Derby

Overview

Derby is a city and unitary authority in Derbyshire, England, standing on the River Derwent in the East Midlands of the United Kingdom. This profile is about Derby, Derbyshire — not Derby, Connecticut, or any other place of the same name. Its site at Little Chester was a Roman fort or village, it became one of the five Danish boroughs under the name Deoraby, and it grew into a market town whose charter history runs from 1206 (1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Derby claims a central place in the Industrial Revolution: its Silk Mill was the first factory in England, and the Derwent Valley Mills running south from Matlock Bath are a UNESCO World Heritage Site (Discover Derby; Derbyshire Record Office). In 2021 its population was around 261,400 (Office for National Statistics).

Derby’s later identity is railways and engines: the Midland Railway was formed here in 1844, Henry Royce brought his motor-car manufactory here in 1907–8, and the city was granted city status in 1977 (Discover Derby; Derbyshire Historic Environment Record; Derby City Council).

From a Roman fort to a market town

Roman and Viking roots

Little Chester, as its name indicates, was the site of a Roman fort or village, though the site is now largely built over and the remains practically effaced (1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica). Derby was known in the time of the heptarchy as Northworthig, and did not receive the name of Deoraby or Derby until after it was given up to the Danes by the treaty of Wedmore and had become one of their five boroughs (1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica). Being won back among the conquests of Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, in 917, it prospered during the 10th century, and by the reign of Edward the Confessor there were 243 burgesses in Derby, though by 1086 the number had decreased to 100 (1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica). The first extant charter granted to Derby is dated 1206, giving its burgesses the privileges that the burgesses of Nottingham had held (1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica). Derby was incorporated by James I in 1611, and Charles I appointed a mayor in 1637 (1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Bonnie Prince Charlie and the market town

Derby’s market history runs deep: the city-centre heritage walk sets off from a Marketplace where markets were probably held about 900 years ago (Discover Derby). Worship has taken place on the cathedral site since the tenth century, and the church became a cathedral in 1927, with a tower built in the early 16th century dominating the skyline (Discover Derby). In the rebellion of 1745 the Young Pretender marched with his army as far south as Derby, where the council was held that decided he should return to Scotland instead of going on to London (1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica). The heritage walk records that on 4 December 1745, following the arrival of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite army, the momentous decision was made to return to Scotland, and a bronze equestrian statue on Cathedral Green commemorates it (Discover Derby). Derby has been represented in Parliament by two members since 1295 (1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica).

The factory system and the railway age

Silk Mill and the Derwent Valley Mills

Derby’s claim to have helped start the Industrial Revolution rests on silk. Silk throwing came to England in 1717 through John Lombe, who learned the craft’s secrets in Piedmont and set up machinery in Derby (1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica). The fuller local account says Lombe, an employee of Thomas Cotchett, went to Piedmont to work and spy, drew diagrams, and is said to have smuggled them back in bales of silk fabric (Discover Derby). He set up the Silk Mill, built in 1717–1718, rebuilt in 1821 and after a fire in 1910; only its carrying arches and bell tower survive from the 18th-century structure (Discover Derby). The Silk Mill was England’s first factory with all processes under one roof using one source of power, and now forms part of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site (Discover Derby). That Site, recognised by UNESCO in 2001, runs 15 miles down the Derwent valley from Matlock Bath to Derby, described as the birthplace of the factory system (Derbyshire Record Office).

The Midland Railway

Derby’s railway age began on 30 May 1839, when the first railway train steamed into Derby from Nottingham, the engine Sunbeam completing the journey in 48 minutes (Discover Derby). Five days later the Midland Counties Railway started a regular passenger service between Derby and Nottingham, and Derby station was completed during the summer of 1840 (Discover Derby). Cut-throat competition between the three railway companies serving the town was solved in 1844 with their amalgamation, forming the Midland Railway on 10 May 1844 (Discover Derby). As the Midland Railway grew it reached Manchester in 1867, London a year later, Swansea in 1874 and Scotland a year later via the Settle and Carlisle line (Discover Derby). By 1851, records showed that 43% of the adults in the town had been born outside the county, most drawn by railway work (Discover Derby). The Midland abolished second-class status in 1875, and in 1923 it amalgamated into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (Discover Derby).

Derby in 2021: engineering city, changing population

Rolls-Royce and city status

Derby’s 20th-century identity is aero-engines. Henry Royce brought his motor-car manufactory to Derby in 1907–8, and the Nightingale Road No. 1 shop, built in 1907, saw the first production of cars on the site (Derbyshire Historic Environment Record). Aero engines were developed there from the 1910s, and car making was discontinued at Derby in 1939 (Derbyshire Historic Environment Record). The firm’s 1971 bankruptcy shook the city so deeply that BBC Radio Derby went on air two months early to cover it from a temporary studio, and Derbyshire Building Society investors feared, wrongly, that their money was at risk (Discover Derby). Derby was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II in her Silver Jubilee year, with the Letters Patent presented by the Queen on her visit to the city on 28 July 1977 (Derby City Council). The city’s porcelain, celebrated since about 1750, and its silk, hosiery, lace and cotton trades belong to the earlier industrial story (1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica).

Census 2021

Between the 2011 and 2021 censuses, Derby’s population increased by 5.1%, from around 248,800 to around 261,400, passing a quarter of a million (Office for National Statistics). That growth was slower than the East Midlands (7.7%) and England (6.6%), and Derby was the third-most densely populated local authority in the East Midlands, after Leicester and Nottingham (Office for National Statistics). The median age rose from 36 to 37, below the East Midlands’ 41 and England’s 40 (Office for National Statistics). The census counted 105,700 households, up from 102,300 in 2011, with 20% of people aged 15 and under, 63.7% aged 16 to 64 and 16.4% aged 65 and over (Derby City Council). The share identifying within the Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh category rose from 12.5% to 15.6%, while the White share fell from 80.3% to 73.8% (Office for National Statistics).

Census measure	Derby	East Midlands	England
Population 2011	Around 248,800	—	—
Population 2021	Around 261,400	—	—
Population change 2011–2021	+5.1%	+7.7%	+6.6%
Median age 2021	37 years	41 years	40 years
Households 2021	105,700	—	—

Source: Office for National Statistics; Derby City Council.

Era	What changed in Derby
Roman times	Fort or village at Little Chester
917	Won back by Æthelflæd; a Danish borough
1206	First extant charter
1717–1718	Lombe’s Silk Mill built
1745	Jacobite council decides to turn back
1839–44	First train; Midland Railway formed
1907–8	Royce brings motor-car works to Derby
1977	City status granted
2001	Derwent Valley Mills gain UNESCO listing
2008	The 06:13 Nottingham to Norwich train derails at Barrow upon Soar

Sources: 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica; Discover Derby; Derbyshire Record Office; RAIB.

The 2008 derailment on the line to Derby

On 1 February 2008, the 06:13 Nottingham to Norwich train collided with debris from a footbridge that had been knocked down by the raised body of a tipper lorry a short time earlier; the train derailed and continued for 170 metres (RAIB). The derailment happened on the Midland Main Line, the railway through Barrow upon Soar on the Leicester to Nottingham/Derby line, and the line remained blocked, with London services terminating at Leicester (Rail Technology Magazine). Two of the four lines were reopened by 04:00 the following day (Rail Technology Magazine). The full account, including the investigation’s findings, is in the Barrow upon Soar rail crash profile, which this profile links to rather than repeating.

Frequently asked questions

Which Derby is this profile about? This profile is about Derby, Derbyshire, England — the city on the River Derwent in the East Midlands, home of the Silk Mill, the Midland Railway and Rolls-Royce. It is not Derby, Connecticut, in the United States, or any other place of the same name. The Derbyshire city is the one granted city status in 1977.

Why is Derby called the birthplace of the factory system? The Derwent Valley Mills, recognised by UNESCO in 2001, run 15 miles from Matlock Bath to Derby and are described as the birthplace of the factory system. Derby’s Silk Mill, built in 1717–1718, was the first factory in England with all processes under one roof using one source of power, and Arkwright’s Cromford mills pioneered water-powered cotton spinning.

What was the Midland Railway? The Midland Railway was formed on 10 May 1844 by amalgamating the three railway companies serving Derby, ending cut-throat competition between them. It grew to reach Manchester in 1867, London in 1868, Swansea in 1874 and Scotland in 1875, and in 1923 it amalgamated into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

When did Derby become a city? Derby was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II in her Silver Jubilee year, with the Letters Patent presented by the Queen on her visit to the city on 28 July 1977. Until then it had been a town, despite having a cathedral since 1927 and a charter history running back to 1206.

How fast is Derby growing? Between 2011 and 2021 its population grew 5.1%, from around 248,800 to around 261,400, slower than the East Midlands (7.7%) and England (6.6%). It was the third-most densely populated local authority in the East Midlands, after Leicester and Nottingham, with a median age of 37.

What this profile does not claim

• It does not assert that John Lombe was poisoned on Italian orders; the Discover Derby trail reports that as a belief, and this profile treats it as an unverified story.
• It does not claim that Derby was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution outright; it records the specific, sourced claims about the Silk Mill and the Derwent Valley Mills.
• It makes no claim about Derby’s current population beyond the 2021 census figure of around 261,400; later estimates were not verified in a fully-read source.
• It does not describe the 2008 derailment beyond the RAIB summary and the Rail Technology Magazine aftermath account; the full investigation belongs to the crash profile.
• It does not rank Derby’s present-day employers or industries by size, because no fully-read source verified such a ranking.