With the help of external funding, Derbyshire Record Office is always busy working on projects that will improve access to our collections, whether that is through cataloguing, conservation, or public engagement.
Mining the seams
Our current project is called Mining the Seams. Over 2020 and 2021 we are cataloguing and conserving the archives of the National Coal Board for Derbyshire. Funded by the Wellcome Trust, this is a partnership project with Warwickshire County Record Office, who are also cataloguing their coal mining records.
The National Coal Board was established in 1947, but the National Coal Board collection includes the records of 80 collieries and colliery companies which pre-date 1947. The whole collection takes up approximately 177 shelves and includes 1,400 plans and hundreds of photographs. Once this collection has been catalogued, Derbyshire's coal mining records will be fully accessible for the first time.
Previous projects
Derwent Valley Mills mapping project
With funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund we digitised historic maps of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site which can now be explored on the Heritage Mapping Portal.
Discovering Franklin
With the help of an Archives Revealed grant, we catalogued the papers of the ill-fated polar explorer Sir John Franklin, and his family. View the catalogue of Sir John Franklin, and his family. The letters in this collection are attached to this page.
Derbyshire Lives through the First World War
Our Heritage Lottery Funded project supported communities across Derbyshire to commemorate the First World War and produced a website and travelling exhibition. View the Derbyshire Lives website.
Miners' health and welfare
Funded by the Wellcome Trust, we catalogued the archive of the National Union of Mineworkers, Derbyshire Area and compiled datasets of information about miners' occupational ill health. An anonymised dataset of benefits claims can be searched and downloaded on the Miners Health and Welfare project website.