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DERBYSHIRE
years in which he was a member of “ The Club ” he was one of its most assiduous frequenters, and his loss was acknowledged by a formal resolution. His talk was generally grave, but every now and then was lit up by dry humour. The late Lord Arthur Russell once said to him, after he had been buying some property in Southern England: “ So you still believe in land, Lord Derby.” “ Hang it,” he replied, “ a fellow must believe in something ! ” It was to the same companion that he said, when, looking one evening for a book at Knowsley and passing his candle along the shelves, he came to the poems of William Morris: “If I had known that he was going to turn Socialist I wouldn’t have gone to the expense of binding him in red morocco ! ” He did an immense deal of work outside politics. He was Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow from 1868 to 1871, and later held the same office in that of Edinburgh. From 1875 to 1893 he was President of the Royal Literary Fund, and attended most closely to his duties then. He succeeded Lord Granville as Chancellor of the University of London in 1891, and remained in that position till his death. He lived much in Lancashire, managed his enormous estates with great skill, and did a great amount of work as a local magnate. He married in 1870 Maria Catharine, daughter of the fifth Earl De la Warr, and widow of the second marquess of Salisbury. The best account of Lord Derby which exists is that which was prefixed by Mr Lecky, who knew him very intimately, to the edition of his speeches outside Parliament, which was published in 1894. Mr Lecky brings out extremely well what almost every page of these two volumes confirms, that he was most strongly attracted by all questions which related to the condition of the mass of the people. He once wrote to Lord Shaftesbury : “We are both public men deeply interested in the condition of the working class, and for my own part I would rather look back on services such as you have performed for that class than receive the highest honours in the employment of the State.” (m. g. d.) Derbyshire, a north midland county of England, bounded W. by Stafford and Cheshire, H.W. by Cheshire, U. by York, E. by Nottingham, and S.E. and E. by Leicester. Area and Population.—The area of the ancient and administrative county (including the county borough of Derby), as given in the census returns, is 658,876 acres or 1029 square miles. The population in 1881 was 461,746, and in 1891 was 528,033, of whom 266,011 were males and 262,022 females, the number of persons per square mile being 513, and of acres to a person 1’25. In 1901 the population was 620,196. Since 1891 the administrative area has undergone various alterations. In 1895 the part of the parish of Pinxton in Nottingham, and a part of the parish of Kirkby-in-Ashfield in the same county, were transferred to Derby, and two parts of the parish of Pinxton were transferred from Derby to Nottingham ; in the same year part of the parish of Croxall in Derby was transferred to Stafford ; and in 1897 the parishes of Nether Seal and Over Seal, part of the parish of Ashby Woulds, and part of the township of Blackfordby were transferred from Leicester to Derby; while the parishes of Appleby, Oakthorp, and Donisthorpe and Willesley, and the townships of Chilcote, Measham, and Shetton-en-le-Fields, were transferred from Derby to Leicester. The area of the registration county is 557,768 acres, with a population in 1891 of 432,414, of which 252,931 were urban and 179,483 rural. Within this area the increase of population between 1881 and 1891 was 11‘87 per cent. Between 1881 and 1891 the excess of births over deaths was 63,103, and the increase in resident population 45,878. The following table gives the number of marriages, births, and deaths, with the number of illegitimate births, for 1880, 1890, and 1898 Illegitimate Births. Year. Marriages. Births. Deaths. Males. Females. 364 340 13,965 7250 2672 1880 294 286 13,261 7831 3229 1890 348 352 14,802 7987 3725 1898
The number of marriages in 1899 was 3885, of births 14,663, and of deaths 7921. The following table shows the marriage, birth, and death rates per 1000 of the population, with the percentage of illegitimate births, for a series of years :— 1870-79. 1880. 1880-89. 1890. 1888-97. 1898. Marriage-rate 16-0 13-7 13-2 13-4 15-2 15-9 37-8 36-5 33-9 30-8 321 31-7 Birth-rate . 21-0 18-9 17-9 18-3 17-5 17-1 Death-rate . Percentage of ille5-4 5-0 4-8 4-4 4-4 4-7 gitimate births The birth-rate is above the average, but the death-rate rather under it. The number of Scots in the county in 1891 was 1872, of Irish 4234, and of foreigners 684. Constitution and Government.—The ancient county is divided into seven parliamentary divisions, and it also includes the parliamentary borough of Derby, returning two members. The administrative county includes the municipal boroughs of Chesterfield (27,185), Derby (105,785), Glossop (21,526), and Ilkeston (25,383). Derby is a county borough. The following are urban districts :—Alfreton (17,505), Alvaston and Boulton (4526), Ashbourne (4039), Bakewell (2850), Baslow and Bubnell (797), Belper (10,934), Bolsover (6844), Bon sail (1360), Brampton and Walton (2698), Buxton (10,181), Claycross (8348), Dronfield (3809), Pairfield (2969), Heage (2889), Heanor (16,249), Long Eaton (13,045), Matlock (5980), Matlock Bath (1816), Newbold and Dunston (5986), Newmills (7773), North Darley (2756), Ripley (10,111), South Darley (788), Swadlincote (18,014), Whittington (9416), and Wirksworth (3807). Derbyshire is in the midland circuit, and assizes are held at Derby. The boroughs of Derby, Chesterfield, and Glossop have separate commissions of the peace, and Derby has also a separate court of quarter sessions. The ancient county, which is partly in the dioceses of Lichfield, Peterborough, and Southwell, contains 240 ecclesiastical parishes and districts, and parts of eleven others. Education.—There is a residential college (Lichfield diocesan) for schoolmistresses at Derby, which also takes day students. At Derby there is also a royal institution for the deaf and dumb. The number of elementary schools in the county on 31st August 1899 was 422, of which 117 were board and 305 voluntary schools, the latter including 246 National Church of England schools, 121 Wesleyan, 16 Roman Catholic, and 31 “British and other.” The average attendance at board schools was 41,358, and at voluntary schools 53,833. The total school board receipts for the year ended 29th September 1899 were £159,815. The income under the Technical Instruction Act was over £1689 ; that under the Agricultural Rates Act was over £2943. Agriculture.—About three-fourths of the total area of the county is under cultivation, and of this area as much as four-fifths is under permanent pasture, cattle rearing and dairy farming, including the manufacture of cheese, occupying the chief attention of the farmer. Less than 39,000 acres are in hill pasture, and nearly 26,000 acres are under woods. Wheat and oats are the principal corn crops, and their acreage has within recent years greatly diminished. Turnips occupy more than half the area under green crops. The following table gives the larger main divisions of the cultivated area at intervals of five years from 1880 :— Total Area Permanent Green Com under Year. CultivaCrops. Clover. Pasture. Fallow. Crops. tion. 1880 512,368 63,135 21,026 28,774 388,966 10,453 1885 514,660 56,293 22,081 24,889 405,680 5,717 1890 514,573 53,297 20,144 25,947 410,320 4,460 1895 503,185 48,498 19,714 25,093 406,487 2,822 1900 494,716 46,923 18,169 24,697 401,830 2,541 The following table gives particulars regarding the principal live stock for the same years :— Total Cows or Heifers Total or in Sheep. Year. Horses. Cattle. in Milk Calf. 228,445 29,704 64,324 1880 21,847 134,786 204,925 35,143 73,888 1885 21,631 155,308 202,897 36,190 71,186 1890 22,357 143,232 176,998 40,919 68,806 1895 27,105 136,111 171,364 34,108 70,723 1900 26,722 143,609 Manufactures and Minerals.—According to the report for 1898 of the chief inspector of factories (issued 1900) the total number of persons employed in factories and workshops in 1897 was 67,848, as compared with 68,774 in 1896. Of these nearly a third (20,324)
