Both men were clockmakers and watchmakers and one of the two is known to have made grandfather clocks. There are at least two clocks that are still in private ownership with the maker named as "James BOWN, Matlock" on the clock face. The exact date they were made is unknown, but in one clock there is a chalked cleaning date written inside of 1854.

Briefly, the occupation of clockmaker is recorded against James Bown snr's marriage to Elizabeth Stevenson (1741-1830) of Darley in 1764. James Bown jnr. is listed in several directories as Bown, James, watchmaker and victualler, Crown Hotel, which is in Crown Square (Matlock Bridge), though the modern hotel does not quite occupy the same site as the hotel that James kept. James jnr.'s wife was Hannah Longden (1767 - 1846), whom he married at Matlock on 4 Oct 1791.

Sarah Bown who married Sir Joseph Paxton was a granddaughter of James Bown the elder.

The authority on clocks, Baillie¹, records Bown, John. Matlock. an[te] 1788. Watch[maker]. The second volume in the series, updated by Brian Loomes², shows James Bowen of Matlock 1835. This probably refers to the 1831 and 1835 entry in Pigot's Directory. From other evidence in parish registers and directories it can be assumed that both entries are slightly incorrect.
Pigot's 1831 Directory
1841 census

¹ Baillie, G.H. (1947) "Watchmakers & Clockmakers of the World, Vol. I" pub. N.A.G. Press Ltd., London. ISBN 7198 0040 4.
² Loomes, B. (1976) "Watchmakers & Clockmakers of the World, Vol. II" pub. N.A.G. Press Ltd., London. ISBN 7198 0080 3
(Ann Andrews)

Born at Matlock Bath on 19 Oct 1793 and baptised a month later at the Independent Chapel, Mary was the fifth child of Anthony Bown and Elizabeth (Woodiwiss or Woodhouse). On 29 July 1818 she married Benjamin BRYAN at Broadwater by Worthing in West Sussex. They returned to Matlock Bath and she bore Benjamin four children.

The Bown's owned the Botanical Gardens in Matlock Bath and it seems likely that the Mary's family were involved with the Devonshire Cavern before Mary's husband Benjamin took over the concern, as one cavern proprietor listed was an E. Bown - this was most probably Edwin Bown, Mary's elder brother.
(Dieter Retz)

See Strays
On this page see: BRYAN, Benjamin Snr.; BRYAN, Benjamin Jnr.; MUMFORD Ann.

John Bowne was born at Lime Tree Farm, Matlock and baptized at St. Giles Church. He emigrated to the USA about 1649 with his father Thomas and sister Dorothy. He married Hannah Feake (1637-1677/8), the first of his three wives, on 7 May 1656 in Flushing, Long Island. Hannah descended through her mother from Adam WINTHROP and Governor John WINTHROP was also descended from Adam.

Hannah became a Quaker and John BOWNE followed suit. Members of the Quaker sect had been holding their meetings in the woods of Long Island. In defiance of Peter STUYVESANT's ban on the sect, John Bowne allowed the Quakers to meet at his house. The story of John's subsequent arrest by STUYVESANT, his deportation to Holland and his other actions in his stance to keep religious freedom in the colony, including quotations from his journal, are to be found in "No Tip of the Hat" - http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ (Click on Colonial Long Island and scroll down)

His house in Flushing, New York (Bowne House) was built in 1661 and is one of the oldest buildings in the United States.
(Ann Andrews, with thanks to John Fitton for his help)

See Strays

Benjamin was born in Marylebone, LND; he married Mary Bown of Matlock Bath at Broadwater by Worthing in West Sussex on 29 July 1818. He was six years younger than his wife. Following their marriage, Mary and Benjamin returned to Matlock Bath and remained there for the rest of their lives. The couple had four children, named Jane (b.1819), William Benjamin (1827-1829), Emily (1829-1854) and Ann (b.1831). Jane married George Scotthorn at Matlock in 1836 and remained in the area but Ann emigrated to Australia.

Benjamin Bryan became a widower in 1838 but soon remarried; in 1839 he married the young, 18-year-old, Henrietta Butler who was from Alderwasley. Benjamin and Henrietta BRYAN remained at Matlock Bath and Benjamin became the proprietor of the Devonshire Cavern¹ and part owner of other Caverns. Their first son was born in 1840 and they named him Benjamin; the couple also had further children named Ellen (b.1841), Agnes (b.1844), William² (b.1846), Daniel (b.1848) and Joseph (b.1850). Benjamin Bryan Snr. died at Matlock Bath on 21 July 1860 and named Henrietta the executrix of his Will. She remarried in 1866 to Edward Wheatcroft.
(Dieter Retz)

On this page see: BOWN, Mary; BRYAN; BRYAN, Benjamin Jnr.; MUMFORD Ann.

¹There is more on Benjamin BRYAN Snr.
Caverns and Mines in 1840

²The second son, William BRYAN, lived above Bryan's Milliners, a shop at the bottom of Holme Road in Matlock Bath, at the top end of North Parade. There was a big workshop at the back of the shop, where about 10 girls were employed and where the hats were made. During the 1914-18 war William sometimes wrote articles for the High Peak news under the pseudonym of BB - the Busy Bee.

Memorial Inscriptions - a Surnames Index
The family in the 1851 census
See Matlock Names in the London Gazette - 1861 (Mrs. Bryan)
(Ann Andrews)

Benjamin was the eldest child of Benjamin Bryan Snr. by his second wife Henrietta (nee Butler). In 1866 he married Annie Boden and by 1881 was editing a newspaper in Blackburn, later moving to Battersea as a Journalist Assistant Secretary. He became the author of "Matlock Manor and Parish" which was published in 1903. He died in 1914 at Belper.
(Dieter Retz)

Benjamin Bryan was a journalist: in 1881 he was editing a newspaper and living in Blackburn, LAN with his wife. He wrote a history of his birthplace: Benjamin Bryan (1903) History of Matlock - Matlock, Manor and Parish: London by Bemrose & Sons, Limited. Clearly interested in archaeology as well as local history, he submitted some articles to the Derbyshire Archaeological Journal.
(Ann Andrews)

See Strays
On this page see: BOWN, Mary; BRYAN; BRYAN, Benjamin Snr.; MUMFORD Ann

Younger daughter of William Maxwell of Preston, Kirkcudbright, Scotland and widow of John, lord Viscount Glenorchy (eldest son of the 3rd Earl of Breadalbane). Her link to Matlock was through her religious beliefs. She built several chapels and founded one in Matlock Bath having passed through the village whilst travelling.
(Ann Andrews)

There is more about the occasion
See Glenorchy (Independent) Chapel

There is a brief biography about this local artist on a page showing one of his pictures
Old Matlock

Also see some of his other pictures:
Matlock Church from Hawe Leys, 1906
The Old Bridge, Matlock
The Church and Boat House, Matlock Bath, 1905

There is more about members of this family in the Dictionary of National Biography.

More onsite information related to this family
Cumming's Old Bath Hotel
Flooding
Matlock & Matlock Bath Names in the London Gazette

• See William John Cumming in 1843 and Alice Ann Cumming in 1853.
• The Old Bath was a venue for property sales in the 18th century and a place where officials met in the 19th century.
• It was sold in 1857 and in 1869 the Hydropathic Company was wound up.

Thomas TYACK (b.1835/6 in Chasewater, CON), who was at the New Bath Hotel towards the end of the century, was linked to this family by marriage.
(Information below provided by David Bates, with additions from Ann Andrews)

He ran the Old Bath Hotel at Matlock Bath from the first decade of the nineteenth century until his death; his wife Mary Gosling, nee Barnes (1786 - 1842), continued to run the hotel afterwards. Though baptised in London, Joseph's father was in the spa hotel business so the boy was brought up in Buxton, at least in his later childhood. Joseph's family - his brothers and children - were quite remarkable.

Joseph and Mary CUMMING had 3 sons - James, Joseph George and William Johnson.
See their entries below. Joseph Notzel had 3 brothers and a half-brother, John.

Son of Joseph and Mary. A surgeon of Ashford then Buxton, he married Mary Ann MacDonald and the couple had ten children. James drowned, together with one of their sons, in a tragic rowing boat accident in the River Derwent near Masson Mill when the river was in flood. The pair, as well as James's wife, are buried at St. Giles.

For more on the very sad events that overtook this family see Newspaper Cuttings
Matlock Bath: Boating on the River Derwent mentions James and his son
Bryan's book gives a full account of the drowning accident, which can be emailed to anyone who is interested in reading it.

Son of Joseph and Mary. He attended Oakham Grammar School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He was at various times curate to his uncle James at North Runcton; classical master at West Riding Prep. School; vice-principal of King William's College, Isle of Man (he was there for fifteen years); Master of King Edward's School, Lichfield; warden & professor of classical literature at Queen's College, Birmingham; rector of Mellis, Suffolk; and vicar of St John's, Bethnal Green, London where he died in the vicarage. Published several books including "The Great Stanley" and "The Isle of Man ; its History, Physical, Ecclesiastical, Civil, and Legendary". He married Agnes Peckham in 1838 and they had six children.

View the Isle of Man site for more on JG Cumming

Son of Joseph and Mary (sometimes given as William Johnson). He was a surgeon, who died of yellow fever at Newborn (New Bern), North Carolina, USA in an epidemic which killed 1300 people during the Civil War.

He appears in Pigot's Directory, 1842

Brother of Joseph Notzel. Professor of Chemistry at Cambridge University. Rector of North Runcton, near Lynn, Norfolk. Published several learned papers & books including "A Manual of Electro-dynamics". He died at North Runcton, NFK.

There is more about Rev. James Cumming:
North Runcton website
More about Victorian North Runcton

Guy Dawber was born in Kings Lynn, NFK in Q3 1861, the son of John Stockdale Dawber (d. 1898) and his wife Lois Ellen (née Edwards). When, as a young man, he was sent to work on a great house at Basford, GLS he seized the opportunity to study the local architecture of the Cotswolds and his designs reflect his interest in traditional rather than contemporary buildings. According to Who Was Who, his speciality was laying out and designing gardens. He was also a painter in water colour. Dawber was the architect who designed the Arts and Crafts style St. John's chapel of ease in Matlock Dale as well as the cottages at the bottom of St. John's Road and lived locally. He played a prominent part in establishing the Council for the Preservation of Rural England in 1926 and became the first President. He was also President of the British School of Architecture (1925-7), was awarded the Gold Medal (1928) and was knighted in 1936. He married Mary Eccles in Lancashire in 1896. He died in London on 24 April 1938 and is commemorated at St. Giles with his parents and brother.

Memorial Inscriptions - a Surnames Index
(Ann Andrews)

The son of a professor of music who had in his youth fought at the the Battle of Waterloo, Joseph Francis Donegani married Pamela FISHER on February 10, 1874 in Mark Church, Somerset. The family moved to Belle Vue House in Matlock Bath shortly before 1900. By that time Joseph Francis was a local butcher and had become a Councillor on the Matlock Bath and Scarthin Nick Urban District Council. He was in charge of the milk and bread rationing during WW1

.... "A native of Bath, Mr. Donegani came to Derbyshire in 1880 as an estate agent to the Right Hon. Robert William Hanbury, M..P., Ilam Hall, Dovedale and whilst there he made several important purchases of land which added to his employers’ beautiful estate. Notable amongst these acquisitions were parts of Thorpe Pastures and Thorpe Cloud".

"Displaying a deep interest in all matters agricultural, Mr. Donegani was instrumental in inaugurating Ashbourne branch of the Derbyshire Dairy Farmers’ Association, being chairman for the first nine years of its existence. He was the pioneer of the Dove Dale Sheep Dog Trials, and was an exhibitor at Ashbourne Agricultural Show when it was quite a small affair. When he left the District in 1882" a banquet in his honour "was given at the Green Man Hotel, Ashbourne, and he was presented with a purse of gold".

After leaving Ashbourne Mr. Donegani farmed at Brightgate, Bonsall, "but a few years later he moved to Matlock Bath, where he commenced to take a keen interest in local affairs. He was elected a member of the old Matlock Bath Urban Council, on which he served for 25 years, and for a considerable time he was chairman of the Finance Committee. A keen Conservative, Mr. Donegani was president of Matlock Bath Unionist League at the time of his death, and he was formerly the president and secretary to the local Conservative Club. He was election agent to Lord Kerry and later to the Marquess of Hartington at Matlock Bath. His other activities included a sidesman at the Parish Church, and a member of the Matlock Bath Bowling Club."
"Mr. Donegani and his father held a somewhat unique position in the Masonic world. His father was a member of the 4th Dragoon Guards Lodge, Yorks., so far back as 1817, and between them they held a record of 116 years’ unbroken membership of the craft. Mr. Donegani was worshipful master of the St. Oswald Lodge, Ashbourne in 1887, and in the following year he was elected an officer of the Provincial Grand Lodge".

Pamela and Joseph Francis Donegani had 12 children (one died in infancy). To celebrate their golden wedding in 1924, "Mr. and Mrs. Donegani made a voyage to Canada to visit four of their sons, who hold important posts in the Dominion. Their other son, Mr. Oswald Donegani, is manager of the Bournemouth Pavilion".

At his funeral service on April 26th 1933 the vicar talked of "the splendid example Mr. Donegani had set at Matlock Bath. He was, he said, an exemplary sidesman and he was always a most conscientious and helpful officer".

Extracts above taken from the obituary notice, The High Peak News, 28 April, 1933
(Douglas Donegani)

Portrait of the DONEGANI family (ca. 1900)
1901 Census
Kelly's Directory (1908) Matlock Bath
Kelly's Directory (1916) Matlock Bath
Memorial Inscriptions - a Surnames Index
Photos of Matlock Bath Today

Eliza Dorothy was the daughter of John Howe and Mary (nee Holmes) of Ashford in the Water. Mary's death, leaving John with seven children, plus his failing business as a Tallow-chandler, left him in sore straits. Below are slightly edited extracts taken from "A Short Biography of a Derbyshire Woman" by Eliza's grandson, Alfred Doxey, in 1890 (John Palmer's grandfather).

Eliza, then only 13, had to face the world in search of a livelihood. ...

Eliza had many trades: she was a candle maker and deliverer for her Father when a girl; a domestic servant as a cook in some good families in Manchester, Nottingham and York; a maker of Umbrella tops for the noted firm of Pickerings in Nottingham; a dressmaker when first married; then a school mistress; then a manufacturer of fustian coats in Middleton and the old smock frocks which used to be worn in Derbyshire; a schoolmistress again for nine years in Rotherham where she had scholars half time from a Mill; later a trimmer of hosiery for John Smedley at Lea Mills where she trimmed some red silk Merino shirts for the Exhibition of 1851. She kept a little shop at Matlock Bank and a Toll Gate at Wensley. Adaptability to existing requirements seems to have been a prominent characteristic of her temperament.

Eliza was married to William Doxey at Bradbourne in 1833 and afterwards lived in a very small cottage at Middleton. ... Later she moved to Lea where she looked after the poultry at the home for her Aunt Mrs. Sims and for which she had her cottage rent free for 18 years after which she moved to Matlock. ... William's earnings as a lead miner were very small and while with Eliza's help and economical management the home was maintained in comfort, there remained little or no surplus funds to be devoted to the acquisition of books and other literature so necessary to one of her tasks and accomplishments.

Notwithstanding, she continued to amass a mine of matter Poetical, literary, and antiquarian. Possessed of a most tenacious memory and the knack of selecting out matter most appropriate to any subject under discussion, while rendering her a dangerous antagonist, furnished a most enjoyable entertainer, and her society was in consequence sought by people much more fortunately placed in circumstances. ... Eliza was a Churchwoman and never went to Chapel until she was about 50 years of age. ... Eliza had a family of two sons, William and Alfred. In 1890 another Alfred Doxey wrote about his Grandmother: "My earlier recollections of her are when keeping the little Toll Bar House at Wensley near Darley Bridge. ... A Grandfather clock stands in one corner, an old oak corner chair in another, which chair after having been handed down through several generations of Alfred's, now remains in my possession.

A portrait of Miss F. Nightingale hangs on the wall, a small brass table stands on the secretaire and a stone box carved by my Uncle Alfred rests on the mantelpiece.

There is the bright oak coat rack, gofering iron, and miscellaneas assortment of odds and ends characteristic of an English homestead. Grandfather is seated on the sofa carefully selecting straws which are then threaded through the band of his hat to be used for shot-firing at Mill Close Mine on next shifts.

... Eliza Dorothy died at 11.30 on the night of January 25th 1888 aged 81. ... Her son William writes "She was a true Theosophist, thinking of others always, never of self. So she is now reaping what she has sown...good."
(John Palmer)

See the family in the 1851 census
Extracts from her letters are on the Wirksworth website John Palmer, her descendant, has transcribed extracts from her letters. She was his 4xg grandmother.

Bank Rd
Matlock
May 26th [18]95

Dear Alfred,

I arrived home all safe & sound on Monday last, my machine I am pleased to say behaved splendidly on the journey. I found on examining my machine on Monday before starting I found the nut that goes on the pin in the clip to seat stalk was split in four places. I took this to Vick & he said he would send for another at once. Will you be so kind as to call sometime when you pass & see if he has got this for me. He said he thought the other one would hold till I got home & strange to say it did so falling in two while I was cleaning my machine next day. I have fastened it together with the help of a little copper wire & fine solder & it might last a long time but of course it is a weak point. I enjoyed my holiday last weekend very much it always feels so much like coming home to come to your house & I always feel that I am both comfortable & welcome a feeling that I am sorry to say does not impress me in most places I go to visit. However I hope before the summer is over we may be able to get a good few runs in together. I had a run to Ashford in the Water last Thursday night the journey up being against the wind took just 1 hour of course this was in daylight & easy riding I rode all over the village had a look in the church yard etc & then lit up & started home at a pretty good pace. At exactly 9 o'clock when I got over Haddon Bridge I found the handles had skidded about 8 inches out of true this I had to dismount & remedy but in spite of this & the fact that I had to keep turning up my lamp to keep it lit & straightening my handles as I rode I arrived home at exactly 20 minutes to ten - 9/40 - the journey of 13 or 14 miles taking 40 minutes (what about solids). On Saturday I put two small pieces of pin steel in the handle clip & in my journey to Arbor Low in the afternoon over the roughest roads it has ever been my lot to ride they never gave once being as straight at the journeys end as at the start. We can have a talk about the Druidical Remains when you come over as I must cut this letter short. Father, Eliza, Lucy and I have been to Via Gellia getting lillies this afternoon we got quite a nice lot but it is terribly hard work to the feet. I am writing this while my feet soak in hot water to get rid of the soreness in my toes. Don't think I have got gout or if I have it is not mangy gout. Although I had plum pudding for dinner today I never thought of this it must have got in my toe ends. But I shall have to bring my epistle to a close as it is time I went to roost. We are expecting to see you over this week end Sat if possible but if you cannot get that day Gerty & William we expect to see & if you send word what time you will start on your machine I will try and meet you at Baslow. But must conclude hoping you are all quite well we are all pretty & well at home at present I am pleased to say. So with love hoping to see you all soon

I remain
Your affectionate brother,

Walter

A photo exists of Walter's bike, which has solid tyres, fixed wheel and single brake pressing on rear tyre, operated by pneumatic pipe connecting to rubber bulb under handlebar
(John Palmer)

1871 Census entry
1891 Census entry (Walter), living on New Street

"William Ludlam, of Matlock, Derbyshire, England, came to America about the year 1640, landing at Boston or Lynn, Mass. Settled at Southampton, L.I., and was a miller and farmer there. He purchased the mill at Watermill, Southampton, in 1652. It was owned by his descendants until 1733. He died at Southampton in 1665, and was buried there. His Will was the first Will recorded in the Surrogate's Office in New York City. It was dated April 27, 1665, was proved June 7, 1665, and recorded October 5, 1665. He married Clemence"¹.

According to another source "The earliest established date for the family in America was 1648, when in July his [William's] eldest two children arrived in the ship Triall." William's brother in law, Robert Fordham of Hertfordshire, had left England some years before and it is believed William emigrated after his wife, Clemence, died in 1647, arriving in Boston in 1647. William's descendants live in the USA².

¹ Taken from: A Genealogy of the Descendants of William Ludlam of Southampton, Long Island. Julia Parish Ludlam. (1896). American Bank Note Company, 45 pp. plus index. [Punctuation and capitals as in the original].
(Stuart D. Ludlam)
² Taken from: William Ludlam of Southampton, Dr. Walter D. Ludlam, Sr., St. Albans, N.Y.
(Bill Ludlam)

Strays

The life of the famous mineralogist was not without drama and Mawe spent 15 years at sea as a young man but, at the end of the eighteenth century, he toured many mines in both England and Scotland and collected minerals for the King of Spain. Imprisoned as an English spy in Montevideo (1805-6) he then visited the Brazilian diamond mines (1809-10). On his return to London in 1811 he opened his first shop in the Strand and became a well known practical mineralogist. He also joined Messrs. Brown & Sons of Derby as a partner - they had bought a house in Matlock Bath around 1810 which Mawe subsequently purchased from them. Mawe's original museum in Matlock Bath was on South Parade, in the house that has a very large bay window and had earlier been part of an hotel. In 1835 his stock, of expensive items, was large and included " a fine assortment of Derbyshire spar and marble ornaments after the most approved antique shapes, executed in the best of styles by Derbyshire workmen, copies of the obelisks of Rameses and Cleopatra ..." (Bryan, pp.160-1). Marble turning was in its prime at that time. Mawe gave lessons in mineralogy and published a book on precious stones. After his death his widow (Brown's daughter) took over the business. It was first managed by Mr. Vallance and then by Mr. Adam, the author of "Gem of the Peak", who then purchased the premises. Mawe is buried at St. Mary in the Strand, London and commemorated on a memorial at Castleton.

Info on Bryan's book
Onsite extracts from "Gem of the Peak"
Public Notices and Announcements - see 1832
See Matlock Names in the London Gazette - 1818
(Ann Andrews)

The youngest child of Benjamin Bryan snr. By his first wife, Mary Bown, Ann was born in Matlock Bath. Ann had an illegitimate daughter named Matilda in 1850 who died at Steeple Grange, Wirksworth in 1852. She then married Andrew Stevens, a Steam Power Engineer, at Penzance, CON in 1853 and by the end of that year arrived, with her husband, at The Burra copper mines in South Australia. In the grim, hot and God forsaken copper mining town she befriended a shepherd by the name of John Johnson and deserted her husband, Andrew. She and John Johnson, who was from Hamburg in Germany, headed for the Victorian gold fields where she had two children by him before they, too, separated. Ann then met Frederick Walter Mumford, who was from Essex, and had three more children before she died as Ann Mumford in 1876 at Sandhurst in Victoria, today named Bendigo. Her husband, Andrew, predeceased her in 1873 at Kadina in South Australia.
(Dieter Retz)

See Strays
On this page see: BOWN, Mary; BRYAN; BRYAN, Benjamin Snr.; BRYAN, Benjamin Jnr.

The founder of the weekly "Tit-Bits" journal was born at Glenorchy House, Matlock Bath. His father was the Independent Minister Thomas Mold Newnes and his mother was Sarah (nee) Unquart. One month old George and five of his siblings, some of whom were later buried at St. Giles, can be found living with their parents in the 1851 census. The family moved away, but returned to Matlock for a brief spell around 1881, by which time George was married and living in Stretford, LAN with his wife Priscilla (nee Hillyard) and their two sons.

At the time of the census he was running an "Eating House" and was described as a Restaurant Proprietor Employing 12 Women and 1 Boy. It was not long after then, having scraped together some money, that he produced the first "Tit-Bits" paper in the October of that year. Unbelievably, he sold 5,000 copies in under two hours, a notable achievement. The paper became extremely popular and Newnes moved his offices to London.

He'd been at school with William Thomas Stead, who was later to perish on the Titanic. It was Stead's suggestion that Newnes brought out the "Review of Reviews" in 1890 and Stead was his editor, but the two parted company not long afterwards. Newnes then became involved with the "Strand" magazine and later the "Westminster Gazette", along with other publications the most noteworthy of which is probably "Country Life". He'd become a Liberal M.P. in 1885 and he represented Newmarket for ten years, later representing Swansea from 1900-1910. He was knighted in 1895.

He hadn't forgotten his birthplace and became involved with forming the limited company for and then building the cable car which ran up Bank Road. He "bought out the other shareholders and presented the tramway and its belongings to the local Urban District Council, as representing the people of Matlock" (Bryan, p.238). This was in 1898 and the tramway continued to run until 1927. Newnes died at Lynton, Devon, where he'd built a cliff railway prior to becoming involved with the project at Matlock.
(Ann Andrews)

Living with parents in the 1851 census
Strays
Bank Road and the Tram
Independent Chapel
Also see the 1901 census online: search for Newnes, Sir George (i.e. not just George)

"The Nightingales and their successors have been landed proprietors in the parish since 1771" when Peter Nightingale bought an estate called "the Coumbs and Bough or Bow Woods" ... and the manor of Wakebridge, Crich.

"The Nightingale family has long resided at Lea Hurst; previously they were at Wood End and Lea Hall".

Quotes from Benjamin Bryan (1903) History of Matlock - Matlock, Manor and Parish: London by Bemrose & Sons, Limited, pp.18-20
(Ann Andrews)

More on site information about both Florence and the Nightingale family:
Florence Nightingale as a young woman
Florence Nightingale's Balcony, Lea-Hurst, Nr. Matlock
Coat of Arms
Pedigree of Nightingale
Dethick, Lea and Holloway (Kellys 1891 Directory)

Florence Nightingale is probably the most well known of the past inhabitants of the area, apart from Sir Richard Arkwright. Her great determination and total dedication to her profession completely changed the quality of nursing care in Britain and the British Army. She is regarded as one of Britain's greatest heroines and her life has been well documented.

The younger of two sisters, daughters of William Edward Shore Nightingale and his wife Fanny, Florence was named after the city where she was born.

Florence's father descended from his great grandfather Peter Nightingale, a lead merchant and yeoman (named below) through the female line, but he changed his surname to that of Nightingale when his uncle died. The Nightingale family lived at Lea Hall, on the edge of the parish, until Florence was about five years old. They then they moved to Lea Hurst. The family later only used the house during the summer - too cold otherwise, too small and too remote for Mrs. Nightingale, though Florence loved it.

Florence was well educated as a girl and began hospital visiting in 1844. She trained as a nurse at Kaiserwerth on the Rhine and was appointed a nursing superintendent at the Hospital for Invalid Gentlewomen in London in 1853. The hospital was later renamed and became the Florence Nightingale Hospital for Gentlewomen.

At the outbreak of the Crimean war (1854-6), having learned of the terrible conditions at the hospital at Scutari, Florence gathered together a band of ladies and went to help. They found that even the most basic sanitation was nonexistent and the food storage was disgraceful. The women, with Florence leading them, transformed the hospital by sheer hard work and perseverance but it took a long time to do and some of them also succumbed to disease (cholera, dysentery and typhus) and frostbite. Florence herself, assisted by orderlies, tended the wounded at night, which is how she was given the affectionate title of "The Lady with the Lamp". In Derby, near the Royal Infirmary, there is a white marble statue of her dressed as she would have been in the Crimea and carrying a lighted torch.

She returned to Derbyshire in August 1856. "One summer's day in 1856 a lady left a convent on the banks of the Thames, took a train to the nearest station to Holloway, and walked from the station to her home. She was unattended and hardly expected when she opened the door of Lea Hurst to reveal herself to the astonished household. She was Florence Nightingale home again. ... She was the most talked of woman in Europe¹".

A fund was set up and, as a result of the money raised, the Nightingale School for Nurses at St. Thomas' Hospital, London was established. As a result of her Crimea work, and her later interest in the British Army in India, living conditions for those in the Army improved enormously. She received several awards for her work and was the first woman to receive the Order of Merit.

There have been a number of books written about Florence Nightingale and some question the success of her work in the Crimea. Two biographies with good illustrations are:
- Huxley, Elspeth (1975) "Florence Nightingale" Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London ISBN 0 296 76771 2
- Small, Hugh (1998) "Florence Nightingale Avenging Angel" Constable and Company Limited, London ISBN 0-90-479840-0

¹ Mee, Arthur (ed.) (1937) "Derbyshire: The Peak Country", The King's England Series, Hodder and Stoughton Limited, London, p.157
(Ann Andrews)

George Nuttall, like his father and grandfather before him [see John below], was a Land Agent. He lived on Matlock Green. He was clearly a wealthy man and owned, amongst other things, the Cawdor Quarry (the Megdale estate). Settlement of his estate after his decease took some years - it was finally resolved in 1864 - because of the discovery of additional codicils to his Will. What became known as "The Great Matlock Will Case" was heard at the Court of the Queens Bench, Guildhall, London; the case was to decide whether or not three codicils that had been found were or were not forgeries. The press of the time had a field day and some of the speculation that was rife then has stuck. Whatever your opinion of the case itself might be, there is no evidence that George Nuttall and his housekeeper had any children and the Marsdens named in his will were clearly defined as his housekeeper's siblings. After all, why would someone go to great lengths to identify the illegitimate son of his own father in his will yet not acknowledge children he himself might have had? It was unfortunate that the main beneficiary of the actual Will, his second cousin John Nuttall, had died shortly after George.

Read:
The Great Matlock Will Case - Court Report
The Great Matlock Will Case - 100th anniversary newspaper article.
This case was not solved immediately. See the onsite extracts from the London Gazette in 1872 and 1893
Also see:
Nineteeth Century Lists, Volunteer Infantry
NUTTALL pedigree is onsite. George was the main contributor.
1841 census
1851 census
(Ann Andrews)

He was a Land Agent in Matlock and Commissioner of Inclosures. Appointed in 1780 by Peter Nightingale, John Woolley and others to be the arbitrator for the enclosure of land, John Nuttall "acted repeatedly for settling claims under the Inclosure Acts and .. [was said] to have given general satisfaction".

His only surviving son, George, and grandson, also George, followed in his footsteps and were also Land Agents [see George above].

Quotes from Benjamin Bryan (1903) History of Matlock - Matlock, Manor and Parish: London by Bemrose & Sons, Limited, p.52.
(Ann Andrews)

Born in 1769, he was an English portrait painter. He was a native of Derbyshire and studied under Romney. He only once exhibited at the Academy [Royal Academy, London]; this was in 1799 and his picture was of an old woman knitting. His portrait of Erasmus Darwin has been well engraved by Heath. Rawlinson died in 1848^1. He also painted landscapes. "In 1822 he published an album of Derbyshire views. He produced lithographs after drawings by his daughter, Eliza, with whom he visited Italy in 1829. His work is atmospheric but technically unaccomplished²".

Mentioned in Adam's "Gem of the Peak"
See his entry in the 1841 Census for Matlock Bath
MI of wife

¹ Extracted at the FRC from Bryan's "Painters & Engravers. A Bibliographical Dictionary of Painters & Engravers" (1925) G. Bell & Sons, Ltd., London Vol. IV p.201
² Mallalieu HL "Dictionary of British Water Colour Artists up to 1920" (1976) Baron Publishing, Woodbridge ISBN 0 902028 48 0, p.215
(Ann Andrews)

Louise or Louisa was one of the six daughters of the Victorian watercolour painter Samuel Rayner and his wife Anne (nee Manser) and was born in Matlock Bath. She was baptized in London at the Newman Street Catholic Apostolic in Saint Marylebone on 8 Feb 1835, together with her slightly younger sister Frances. The girls and their brother Richard Manser Rayner would have been surrounded by the artist friends and acquaintances of their parents, and it isn't too surprising that they all were pupils of their father and all but one became artists in their own right. The eldest, Nancy, was elected as an associate of the Water Colour Society but died of consumption in 1855.

By 1881 Louise had been living in the City of Chester for eleven or twelve years; she was boarding with Robert Shearing, a retired chemist, and his wife Mary Ann at 2 Ash Grove and described as a Water Colour Artist (Painter). Her sister Margaret was also earning her living as a watercolour artist, but was living in New Windsor with her mother and Frances, by now Mrs. Coppinger, was lodging nearby and describing herself as an Artist Painter. Brother Richard was in Gomshall, Surrey, though later moved to Orpington in Kent. Sister Rose (Rhoda) exhibited last in 1866¹.

After their mother Anne died in 1890 Margaret joined Louise and the sisters taught watercolour drawing in Chester. The sisters later moved to Tunbridge Wells and Louise spent the last four years of her life at St Leonards in Sussex.

Chester featured in quite a few of her paintings though Louise travelled around Britain, and the subjects she chose were the old buildings and churches she visited, and the landscapes and street scenes she saw. She also visited France. A few early works, such as "The Interior of Haddon Chapel" were executed in oil but the majority were watercolours. She exhibited in both London, where she'd begun exhibiting in 1852², and in galleries in several British cities. Fisher³ says she exhibited 91 works, including 31 at the Royal Academy. Waters⁴ describes her output as considerable "but duplicated many of her works".

The Bridgeman Art Library has examples of the work of both Louisa and her father, including a watercolour of Irongate, Derby. Sothebys list a record price paid for one of her paintings at a recent sale.

See Strays - Rhoda and Louise are listed under R
Bridgeman Art Library
Sothebys

There are two other main sites that are are very informative on this little recognized artist and a "must" to visit :
Chester City Council
DudleyMall has been considerably enlarged to include a great deal of information about the Rayner family, including a lovely engraving on black marble done by Louise's mother, Anne.

*Originally named Louisa Ingram Rayner
(Ann Andrews)

¹ Wood, Christopher "Dictionary of Victorian Painters" (2nd. ed. 1977) Antique Collectors Club ISBN 0 902028 72 3
² Mallalieu HL "Dictionary of British Water Colour Artists up to 1920" (1976) Baron Publishing, Woodbridge ISBN 0 902028 48 0
³ Fisher, Stanley "A Dictionary of Water Colour Painters 1750-1900" (1977) W. Foulsham & Co., Yeovil, ISBN 0-572-00794-9
⁴ Waters, Grant M "Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950" (1972) Eastbourne Fine Art

The man who built Rockside and Claremont. He and his wife also ran Matlock House Hydro.

Claremont, Matlock, and Mr. Rowland is mostly biographical
Advertisement in Bemroses Guide of 1869
Water Cures
Bank Road and the Tram

Shelmerdine was the Presbyterian Minister who held the living at Matlock 1654-62 in the aftermath of the English Civil War. A Lancastrian by birth, he was educated at Christ College, Cambridge. Before coming to Matlock he had previously been a minister at Crich. The Parliamentary Commissioners Report of 1650 describes "Mr. Thomas Shelmardine, able and honest".¹ "He was a Man very Cheerful in converse. A kind Husband to an Holy but very Melancholy Wife. ... He remov'd thence [i.e. from Matlock] when he was Silenc'd to a dwelling at Wirksworth, when he did not long survive".²
(Ann Andrews)

¹ Cox, J. Charles (1877) Vol. II. "Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire" pub. Chesterfield London and Derby.
² Calamy's Ejected Ministers , vol.ii., p.166

Rectors
Strays

His influence on the town of Matlock, with the building of his hydro and then his castle at Riber as well as six churches in the area, was enormous. Whilst there is no short biography about him here, there is a great deal of information already on this site about him.

Riber
Water Cures Includes an engraving of Mr. Smedley's tent, where his employees worshipped
Advert for Hydro, 1869
1871 census
"There Was Red Tape at Smedley's Hydro Then"
The Enduring Folly of Riber Castle
Smedley shows concern about an employee (newspaper report of 1872)
Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Images Includes five pages of mid 19th century images from John Smedley's "Practical Hydropathy"
Twentieth and Twenty First Century, Matlock Includes postcards and an advertisement published in "The Derbyshire Countryside"
Further reading

Bachelor Job, a son of George and Rachel Smith, was the proprietor of Malvern House Hydro*, where he was born and died. He was the first church warden at All Saints’ Church, serving the church for 22 years, and in his memory four coloured windows were installed in All Saints' by public subscription. The Manager of All Saints’ Schools, he was also Director of the Gas Works, Chairman of Matlock Waterworks, Chairman of the Social Institute and of the High Tor Recreation Grounds. Kelly's (1904) Directory gives Job Smith as chairman of Matlock Urban District Council and he served on the Council and its various committees for many years. He also represented Matlock on the County Council.

He's probably most remembered, though, for his contribution to "the steepest tramway in the world" having worked diligently to bring a tramway to the town after seeing the San Francisco system. He was the Manager of Matlock Cable Tramway Company.

*Malvern House (ref in Kelly 1900) on Smedley Street (formerly the Horse and Jockey pub), which Job ran as a hydro, was eventually purchased by Smedley’s as staff accommodation and is now flats.
(from notes by Julie Bunting)

Job can be found there in the 1901 census (RG13/3266 fo.86 p.8 sch.42) employed "on his own account" as a Hydropathist and his sister Sarah Lydia was his housekeeper

At Malvern House in 1891
Bank Road and the Tram
Water Cures (Directory Listing)
Matlock Names in Nineteenth Century Lists (see County Council)

The memories of her childhood, which she spent at Castle Top Farm, were the inspiration for the animal tales invented by Alison Uttley to amuse her son. The delightful children's books became familiar and well loved tales in very many households. The animal characters were in such wonderful children's stories as "The Little Grey Rabbit", "Sam Pig" and "Fuzzypeg." The books were illustrated by Margaret Tempest.

Alice Jane Taylor was born at Castle Top Farm "on a Saturday ... a week before Christmas", the daughter of Henry Taylor and his second wife Hannah (nee Dickens). Many generations of the Taylor family had lived at Castle Top Farm, which is within the parish of Matlock, and their baptisms and burials are in the church records.

Alice was a clever girl; she was educated at home and then at the village school across the fields at Lea. She found that she had to write on a slate with a pencil at school, instead of using paper and her quill pen. At the age of thirteen she won a scholarship to Lady Manner's Grammar School, Bakewell. She would catch the milk train from Cromford Station, just down the road. From Lady Manners she went on to Manchester University and gained an Honours Degree in Physics, followed by a further year studying in Cambridge where she qualified to become a teacher. She later became active in the Suffragette Movement.

She'd met her scientist husband, James Uttley, whilst at Manchester and they married in 1911; they had one son. Her writing talents weren't properly developed until after her husband's death in 1930 when she needed an income to support both herself and her son. She'd begun to write before this, but James didn't really encourage her. However, "The Country Child" was published in 1931 and she published over 100 books in total. Although she never went back to live at Castle Top, she describes Cromford, the village and country life of Derbyshire that she'd observed, as well as her schooling, in her books. "A Traveller in Time" is based on the Babington Plot to free Mary Queen of Scots; Anthony Babington had owned property in the nearby Dethick and Wingfield Manor, where Mary Queen of Scots had been imprisoned, wasn't too far away. "High Meadows" is set at the nearby High Leas Farm. Alison believed in the supernatural and in her book "When All is Done" there are ghosts are part of the plot. Her books for adults provide a very useful insight into nineteenth and century farm life and she had a very strong awareness of history, with all kinds of snippets interwoven into her stories. She spent her later life living in rural Buckinghamshire.
(Valerie Mawson and Ann Andrews)

There is further information about the Taylor's onsite
Church registers
Census returns and Trades directory transcripts
Also see the 1901 census transcript on this website - Alice Taylor 16
High Leas Farm's website also mentions the Taylors, and some characters in Alison Uttley's books