43 AD - The Romans invaded Britain.

 

47 AD - Agricola, the Roman Governor, reached the edge of lowland Derbyshire with his armies.

 

c.50 AD - The Romans entered the area and built a fort to the west of the River Derwent, (Belper Road/Duffield Road area). This was one fort in a line of forts built to protect the boundaries of the newly conquered land.

 

c.80 AD - Across the other side of the river, Derventio (now Little Chester), was founded and the previous settlement was left abandoned. Over time, a civilian settlement grew around the newer fort which included two pottery kilns, timber buildings and a cemetery.

 

407 AD - The last Roman soldiers left Britain as part of the great withdrawal – an attempt to save Rome from the Barbarians. The Roman buildings in Derby were abandoned and fell into ruins.

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527 AD - The Saxon Kingdom of Mercia, covering much of what is now central England was founded by the semi-legendary king Icel.

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c.600 AD - “Northworthy”, a Saxon settlement and the nucleus of modern-day Derby was founded.

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c.600 AD - After the arrival of Christianity in Britain in 597 AD, the monastery in Repton was founded.

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793 – 850 AD - Danish raids were launched on the British Isles.

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c.800 AD - Alkmund, the King of Northumbria, was martyred.

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c820 AD - The body of St. Alkmund was moved to Derby and was interred in what was to become St. Alkmund’s Church.

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865 AD - Larger Danish armies began to arrive in the UK with the intent of colonising the country.

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874 AD - The Danes captured what is now Derby and name it Deoraby or ‘place of the deer’.

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917 AD - Aethelflaed, daughter of Alfred the Great, recaptured the town during the Battle of Derby.

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924 AD - The Vikings invaded again and occupied Derby between 924 and 931, after which Saxon & Dane co-existed side by side for the next hundred years until the Norman Conquest.

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943 AD - King Edward founded All Saints’ Church – now Derby Cathedral.

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c.1042 AD - St. Peter’s Church in Derby was founded.

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1048 AD - The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentioned an earthquake in the Derby area stating: “This year also there was an earthquake on the calends of May, in many places; at Worcester, at Wick, and at Derby and elsewhere…”.

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1066 AD - The Anglo-Saxon King Harold was defeated by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings and the reign of the Normans began.​

 

1072 – 1076 AD - St. James Priory was established on what is now St. James Street in Derby.

 

1086 AD - The Domesday Book, a huge survey of land and land holding in England and Wales, was completed. At this point Derby had become a town with at least 2,000 inhabitants and eight churches.

 

1137 AD - St Helen’s Priory was founded just outside of the town walls.

 

1204 AD - King John’s Charter of 1204 granted the town of Derby the rights to hold its own markets on Fridays and Saturdays. Additionally, the dying of cloth was forbidden within 10 miles of Derby, leading to further trade for the town and merchants were allowed to form guilds to regulate trade.

 

1224 – 1238 AD - A Dominican Friary was established on what is now Friar Gate in Derby.

 

1253 AD - On October 14, Nicholas of Findern was an eyewitness to a meteor shower that startled the residents in what is now Alvaston. Records of Burton Abbey stated: “About the hour of vespers, the sky being clear, suddenly a large bright star appeared out of a black cloud with two smaller stars in the vicinity.
 

“A battle royal soon commenced, the small stars charging the great star again and again, so that it began to diminish in size, and sparks of fire fell from the combatants. This continued for a considerable time, and at last, the spectators, stupefied, by fear and wonder, and ignorant of what it might portend, fled.”​

 

1294 AD - William de la Cornere and Randolph Makeneye became Derby’s first parliamentary representatives.​

 

c.1300 AD - St. Mary’s Bridge Chapel was built to allow travellers to say prayers at the start, end, or during a journey.

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1326 AD - St. Mary’s Bridge was described as broken and ruinous and the town was granted the right to charge a bridge toll to raise money for its repairs.

 

1335 AD - St. James Monastery was destroyed by fire.

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1338 AD - Rebuilding works commenced at St. Peter’s Church with the South Aisle and Chantry added.

 

1349 AD - The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) reached Derby as part of the pandemic occurring in Afro-Eurasia from 1346 to 1353. It has been claimed that a third of the population died, including sixty clergy, one of whom was the vicar of St Peter’s.

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c.1500 AD - A guildhall was built on the Market Place in Derby.

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1510 – 1530 AD - The tower at All Saints Church, (now Derby Cathedral) was rebuilt.

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1529 AD - A parish workhouse was erected in St. Peter’s Churchyard.

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1530 AD - Derby’s oldest public house – Ye Olde Dolphin – received its first license.

 

1539 AD - Henry VIII passed an Act of Supremacy in 1534 which led to the dissolution of the monasteries. Five years later the monastery site on Friar Gate was surrendered.

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1554 AD - Sir John Marriott, vicar of St. Alkmund’s, hung himself by one of the bell ropes in the belfry.

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1554 AD - The Old Grammar School in Derby received a Royal Charter. Luminaries of the school included Rev. John Cotton (1585 – 1652), one of the founders of Boston, Massachusetts; John Flamsteed FRS (1646 – 1719), the first Astronomer Royal and Joseph Wright ARA (1734 – 1797), the celebrated artist.

 

1556 AD - Joan Waste was found guilty of heresy and burnt at the stake on Windmill Pit, just off Burton Road in Derby.

 

1585 AD - Mary, Queen of Scots, spent the night in Derby staying at Babington Hall which stood on the corner of St. Peter’s Street and what is now Babington Lane.

 

1585 AD - Mary Queen of Scots was lodged one night at Derby, on her road to Tutbury from Wingfield Manor.​

 

1587 AD - Two archers and three billmen were sent from Derby as a contribution to the force that ultimately defeated the Spanish Armada.

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1588 AD - On July 24, Nicholas Garlick, Robert Ludlam and Richard Simpson were executed in Derby. All three were Catholic priests and therefore, under the law of the land at that time, guilty of high treason. The three men were hung, drawn and quartered on St. Mary’s Bridge and their severed heads were placed on the bridge as a warning to anyone entering or leaving the town.

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1592 AD - An outbreak of the Black Death killed 464 people in Derby.

 

1599 AD - The Countess of Shrewsbury – Bess of Hardwick – created a workhouse and hospital in the All-Saints’ parish.

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1601 AD - Around 200 soldiers that came from Lincolnshire on their way to Ireland set upon the townspeople who were going to their prayers on the Sabbath day. They were resisted by the bailiffs and burgesses. 

 

1610 AD - Due to a sudden flood in Markeaton Brook, which ran alongside the gaol at that time, three prisoners who were trapped in their cell died.

 

1611 AD - Jacobean House on the Wardwick was built. It was later modified in 1855 to allow access to Becket Street.

 

1611 AD - On May 14 a large flood, “that in the memory of man the like was never seen”, hit Derby.

 

1635 AD - Four people perished in severe snow between Derby and Spondon.

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1648 AD - The George Inn, now Jorrocks, was built on Iron Gate.

 

1642 AD - King Charles passed through Derby on his way to raise his standard at Nottingham at the beginning of the English Civil War.

 

1642 AD - Sir John Gell’s Parliamentary Army entered Derby on October 31.

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1650 AD - The last surviving coaching inn in Derby – The Old Bell Hotel – was built. Its timber façade was added in 1929.

 

1659 – 1660 AD - The Shire Hall was constructed on St. Mary’s Gate in Derby where it remains today.

 

1661 AD - The River Derwent was so dry that people could walk on the river bed.

 

1662 AD - By this time Derby had 615 households and 1,479 taxable hearths, (the Hearth Tax levied a tax based on the number of hearths in a household).

 

1662 AD - A hurricane hit Derby that, “blew up trees by the roots, a pillar or pinnacle off St. Werburgh’s steeple, and untiled the town’s hall and many houses in the market-place and Full-street” .

 

1665 AD - The plague reached Derby during the Great Plague of 1665. Certain place names in Derby can trace their history back to this period with Blagreaves Lane previously being Black Graves Lane and Dead Man’s Lane needing no additional explanation.

 

1673 AD - A flood on Markeaton Brook hit the town and broke three of the towns ten bridges.
 

1682 AD - A severe frost began in September of this year and lasted until the 5th of February of the following year.

 

1691 AD - George Sorocold proposed a scheme that would enable water to be pumped around the town centre. This system remained in operation until 1841 and was the first town centre water supply system in the British Isles.

 

1696 AD - Osmaston Hall was built for Robert Wilmot. It was demolished in 1938 and is now the site of an industrial estate.

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c.1714 AD - Derby’s first Assembly Rooms were built in Full Street.

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1721 AD - The world’s first factory was built for the Lombe brothers by George Sorocold on the site of the current Derby Museum of Making. John Lombe himself had travelled to Italy in 1716 and stole plans for silk manufacturing machinery from mills in Piedmont.

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1722 AD - John Lombe died. It has been alleged that he was poisoned by an assassin from Italy in an act of revenge for stealing the plans which made the Silk Mill in Derby possible.

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1723 - 1725 AD - Darley Hall was built by Smith of Warwick. It was located on what is now Darley Park but was demolished in 1962.

 

1726 AD - The Derby Post-Man newspaper began publication.​

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1729 AD - All Saints Workhouse was erected on Walker Lane.

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1730 AD - St Werburgh’s Workhouse was erected on Friar Gate.

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1730 AD - The medieval guildhall in the Market Place was demolished and replaced by a new guildhall designed by the architect Richard Jackson. Six years later a new turret clock designed by John Whitehurst was added.

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1732 AD - The Derby Mercury newspaper began publication and ran until 1900.

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1735 AD - Samuel Johnson, author of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language – one of the most famous dictionaries in history, married Elizabeth Porter (née Jervis) on July 9, 1735 at St. Werburgh’s Church.

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1750 AD - Devonshire House was built in the Cornmarket. It was later demolished to become the site of Littlewoods and now houses Primark.

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c.1752 – 1775 AD - Derby’s second Assembly Rooms were erected on the north side of the Market Place and were provided by the Duke of Devonshire.

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1756 AD - André Planché formed a partnership with William Duesbury and John Heath, creating what would ultimately become the Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company.

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1769 AD - Joseph Pickford, a local architect built an elegant Georgian townhouse at No. 41 Friar Gate. It was opened as a museum in 1988 as Pickford’s House Museum.

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1771 AD - The world’s first water-powered cotton spinning mill was opened by Richard Arkwright in Cromford, Derbyshire.

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1773 AD - On September 13, Derby’s Theatre Royal opened with a performance of Oliver Goldsmith’s ‘She Stoops to Conquer’. The theatre closed in 1952.

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1777 AD - A Parliamentary Report stated that Derby had five workhouses – St. Alkmund, All Saints’, St. Peter’s, St. Werburgh and St. Michael’s.

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1796 AD - The Derby Canal was opened.

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1797 AD - A survey of the poor was conducted in England and concluded that those who were employed in Derby were largely employed in the silk and cotton mills.

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1801 AD - Derby’s population stood at 14,695.​

 

1808 AD - On November 22, Thomas Cook – the ‘inventor of modern tourism’ was born in Melbourne, Derbyshire.​

 

1810 AD - The Derby General Infirmary opened on London Road.

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1815 AD - Historian and poet William Hutton died on September 20. Born in Derby, he released the book ‘History of Derby’ in 1791 which is still used as a reference work today.​

 

1820 AD - Derby’s Gas, Light & Coke Company was set up.​

 

1821 AD - On February 19, Derby inaugurated gas lighting with a single lamp outside of the old Guild Hall.

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1828 AD - Derby’s Guild Hall was demolished with a newer one erected south of the previous structures.

 

1831 AD - When the Reform Bill, which had passed the House of Commons, was defeated at a Tory-dominated House of Lords, riots occurred in many towns and cities including Derby. In Derby looting occurred, buildings were burned down and the gaols were attacked with prisoners being set free.

 

1833 – 1834 AD - Despite Trade Unions being forbidden by the Combination Act of 1825, 800 Derby silk workers joined a union in the hope of better wages and working conditions. After the workforce walked out due to the dismissal or a worker at the Peat & Frost mill and other workforces and trades showed their support, 20 proprietors locked out their men until they renounced the union. The strike ended on April 21, 1834.

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1836 AD - On February 2, the Derby Corporation agreed to share a railway station to be built by North Midland Railway on the south-east of the town centre.

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1836 AD - Fifteen years after the first gas lamp had been installed in Derby, there were now 210 gas lamps in operation in the town.

 

1837 AD - On October 19, the Derby Poor Law Union formally came into existence.

 

1837 – 1838 AD - Designed by John Mason, the first Derby Union was built on the south side of Osmaston Road.

 

1839 AD - At 1.18pm on May 30, the locomotive Sunbeam arrived at Derby’s temporary rail platform – the first steam locomotive to arrive at Derby.

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1839 AD - The dedication ceremony was held at St. Mary’s Church on 9 October, with Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman preaching. The church had been designed by Augustus Pugin.

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1840 AD - Derby Arboretum (the first public park in Britain), was opened on September 16. The Arboretum was donated to the town by Joseph Strutt, a former mayor of Derby and member of a prominent local family of industrialists.

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1841 AD - The Midland Hotel – the first purpose-built railway hotel in the world – was designed and built by Francis Thompson.

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1842 AD - A huge flood Derby occurred with flood levels in some areas of the town centre reaching between five to six feet.

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1842 AD - The interior and part of the structure of the Guild Hall was rebuilt by to a design by Henry Duesbury after it was badly damaged by fire in 1841.

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1846 AD - The new St. Alkmund’s Church was opened after being built by the architect Henry Isaac Stevens. Built directly in the line of sight of the Catholic St Mary’s Church, the Anglican church was referred to as ‘The Church of the Holy Spite’ for many years. The church was demolished in 1968 to make way for part of Derby’s inner ring road.

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1849 AD - Queen Victoria spent the night in the Midland Hotel during her visit to Derby.

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1850 AD - The Derby Co-operative Provident Society was founded. It is now part of the Central England Co-operative which has over 400 trading outlets and 8,000 staff.

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1850 AD - John Lonsdale, the Bishop of Lichfield, opened a college for ‘the Training of School Mistresses’ on Uttoxeter New Road.

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1851 AD - Derby’s population stood at 48,506.

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1862 AD - The Corn Exchange, on the corner of Exchange Street and what is now Albert Street, opened in Derby.

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1866 AD - Costing £29,000, the Market Hall was opened and became the UK’s first purpose-built indoor market.

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1866 – 1867 AD - Iron Gate was widened with all buildings on the east side demolished.

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1867 AD - Michael Thomas Bass, of the Bass Brewing family donated £12,000 for the creation of the Bass Recreation Ground in Derby. The land was restricted by covenant to ‘be forever used and enjoyed by the inhabitants of the Borough of Derby for a public play and recreation ground.’

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1869 AD - On October 6, a report was published proposing a Free Library for the town of Derby.

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1870 AD - During a meeting at the Guildhall in Derby on November 4, Derbyshire County Cricket Club was formed.

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1871 AD - The Town and County Museum was purchased by the Borough of Derby and the library within it was expanded.

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1873 AD - Michael Thomas Bass MP offered the sum of £4,500 for the creation of a purpose-built library.

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1874 AD - Building commenced on the Normanton Barracks with the first soldiers arriving in 1877. The barracks became the HQ of the newly-formed Sherwood Foresters in 1881.

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1875 AD - After an architectural competition to build Derby’s new library was won by R.K. Freeman of Bolton, Michael Thomas Bass increased his offer to £8,000 for the creation of a purpose-built library and the Borough Council provided the site.​​​

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1876 – 1878 AD - Designed by architects William Giles, Robert Brookhouse and Thomas Brookhouse, a new Derby Workhouse was built on the north side of Uttoxeter Road. Later known as the Boundary Road Institution and then from 1948, Manor Hospital, the hospital eventually closed in 1988.

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1877 AD - The Derbyshire Hospital for Sick Children was established on North Street. It became part of the National Health Service in 1948 and in 1996 moved into a modern building on the Royal Derby Hospital site.

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1877 AD - A new factory was built on Osmaston Road for Crown Derby, (latterly Royal Crown Derby).

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1878 AD - Friar Gate Bridge was built by Andrew Handyside for the extension of the Great Northern Railway.​​

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1879 AD - The official opening of the Central Library and Museum by Michael Thomas Bass MP took place with a collection of around 11,600 books.

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1880 AD - The Strand Arcade was opened in Derby.

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1882 AD - The Midland Drapery store was founded on St. Peter’s Street.

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1884 AD - A meeting was held at The Old Bell Hotel by the Derby Midland Cricket Club. At the meeting the members agreed to form their own football team and Derby County Football Club was born.

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1886 AD - The Grand Theatre was opened on Babington Lane by Andrew Melville with its opening night on March 25.

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1886 AD - On May 6, a fire at the Grand Theatre killed actor John Adams, carpenter James Lockley and badly damaged the building. Andrew Melville rebuilt the theatre within six months, making it bigger and grander than it had previously been.

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1890 AD - Queen Victoria appointed Crown Derby to be ‘manufacturers of porcelain to Her Majesty” and with a Royal Warrant gave them the title The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company.

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1891 AD - On May 21, Queen Victoria visited Derby and laid the foundation stone for the new Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.

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1892 AD - On November 3, the foundation stone for the Midland Deaf and Dumb Institution on Friar Gate was laid by the Duchess of Devonshire.

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1893 – 1894 AD - Large parts of St. Werburgh’s were rebuilt.

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1894 AD - Rebuilding work that commenced in 1891 at the Derby General Infirmary was completed and the hospital was reopened as the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.

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1894 AD - On October 18, the Midland Deaf and Dumb Institution on Friar Gate was formally opened by the Duchess of Rutland.​​

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1900 AD - Derby elected the first English Labour MP in 1900 – Richard Bell.​

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1901 AD - Derby’s population stood at 118,469.​

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1904 AD - Derby Corporation Tramways, the tram system serving the town of Derby, officially opened on July 27.

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1908 AD - Rolls-Royce established a purpose-built factory on Nightingale Road.

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1910 AD - Derby’s first purpose-built cinema opened – the Victoria Electric Theatre on Becketwell Lane.

 

1910 AD - A fire badly damaged the Derby Silk Mill, leading it to be rebuilt into the building that we see today.

 

1914 AD - On October 16, a meeting was held at the Royal Drill Hall in Derby to recruit volunteers for WW1.

 

1914 AD - The Hippodrome opened as a 2,000-seat theatre in 1914. It was converted into a cinema in 1930 before live theatre returned from 1950 to 1959.

 

1915 AD - On March 12, Private Jacob Rivers was killed in action during WW1 and was awarded the Victoria Cross.

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1915 AD - On August 8, the Derbyshire Yeomanry landed at Sulva Bay, Gallipoli, during WW1.

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1915 AD - On October 30, postwomen were recruited in Derby to aid with letter deliveries during WW1.

 

1915 AD - On December 8, the Derby Corporation decided to employ female tram conductors for the duration of the war.

 

1916 AD - On January 31, Derby was targeted by German Zeppelin air bombers. The raid killed five people and £13,000 of damage was caused to the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Works.

 

1917 AD - On March 6, the trial of the pacifist and anti-war campaigner, Alice Wheeldon of Pear Tree Road, began.

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1919 AD - Birds the Bakers, famed throughout the city to this day, was founded by three brothers; Frank, Thomas and Reginald Bird who purchased an existing small shop and bakery at 234 Upper Dale Road.

 

1924 - The world premiere of the stage adaptation of Dracula by Bram Stoker took place at the Grand Theatre on Babington Lane on May 15.

 

1924 AD - The Derby War Memorial was unveiled in the Market Place on November 11, by Alderman Oswald Ling. Designed by C A Thompson and sculpted by A G Walker ARA it was originally erected to commemorate those from Derby who had died during the First World War. Since that time additional plaques have been added for those who died in the Second Word War and more recent conflicts.

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1927 AD - All Saints Church was designated as a cathedral in 1927.

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1929 AD - In November, the Mayor of Derby opened the Derby City General Hospital (now the Royal Derby Hospital).

 

1931 AD - Markeaton Park was opened in June by the Duke of Kent.

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1932 AD - A devastating flood hit the town of Derby.

 

1933 AD - Designed by Charles Aslin, Derby Bus Station was opened and was the first purpose-built bus station in the United Kingdom. The station, along with its art-deco design, was controversially demolished in 2006 with a replacement station opened on March 27, 2010.​

 

1933 AD - Marks and Spencer opened its first store in Derby on the corner of St. Peter’s Street and Thorntree Lane.

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1934 AD - The Riverside Gardens in Derby were officially opened.​

 

1934 AD - Derby’s tram system closed.

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1936 AD - Derbyshire County Cricket Club won the County Championship for the first, and so far, only time in their history.​

 

1939 AD - Derby Airport was officially opened in June at Burnaston. Commercial flights ceased in the 1960’s and the site is now a Toyota car plant.​

 

1940 AD - The first bombs to hit Derby during the Second World War came on June 25. Elizabeth Evans, 67, died during the raid and Elsie Hanson, 39, died six days later from injuries sustained during the raid.

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1942 AD - July 27 saw 23 people killed, 40 seriously injured and 72 people suffered minor injuries when the Rolls-Royce factory on Nightingale Road was bombed.

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1945 AD - On May 8, thousands of people gathered in the Market Place to celebrate Victory in Europe (VE) during the Second World War.​

 

1945 AD - Derbians celebrated Victory in Japan (VJ) day on August 15, when Japan surrendered, effectively bringing the Second World War to an end.

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1946 AD - On April 27, Derby County won the FA Cup for the first time in their history, beating Charlton 4-1 in the final held at Wembley Stadium.​

 

1949 AD - Princess Elizabeth, (now Queen Elizabeth II), and Prince Philip opened the new Council Houses, designed by the architect Charles Aslin.​

 

1951 AD - Derby’s population stood at 181,423.

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1952 AD - The Derby Playhouse opened on Sacheverel Street. It remained there until 1975 when it moved to a new premises in the Eagle Centre.

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1962 – 1963 AD - Derby suffered its coldest winter since 1740.​

 

1963 AD - Derby Assembly Rooms were gutted by fire. The stone façade was re-erected and now stands at Crich Tramway Village.

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1964 AD - Markeaton Hall was demolished.

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1970 AD - Elvaston Castle Country Park was opened to the public.

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1971 AD - On February 4, Rolls-Royce voluntarily entered receivership. With rumours circulating that the Derbyshire Building Society had large investments in the stricken company, large queues formed with people trying to withdraw money in case the building society itself was in trouble. Ultimately the government nationalised the business and secured its future.​

 

1971 AD - BBC Radio Derby officially began broadcasting on April 29, 1971.

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1972 AD - On May 8, Derby County were confirmed as Football League Champions for the first time.​

 

1974 AD - On November 29, Derby’s Industrial Museum, now the Museum of Making, opened.

 

1975 AD - On April 19, Derby County were confirmed champions of the Football League for the second time.

 

1975 AD - The new Derby Playhouse, (now known as the Derby Theatre), was opened on September 20, by the 11th Duke of Devonshire.

 

1975 AD - The Eagle Centre, (now The Derbion) was opened on November 20, at a cost of £7 Million. Many local streets, including Eagle Street, were demolished to make way for the centre, hence its name.​

 

1977 AD - Derby was awarded city status on June 7, 1977 by Queen Elizabeth II to mark the 25th anniversary of her ascension to the throne.​

 

1977 AD - Derby’s third Assembly Rooms were opened in 1977 by the Queen Mother.​

 

1991 AD - Derby’s population stood at 225,296.​

 

1996 AD - The iconic video game Tomb Raider was developed in Derby. A section of the Derby ring road is now called Lara Croft Way.

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1997 AD - On July 18 – Pride Park Stadium – the new home of Derby County Football Club – was opened.

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1998 AD - In April, the original Derby Uncovered was launched.