others held against their will, but with considerably more care for their well-being, were the patients at the County Lunatic Asylum at Mickleover. This particular institution was considered a fine example of how to care for the mentally ill. Gone were the brutal tactics of the old establishments and, in their place, was introduced a more nurturing, rehabilitative programme, which included farm work.

In 1861, John Hutchinson was the superintendent. With its large staff of men, women and their families, the asylum had become quite a community. In total, some 287 patients are listed on the census, although, perhaps to respect their privacy, their names are not given – each being listed only by initials, age and profession.

“B R”, for example, is an unmarried man, aged 48, and a painter by trade; while “N M” is a 47-year-old woman.

At the Derbyshire General Infirmary, Master and Mistress Alexander and Jane Blackburn presided over a number of staff in residence. This included house surgeon Walter Goodall Copestake who, at 24, had just begun his association with the hospital and the town. Records show that he would remain living and working in Derby for at least the next 40 years.

The census lists several porters and nurses, many of whom were widows. The patients, listed only by initial and surname, came from varied backgrounds, although, predictably perhaps, a great many of them were very young and were working in the town’s factories and mills, like N Heathcote and M Copeland, both 11-year-old silk workers.

For those visitors to Derby fortunate enough to be able to select their temporary residence, Derby boasted a number of options. Perhaps the most grand, and certainly the most elegant, was the Royal Hotel, which straddled the Cornmarket-Victoria Street junction.

It was run by Elizabeth Cantrill and her son who employed several chambermaids, scullery maids, an ostler, a “boots” – presumably tending to and cleaning the footwear of guests – and even young Herbert Evans, a “billiard marker”, employed simply to keep score in guests’ games.

The Royal’s guests were mainly commercial travellers and merchants. The guests of the various inns and hotels on census night give modern Derbeians a fascinating insight into the commercial and social life of the town in 1861.

Francis Bamkin ran the Royal Oak in the Market Place, now the Register Office. His lodgers included confectioner William Bridgestock, as well as pensioner John Ludd and soldier Edward Huskin.

More commercial travellers spent the night at the nearby King’s Head, as did at least one solicitor. At the Coach and Horses, on what was then St James’ Lane, guests included the splendidly-named Irishman, Cornelius Coffay, a 35-year-old private in the 95th Regiment of Foot, and Philip Walker, formerly a soldier with the same regiment, who had been born in Wirksworth.

There seemed to be plenty of military men in town that night. Also in St James’ Lane, the Saracen’s Head, run by Richard Parker and his staff, included boarders Samuel Scoggins, a 27-year-old constable in the artillery. His fellow guests included some 11 tailors, presumably in Derby for a common purpose.

For those preferring not to stay in one of the town’s licensed establishments, the Temperance Hotel in the Cornmarket had opened its doors. The Temperance movement – devoted to the restriction, abstention from, or prohibition of the consumption of alcohol – had been growing in popularity since the 1830s.

Many teetotal establishments, from social halls to hotels, had been opened across the country. Simeon Smithard, a temperance lecturer of long-standing repute, was the proprietor of Derby’s own Temperance Hotel. Among his guests that night were five American citizens. One of them, Lorenzo Niles Fowler, was one of the world’s most celebrated phrenologists – a man who claimed he could “read” a person, their personality, physiology and psychology, by feeling the contours of their skull.

Interest in phrenology, like that in hydrotherapy and vegetarianism, was high by the 1860s. People were keen to improve their overall physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Fowler, and his partner, Samuel Wells – a renowned writer and publisher of phrenological works – had come to Britain from New York on a national lecture tour.

In addition to formal hotels, a number of private guest houses provided short-term accommodation. Two of these stood on Full Street. At No 15, Charles and Martha Costin played host to Arthur Dolman, a GP, and engineer James Fox. Two doors away, at No 17, Hannah Biddle provided accommodation for currier James Howes, blacksmith Jesse Billinge and for James and Anne Foster, described in the census as “comedian” and “comedienne”, presumably on an engagement in the town.

As well as business, many visitors would have come to the town to witness social events. One such extravaganza was the Morledge Show, which was in town at the time of the census. Something of a cross between a fair and a market, it was a colourful and noisy affair where men like Somerset-born Thomas Gregory, an “exhibition proprietor”, appeared with several servants, including his ostler, John Rufell, and musician Thomas Wright.

Showmen like James Buckley, John Manders and William Wallace lived “not in houses”, so presumably spent the night in their tents and carts. Several travelling stallholders were also part of the show – from toy dealers and confectioners to hardware dealers. Attached to the show was the “Wild Beast Show”, with which “three men and one woman named Batty” were travelling.

Nearby Derwent Street was largely an industrial lane where wire workers, watchmakers and boilermakers lived. Of particular note was cabinet maker Thomas Wathall. He and his brothers, Leonard, who lived in Chetwynd Street, and George, established in Green Street, had just begun to branch out into coffin manufacturing, in what proved to be the early days of perhaps Derby’s best-known funeral business.

Full Street, with many of the houses having grounds leading to the bank of the River Derwent, was home to several of Derby’s wealthier families.

Benjamin Fearn, inspector of police, lived at No 1 with his wife, Margaret, and their children. Their lodger was solicitor’s articled clerk, John Gascoyne. At No 3 was John Curzon, attorney and solicitor, now retired. The Curzon household boasted seven servants, including footboy James Tomlinson and coachman Aaron Asbury.

At No 4 lived Samuel Fearn, surgeon and GP, with his wife, Elizabeth. His lodgers included assistant Edward Hewitt. Three house servants included Rosetta Bellfields, a charwoman or cleaner.

Further along, at No 10, was the Gisborne family. Mr Gisborne, head of the household and land surveyor, was away from home that night, but his wife, Sabina, their three daughters, Ade, Adeli and Agatha, and sons, Henry and Reginald, were all in residence, as was William Buson, Mr Gisborne’s clerk, and their three servants.

Next door was the Full Street Baths. Presumably a public baths available to those without appropriate facilities at home, it was run by Francis Jackson and his wife, Hannah.

Several tanners lived around the Tan Yard and Edward McCaffrey, a 58-year-old groom, lived at No 7. His neighbour was John Slater, rent agent for the Midland Railway, and next door to him lived Alderman William Burton, a “gentleman”.

Beside the county court lived John Wykes, assistant registrar for the court. At No 32, John Brampton was conveniently located for his work as town hall porter and crier. One of the most intriguing characters on Full Street was John Cook, a “naturalist”.

By 1861, Kedleston and Duffield Roads were home to many of the town’s wealthiest businessmen. On Kedleston Road, at Cedar House, lived John Bingham, printer and compositor, while at Park Field House, Henry Cox, a 66-year-old proprietor of land and a shareholder, was in residence.

On Duffield Road, William Hobson, a 35-year-old newspaper proprietor (his family had founded the Derbyshire Advertiser) and paper manufacturer lived near Thomas Bingham, a gentleman, and auctioneer Edmund Wright.

Mary Hull ran a high-class boarding house with lodgers Charles Cooke, “BA Cambs”, solicitor Horatio Bateman, and engineer George Adsetts.

At No 34 lived Philip J Hammond, 23, headmaster of Derby Diocesan School. His 14-year-old brother, Charles, Joseph Green, the assistant master, and John Sproat, a 15-year-old boarder, were all taken care of by housekeeper Anna White and Maria Minshall, the housemaid.

Another neighbour was William Bridgeart, a builder employing 66 men and three boys.

Other wealthy Derby families were, by this time, moving out to the surrounding villages that now form our city’s suburbs. At Littleover House, on the main Derby to Burton road, on the very edge of the village after which it was named, lived James Allport, general manager of the Midland Railway, with his wife and five children.

The large grounds of his estate were built over in the 1930s during the construction of Warwick Avenue, although the house survives.

Nearby were farms and cottages where several residents were occupied in silk weaving. The modern shopping area, which follows Burton Road, now gives a misleading picture – the ancient village was centred on Shepherd Street and Church Street at right angles to what is now the main road.

Beside the church of St Peter and the village pub, the White Swan, the land around the old centre was predictably agricultural in nature in 1861, with many small cottages. More large houses had, however, already been built on Burton Road.

At the Old Hall, once the home of the Heathcote family, lived Thomas Topham, a 40-year-old farmer of 56 acres. At Knowle House, on the corner of modern Hillsway and Pastures Hill, lived Mrs Ada Buxton, whose husband was away on the night of the census. She lived with their two-year-old daughter and several servants, including a cook, a nurse, a housemaid, a footman and even a gardener.

Around this were several labourers’ cottages and the farmhouse of Foulbrook Farm. Chain Lane, which links Burton and Uttoxeter roads and was named after the chain that prevented passage without the payment of a toll, cut through more farmland.

At the top of the hill lived retired farmer Thomas Bacon and his neighbour, Thomas Page. A little further down, brickmaker Henry Jackson and farmer John Shaw had cottages. And, at the foot of the hill, where the toll chain crossed the way, agricultural labourer John Page and his family resided in Tollgate House.

Around the corner, on the Uttoxeter road, stood Plough House, sometimes known as the Plough Inn. A small wayside inn, although situated in a relatively remote and unpopulated area, it provided a popular rest stop on the road to the village of Mickleover, a mile to the west.

William and Mary Holloway were the publicans, although William also worked as a bricklayer. Nearby stood Huffin Heath House, another large farmhouse, which was home to William Hodgkinson, his family and several farmhands.

At Mickleover, too, lived several wealthy families. Mickleover House, a Georgian mansion, was home to paper manufacturers, the Harvey family, their cook, housemaid and coachman.

The Manor House was occupied by Charles Newton, a banker and JP for the county.

A housekeeper, nurse, housemaid and several under butlers and kitchen maids, as well as a footman and coachman, attended Newton’s family.

Fundholder Amelia Wright lived at The Limes, while a gentleman farmer, George Wade, lived in a large house on what was then Derby Road.

For many years the property would serve as the local Roman Catholic church and still stands within the church’s grounds. The vicar of All Saints’ parish church was Westphalia-born British subject, Frederick Curzon, the illegitimate son of Nathaniel, 2nd Viscount Scarsdale.

Like the town of Derby itself, of course, most of Mickleover’s inhabitants were working-class and poor, like baker Samuel Hill, carpenter Christopher Wright, charwoman Ann Harlow and the many agricultural labourers who would need to work all their lives, or until ill-health forced their retirement.

Like 75-year-old former labourer William Payne, they might well then be considered a “pauper” so far as the 1861 census was concerned.

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Pages linking here

• 1861 Census details revealed
• 1960s: Stories making the headlines in Derbyshire in 1962

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