Derbyshire’s Men of Science:
Science-related archives from Derbyshire Record Office collections
Well known for its developments in water-powered cotton spinning and textile mills and in the
coal, lead and iron mines which became increasingly important after the Industrial Revolution,
Derbyshire is a county that is steeped in a rich industrial heritage. Collections held at
Derbyshire Record Office, however, help reveal a county with a much more varied scientific and
technological history. From pioneering geologists to Nobel Prize-winning chemists, Derbyshire
has a fascinating and rich heritage in the world of science.
Weather
The weather impacts on us in many ways; it’s the great British conversation starter - some might
say a national obsession; it can dictate how we plan our day and the activities we undertake.
But our obsession with the weather is by no means a modern fixation. The wealth of local
historical material relating to the weather and its impact on the environment held within
collections at Derbyshire Record Office provides evidence of how lives and livelihoods of people
of this county have been affected
The contrasts in topography throughout Derbyshire, from the Peaks to the valleys, can result in
a dramatic range of weather throughout the seasons, making sources relating to the county’s
weather particularly interesting.
Sources for the study of weather and environment
Evidence can be derived from many sources including journals, personal diaries, weather
station forecasts, scientific analyses, newspaper reports and a host of personal reminiscences.
Private diaries can be valuable sources of information for researchers looking at weather
events, particularly for those events dating before instrumental records began in the mid
nineteenth century. Diaries can provide supplementary evidence of weather occurrences,
providing incidental information on the climate, even if this was not their intended purpose. They
can also be an important information source for the meteorologist and climatologist looking for
evidence of past conditions.
For many weather events, the notes of local diarists can be indispensable in reconstructing
weather occurrences. Unlike instrumental weather data, entries in diaries can provide more
descriptive accounts of events, providing a personal perspective on how the weather affected
their daily lives. Unlike statistics, diaries contain personal observations rich in detail but can
also contain biases or exaggerations – one person’s rain shower might be another’s downpour.
The earliest known weather observations most often consisted of commentaries about unusual
weather events, those considered worthy of special notice.
A commonplace book, dating from late c18th century (D349), records extreme weather
occurrences throughout Derbyshire c1660-1750. Such extreme events included whirlwinds at
Derby in 1662 which caused trees to be uprooted and the sky to “rain blood”. In the late 18th
century, the parson of the parish of Pleasley wrote his observations on the weather after many
years of studying the effects of the sun and moon on the seasons (D3123Z/1/1). Noted in the
churchwardens’ and constables’ accounts for the parish of Youlgreave is an account of the
“Great Snow” (D3644/42/1) which fell in the winter of 1614-1615 delaying the spring, affecting
seed sowing and destroying animal feed. At first glance, such detailed accounts of weather
occurrences may seem strange additions to parish constables’ accounts. However, the local
economy depended on farming and agriculture and any events which threatened the success of
harvests or livestock rearing could have potentially disastrous effects on the local community
and so these were worthy of note in parish records.
Along with the records of weather enthusiasts, collections at Derbyshire Record Office also
include material relating to those with a sustained and special interest in meteorological
science, such as the research statistics of John Hunter, Fellow of the Royal Meteorogical
Society, who frequently supplied The Times newspaper with reports on the rainfall statistics for
Derbyshire during the early 20th century (D2912/23/5/1).
Why is recording the weather important?
As seen in the account explaining the effects of the Great Snow in 1614-1615, the weather
plays an important part in the lives of those working on the land. Farming is heavily controlled
by the weather, determining the success or failure of crops. Poor harvests could lead to great
social and economic problems within a community, including famine. Maintaining records on
the weather could go some way to help those who worked on the land prepare and manage
their crops. Such documentary evidence of climatic conditions can be compared with
agricultural indicators such as harvest date yields and prices, to help us examine aspects of
farming history within the county. The working diaries of farmer Henry Hill record weather
conditions, noting the details of farm work carried out throughout the year (D3316).
Personal recordings of the weather can help us reconstruct our environmental history and
analyse changing weather patterns, contributing to our understanding of climate change and the
effects it may have on the world around us.
White Watson – Derbyshire geologist and mineralogist
White Watson (1760-1835) was a scientist, geologist, stone mason, and mineralogist who lived
and worked for most of his life in Bakewell. He kept extensive diaries and sketchbooks of his
observations on geology, fossils and minerals, flora and fauna, and published a number of
geologist papers and catalogues.
Born near Sheffield in 1760, White was the son of Samuel Watson, a millstone manufacturer of
Baslow, and Martha White (from where his unusual first name originates). Watson’s grandfather
and great-grandfather had been sculptors and stonemasons engaged on the re-building of
Chatsworth House between 1687 and 1706. In later years, White Watson would also work for
the Chatsworth Estate cataloguing and arranging the mineral collection begun by Georgiana,
Duchess of Devonshire, and remodelling the fossil grotto in the Chatsworth grounds in 1798.
In May 1774 Watson was apprenticed to his uncle, Henry Watson, a marble sculptor in Bakewell
and Ashford in the Water, and he shared his uncle’s interest in the study of minerals and fossils.
Henry Watson was largely responsible for founding the trade in the local Blue John fluorite and
Ashford marble, and he provided the marble flooring for the Great Hall at Chatsworth in 1779.
White Watson was later to become a fossil dealer in his own right, running a shop and museum
in Bakewell to display his own collection, and which he maintained until his death in 1835.
In 1795 Watson was elected a Fellow of the Linnaean Society, the premier society for the study
and dissemination research on natural history and remained a member until his death. He was
also a member of the British Mineralogical Society and the Derby Philosophical Society from
1800, having been nominated by Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire.
Publications and research
In the early 1790s, Watson collaborated with William Martin (1767-1810) on an illustrated
catalogue of Derbyshire’s carboniferous limestone fossils. In 1811 he published an important
work on local geology, ‘The Delineation of the Strata of Derbyshire’ ,describing a sequence of
36 stratigraphical levels in Derbyshire rocks, illustrated with a large fold-out cross-section of
strata.
Watson married Ann Thorpe from Buckminster, Leicestershire, in 1808, a relative of Sir Isaac
Newton. He died in Bakewell on August 1835, and is buried in Bakewell Churchyard.
Collections held at Derbyshire Office relating to White Watson include a catalogue of fossils
compiled by Watson, recording his geological finds in Derbyshire at around 1803 (D589Z/Z9)
and Watson’s pamphlet with diagram ‘A Section of the Strata forming the surface in the vicinity
of Matlock-Bath, in Derbyshire.......with a view to correcting Mr Farey’s Section of the Strata in
the same district, 1813’ (D258/54/2). Watson and Farey disagreed considerably over the
details of the geological structure of Derbyshire. Watson advocated the theory that the
Derbyshire mountain landscapes were caused by underground volcanic action. Watson’s
publications allow us to assess his position as a pioneer in the study of Derbyshire stratigraphy.
His works were the basis of much early palaeontological and geological thinking.
Robinson and Sons Ltd - textile and packaging manufacturers, Chesterfield
The history of the firm of Robinsons began in 1839 when John Bradbury Robinson took over the
business of manufacturing pill boxes established by a Mr Fletcher. This followed John B
Robinson’s 21 years in business as a chemist (pharmacist) in Packer’s Row, Chesterfield. He
was joined in the new business by his son William Bradbury Robinson and father and son
became partners in 1854 under the name ‘John B Robinson’. On the death of John B Robinson
in 1869, his second son Charles Portland became a partner and the company’s name was
changed to Robinson and Sons. In 1893 the business was converted into a limited company.
The firm’s first products were round pill boxes. In 1846 a square box department was founded.
The Crimean War had led to greater demand for medical dressings, and William B Robinson
bought a second hand lint frame, studied it, and invented the world’s first power-operated lint
frame, enabling the company to begin large-scale production of surgical products such as
bandages, gauze and cotton wool. The entire process, from spinning, weaving and bleaching of
the raw materials to manufacture and sale of the finished product, was carried out by
Robinsons.
In 1924, John Robinson II invented the ‘Little John Drum’ spiral tube box. Spiral tube winding
production started in 1938, and gained immense importance when in 1956 an order was placed
by the confectionery firm Rowntrees for ‘Smarties’ tubes. During the 1970s Robinsons
packaging output diversified into plastic products.
Robinson and Sons is well known in the Chesterfield area for its enlightened attitude to
employee welfare. Many clubs and societies for Robinsons’ employees were set up during the
1920s and flourished for many years. The company magazine, ‘The Link’, kept the workforce
abreast of current developments.
The company records in Derbyshire Record Office (D5395) include the cash book of W B
Robinson, 1853-1856, recording the purchase of the lint frame machine which was so
instrumental in the production of surgical dressings for use during the Crimean War
(D5395/19/1) and letters patent for numerous innovative products, including the cylindrical
boxes such as ‘Little John Drum’ (D5395/2/13/23). Demand for packaging increased as storage
and distribution became more sophisticated and the late 19th and early 20th century saw major
developments in packaging methods. The firm’s business records provide evidence of
continuing investment in research and technological development made by Robinson’s. The
business successfully adapted to various external factors such as wars, shifts in consumer
demand and merchandising trends in to remain a significant manufacturer in their chosen
fields.
John and Caroline Smedley and the promotion of hydropathy
Although the name of John Smedley is always associated with Matlock, he was not born in the
town. He was the son of John Smedley of Wirksworth, a small-scale manufacturer of hosiery.
Smedley’s early working life was spent in the family business but, as none of his personal
papers are known to survive, this period is far less well-documented than his middle and later
years. Nonetheless, the records held at Derbyshire Record Office tell us a great deal about his
business acumen and entrepreneurial attitudes.
In 1818 John Smedley senior was sufficiently successful in business to decide that his
Wirksworth workshop was too small. The decision to lease larger premises at Lea Mills,
however, did not lead to increased prosperity and in 1827, the Smedleys were on the verge of
bankruptcy. It was the energy and application of the twenty-four year-old John Smedley that
appears to have saved the family business. One of his tasks was to adopt cotton machinery for
the production of woollen knitwear.
In 1846 John married Caroline Ann Harward, the daughter of the then Vicar of Wirksworth. The
couple set out on their honeymoon to France and Switzerland. This trip was to be the turning
point in both their lives. John contracted a severe fever. His life was almost despaired of, but at
last he was pronounced cured after treatment at Dr Macleod’s hydropathic establishment in
Yorkshire. John saw his recovery as a sign of divine intervention and in a personal as well as
religious sense, he was ‘converted’ to a belief in the efficacy of water treatment.
From then on, he chose to devote himself to the promotion of the cause of hydropathy. Firstly,
he built a free hydropathic hospital for his workers at Lea Mills, and in 1853 acquired a house on
Matlock Bank. On this site, John Smedley built Smedley’s Hydro – now Derbyshire County
Council’s County Hall. Until the day in 1872 when he at last appointed a professional doctor,
every patient at the Hydro was dealt with directly by John or Caroline. By the late 1860s, from
an annual attendance of about 100 guests, by the time of John Smedley’s death in 1874, it was
nearer 3,000.
Life at the Hydro in John Smedley’s time was frugal, regimental and bleak. Each day began
and ended with family worship, and a very strong emphasis was placed on the need to follow
this pattern of behaviour. If you broke any of the Hydro’s many rules and regulations, you would
have to pay a fine. The treatments were simple and mild, though occasionally unpleasant:
combinations of hot and cold water were applied to various parts of the body. In a succession of
publications, including The Water Cure, 1852, Practical Hydropathy, 1858, and The Ladies'
Manual of Practical Hydropathy for Female Patients,1861 (D5544). John and Caroline detailed
more than 200 separate procedures which claimed to cure such infirmities as venereal disease,
diphtheria, and lockjaw.
Collections held at Derbyshire Record Office describe treatments which included walking
barefoot in the snow, on the assumption that the reaction to extreme cold would stimulate the
circulation or to ‘stand on a hot pad and have several cans of cold water dashed on the back
part of the body’ or to put on ‘wet silk gloves worn constantly wet and wetted again by putting
the hands into tepid water without taking them off’. The business records for Smedley’s Hydro
show how the fascination for all things relating to health and self- improvement,which developed
during the Victorian era brought much tourism and as a result investment and economic
prosperity to towns such as Matlock (D5544, D369, D827, D1397).