Derby has been long celebrated for its porcelain, which rivalled that of Saxony and France. This manufacture was introduced in the year 1750, and although for a time partially abandoned, it has been so far revived, and is still continued. There are also spar works where the fluor spar, or blue John, is wrought into a variety of useful and ornamental articles. The manufacture of silk, hosiery, lace, and cotton formerly employed a large portion of the population, and there are still numerous silk mills and elastic web works, &c. The iron manufacture is also of great importance ; among the larger establishments may be mentioned the Britannia Works, which furnished thereof of the great Agricultural Hall, London. The sanitary condition of the town is much improved since the formation of a local board, and the rate of mor tality is low. Among benevolent institutions may be mentioned a ragged school, and a nurses " home." The population of the municipal borough, which occupies an area of 1796 acres, numbered 40,609 persons in 1851, 43,091 in 1861, and 49,810 in 1871. The parliamentary borough, which in 1867 was extended so as to include the townships of Litchurch and Little Chester, and covers an area of 2999 acres, had a population in 1871 of 61 381 29,882 males, and 31,499 females.
[ Plan of Derby. ]
Derby is a town of great antiquity, but its origin is un known. During the Heptarchy it was called Northworthig, and its present name Derby, or Deoraby, is due to the Danes. Constituted in the ninth century the chief town of the county by King Segurd, Derby was incorporated by Henry I. Its charter was surrendered to Charles II. in 1680, and a new one was granted in 1683, by which the government of the borough was vested in a mayor, 9 alder men, 14 brethren, and 14 capital burgesses. In 1835 the town council was re-organized under the Municipal Corpora tions Act, and now consists of a mayor, 12 aldermen, and 36 councillors. Derby was the furthest place reached by the Pretender in his march towards London in 1745 ; he lodged in Exeter House, Full Street, and held there a council of war, which resulted in the abandonment of his project.
Bibliography :—History of Derby from the Remote Ages of Antiquity, to the year MDCCXCI, by W. Hutton, 8vo, Lond. 1791 ; (reprinted with additions, 1817). Collection of Fragments Hhistra- tive of the History and Antiquities of Derby, by Robert Simpson, 2 vols. , Derby, 1826. New Historical and Descriptive View of Derby shire, by Rev. D. P. Davies, 8vo, Belper, 1811. View of the Pre sent State oj Derbyshire, &c., by James Pilkington, 2 vols. 8vo, Derby, 1789. Magna Britannia, by Daniel and Sanmel Lysons, vol. v. (Derbyshire), 4to, Lond., 1817. History and Gazetteer of the County of Derby, by Glover and Noble, 2 vols. (unfinished), Derby, 1831. Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire, vols. i. and ii., by Charles Cox, London and Chesterfield, 1876. (A. L. S.)
DERBY, EDWARD-GEOFFREY SMITH STANLEY, FOURTEENTH EARL OF, Baron Stanley of Bickerstafie, and a
baronet (1799–1869), born at Knowsley in Lancashire, on
the 29th March 1799, was the eldest son of Lord Stanley,
who afterwards (1834) became the thirteenth earl of Derby.
The title in the direct line of succession to which he was
thus born ranks second in precedency among the earldoms
in the peerage of England. He was educated at Eton
and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he distinguished
himself as a classical scholar, though he took only an ordi
nary degree on quitting the university. In 1819 he ob
tained the Chancellor s prize for Latin verse, the subject
being " Syracuse." He gave early promise of his future
eminence as an orator, and it is said that in his youth he
used to practise elocution under the instruction of Lady
Derby, Ids grandfather s second wife, who as Miss Eliza
Farren had been a celebrated actress. With such an in
clination and aptitude for public speaking, the heir to an
ancient title was only fulfilling his natural destiny in
seeking a seat in the House of Commons, and of course he
had no difficulty in finding one. In 1820, soon after he
had attained his majority, he was returned for Stockbridge
in Hampshire, one of the nomination boroughs whose
electoral rights were swept away by the Reform Bill of
1832, Stanley, like several Others who entered parliament
by means of them, being a warm advocate of their destruc
tion. It may appear somewhat strange that he should
have remained for four years, so far as is known, a silent
member ; but the representative of a pocket borough had
no constituency to consider, and there wag not in those
days the incentive to frequent speaking that is now fur
nished by full daily reports of the debates circulating
through the entire country. His maiden speech was de
livered early in the session of 1824 in the debate on a private
bill for lighting Manchester with gas. Although the sub
ject can scarcely have given scope for any high flight of
oratory, the speaker was warmly complimented by Sir
James Mackintosh, one of the first authorities in the House,
who welcomed him as an accession to the Liberal ranks,
and Hansard reports the speech as characterized by " much
clearness and ability." His second appearance was made
in connection with a subject irrepressible as it proved,
though he always did his utmost to repress it which was
afterwards to determine more than one important turning
point in his political career, and to call forth his last utter
ance in parliament. It is noteworthy also as an early
exhibition of the Conservative instinct whose growing
strength led gradually to an entire change of his political
position. On the 6th May 1824, he delivered what
seems to have been a vehement and eloquent speech against
Joseph Hume s motion for a reduction of the Irish Church
establishment, maintaining in its most conservative form
the doctrine that church property is as sacred as private
property. From this time his appearances became frequent ;
and he soon asserted his place as one of the most powerful
