Derbyshire

This article has not been researched and written yet

This article has not been researched and written yet

This article has not been researched and written yet

This article has not been researched and written yet

Derby by the Restoration period was ‘a very large, populous, well-frequented and rich borough town – few inland towns equalising it’. R. Blome, Britannia (1673), 76. The mainstays of Derby’s economy were its markets and horse fair – which attracted buyers from London and further afield – its role as a county administrative and social centre, and the malting and brewing industries. Derby Local Studies Lib. DBR/E/106-7, Derby Fair Bks. 1635-49; HMC Hastings, ii. 128; Blome, Britannia, 77; Glover, Derbys. ii. 449; Anon. Hist.

Economic and social profile:

Derby was a prosperous town, noted in 1701 for its newly built houses. Its chief trading interests were lead, tin and malt, a fact reflected in the borough’s petitions to Parliament for private legislation to make the Derwent navigable to the Trent with the aim of cutting the transport costs of these bulky items. The navigation project produced a consensus in the town, but was opposed by various landowners and hence became an issue in county elections, not least because of the large number of freeholders resident in the borough.Add. 47057, f. 105; CJ, xi. 449; xiii. 509; xiv.

Throughout this period the Cavendishes controlled one seat at Derby. Robinson wrote about the borough in his survey for the general election of 1780: ‘The Devonshire family certainly have this place if they were to exert themselves, but they have hitherto prudently given up one and probably may do so again.’ The 4th Duke of Devonshire had considerable influence in the choice of the second Member, but the 5th Duke was usually concerned with one seat only. Shortly before the by-election of 1772 Lord George Cavendish wrote to the Duke of Portland:8 Jan. 1772, Portland mss.

Since 1780 the corporation nominee, Edward Coke of Longford, had joined interests with the 5th Duke of Devonshire, whose nomination to one seat at least was long established and who returned his brother. Both Members were Foxite Whigs, but neither voted for parliamentary reform in 1793, despite a petition from Derby in its favour (6 May). At the election of 1796 a local physician of means, Peter Crompton, standing as a reformer, made no impact against them, though he was said to have great influence on the corporation.Jnl.