Derbyshire Research Resources

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The Derbyshire County Category

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. The ceremonial county comprises the non-metropolitan county of Derbyshire and the City of Derby unitary authority. The area of the county has remained largely unchanged over the centuries, centred on the Derwent Valley running from the Peak District in the north to Derby in the south, and bounded by the historic counties of Cheshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire (West Riding). Below is a list of resources if you are working on Derbyshire profiles.

If you have any questions, please contact Stephen Heathcote.

County-wide resources

• GENUKI Derbyshire - comprehensive index to Derbyshire resources

• Derbyshire Place Name Index compiled by John Palmer. A very comprehensive list of farms, manors, hamlets and other geographic features in Derbyshire, identifying their current and ancient parishes.

• https://forebears.io/england/derbyshire: index to Derbyshire genealogy records of all types.

• Church of England parish registers: The Anglican Diocese of Derby corresponds to the modern ceremonial county. Original parish registers are held at the Derbyshire County Record Office, and are available via Ancestry.co.uk (subscription required). Images of some registers are also available on Family Search. Known issues with incorrect indexing of some parishes by Ancestry and/or Family Search are listed below. The county was formerly part of the Diocese of Lichfield: Bishops Transcripts are held by the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service; some are available to view on Family Search (see below).

• UK Genealogy Archives has some parish registers and Phillimore marriages transcripts online and searchable.

• Wills prior to 1858 were proved by the Diocese of Lichfield, and are now held by the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service. Digital images are available on Find My Past (subscription or pay-per-view required). Copies of wills proved after 1858 are held by the Derbyshire Record Office in Matlock, or can be obtained for a small charge from the England and Wales Probate Service. Rosemary Lockie's page on The Wills of Derbyshire includes brief abstracts of some wills.

• An alphabetical list of surnames in Births, Deaths and Marriages announcements, and obituaries, inquests and funerals reports in the Derbyshire Times 1910-1919 compiled by Geoff Sadler for the Derbyshire Local Studies Library.

• Dugdale's Visitations of Derbyshire: 1569 and 1611 and 1663

• Visitation(s) of England and Wales County Index entries for persons whose pedigree first entry in the Visitation(s) commences in Derbyshire, or who appears listed in a pedigree, addendum or correction to the Visitation(s) as born in Derbyshire.

• Descriptive Catalogue of Derbyshire Charters in Public and Private Libraries and Muniment Rooms by Isaac Herbert Jeayes, published in 1906.

• Old Halls, Manors, and Families of Derbyshire by Joseph Tilley, published in four volumes from 1892 to 1902.

• Alan Swindale's comprehensive Swindale One Name Study: list of Derbyshire Swindells

• Derbyshire place names meaning

North Derbyshire

• North West Derbyshire Sources lots and lots of links to transcripts.

• Peak District Mines Historical Society with searchable databases

• A History of the Peak District Moors by David Hey (2014). The space page is a transcription of the surname index.

• Eyam One Place Study
• Eyam during the plague Please note this source is reliable but with the condition it is understood that when the author published this resource, online sources were not available to be cited. Further sources should be sought to accompany this resource.

• The Froggatts were a significant family in the Baslow area; many other families from the area will connect to them. This site is a trove of interesting information.

• List of Spar Manufacturers in Derbyshire and neighbouring counties

Mid Derbyshire

• The Wirksworth Parish Records site is the result of a ten-year, one place study. Although the site’s title would suggest it holds only records relevant to Wirksworth the majority of information covers the whole of Derbyshire.

• The Belper Research site contains a wealth of material relating to Belper and the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site. The transcriptions of Non-Conformist chapel registers are a particularly valuable resource for this early industrial town.

• The Crich Parish website includes links to numerous historical records.

• A resource site for the parish of Dethick, Lea and Holloway run by Alan S. Flint.

South Derbyshire

• South Derbyshire BDM Baptisms, Deaths and Marriages taken from Parish and Burial Registers for the South Derbyshire District.

Known Issues with Parish Register Indexing

• Belper: Ancestry indexes the registers for St John's Chapel as St Peter's Church (built in 1824).
• Bradley: the National Burials Index conflates Bradley in Derbyshire with Bradley in Staffordshire.
• Brassington: the parish registers 1716-1812 have been indexed by Ancestry as "Bradbourne" (images 128-239).
• Chesterfield: the parish registers to 1712-1760 have been indexed by Ancestry as "Heath"
• Church Gresley: the parish registers to 1678 have been indexed by Ancestry as "Taddington" (images 148-219).
• Cotmanhay: the burial register 1846-1890 has been indexed by Ancestry as "Kirk Hallam" (images 1-154).
• Elton: the chapelry registers 1735-1812 (parish of Youlgreave), and marriage registers 1754-1770, 1786-1789 and 1813-1932, have been indexed by Ancestry as "Etwall".
• Hartington: Ancestry has indexed the marriage registers 1778-1884 (images 1-202) as "Monyash".
• Hulland: Ancestry has indexed the marriage and burial registers as "Snelston".
• Kirk Ireton: Family Search indexes several records as "Ironville".
• Osmaston (by Ashbourne): The general registers 1606-1784 and the baptism registers 1784-1901 have been indexed by Ancestry as "Norbury" (1606-1812 images 103-170; 1813-1901 images 111-162); the burials register 1784-1812 is indexed as "Edlaston" (images 75-83).
• Scropton: Family Search has indexed the marriage registers as "Ripley".
• Smalley: the parish registers 1655-1812 (start at image 44), marriage registers 1756-1934 and burial register 1901-1981 have been indexed by Ancestry as "Longford".
• Taddington: Family Search indexes several records as "Priestcliffe".
• Wirksworth: the parish registers 1608-1697 have been indexed by Ancestry as "Middleton by Wirksworth".

Bishop's Transcripts on Family Search

• Horsley
• Ilkeston
• Killamarsh images 1-107
• Kirk Hallam 1662-1812, images 109-204