County histories
The early county histories of Derbyshire still make fascinating reading today.
An early historian was William Woolley who died in 1719. His careful and systematic History of Derbyshire takes the story up to the beginning of the 18th century. Unfortunately it does not cover the northern Derbyshire area of the Scarsdale and High Peak Hundreds. The original manuscript was published by the Derbyshire Record Society in 1981. This Society has also published many other very important historical texts for the county.
The outstanding general history of the county up to the beginning of the 19th century is Volume V (Derbyshire) of Daniel Lyson's Magna Britannia. This contains information on the nobility and gentry, including coats of arms and principal seats. It gives a general geographical and geological description of the county, its industries, manufactures and chief antiquities. It includes an extensive history of parishes arranged alphabetically. Each parish is described in varying detail, from a few paragraphs to several pages.
Another important 19th century work is The History and Gazetteer of the County of Derby, by Stephen Glover published in two volumes. The first volume is a general history for the whole county covering its geology, botany, zoology, agriculture, industries, customs, sports and important historical events. Volume two was intended as a complete A to Z guide of towns and villages. Unfortunately, this ambitious project was not completed. Volume 2 part 1 covers Abney to Derby only and no further volumes were published.
Other important classic works include J.C. Cox, Three centuries of Derbyshire Annals published in 1890 and his four volume study Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, 1875 to 1879. J.P. Yeatman's Feudal History of the County of Derbyshire is a multi-volume compendium of assorted documents published between 1886 and 1907.
Part history and part current description of the period, J. Pilkington's A view of the present state of Derbyshire, 1789 is full of interest. J. Farey's General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derbyshire in three volumes, published 1811 to 1817, gives an invaluable picture of the county, including social and economic history, at the start of the 19th century.
The most comprehensive modern history is the four volume History of Derbyshire by Gladwyn Turbutt, published by Merton Priory Press in 1999. It is very informative and readable in spite of its size.
For a shorter introduction The Illustrated History of Derbyshire, by John Heath (Barracuda Books Ltd, 1982 reprinted with revision by Breedon Books 1993), provides an overview from the earliest settlements to modern times. It is illustrated with black and white photographs, maps and diagrams and includes an extensive bibliography. Less detailed, but again well illustrated and wide ranging is A History of Derbyshire by Joy Childs (Phillimore 1987). Derbyshire by Roy Christian (Batsford, 1978) gives a detailed personal view of the county's history by a man born and bred in the county.
An excellent study of the Peak District and its history is Roy Millward and Adrian Robinson's The Peak District published by Eyre Methuen, 1975 while Brian Cooper's enthralling Transformation of a Valley, Scarthin Books, 1991 focuses on the whole Derwent Valley.