Cromford Derbyshire Family History Guide
Cromford is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Derbyshire, created in 1798 from chapelry in Wirksworth Ancient Parish.
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1797
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1828
Nonconformists include: Wesleyan Methodist
Adjacent Parishes
Historical Descriptions
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
CROMFORD, a small town, and a township-chapelry in Wirksworth parish, Derby. The town stands on or adjacent to the river Derwent, the Cromford canal, the Cromford and High-Peak railway, and the Ambergate and Rowsley railway, 2 miles N by E of Wirksworth; and has stations on both railways, a post office under Matlock-Bath, and a weekly market. Its site is a deep valley, three-fourths engirt by lofty limestone rocks. It was the scene of the operations of Sir Richard Arkwright, the regenerator of the cotton manufacture; it owed to him so much of its character that it may be said to have been founded by him; it still possesses two large cotton mills belonging to his descendants; and it carries on a colour manufacture and other trade, in connection with minerals on their estate. The mills are worked by a perennial stream of warm water from lead and zinc mines on Cromford moor, never fluctuating in quantity, and always so warm in winter as to prevent the adjoining canal from being frozen. Thus "Where Derwent guides his dusky floods, Through vaulted mountains, and a night of woods, the watery god His ponderous oars to slender spindles turns, And pours o'er massy wheels his foaming urns." The chapelry extends beyond the town over vale and hill. Real property, £4,328; of which £20 are in quarries, and £1,915 in railways. Pop., 1,140. Houses, 249. The manor belonged, at Domesday, to the Crown; passed to the Meynells, the Leches, and others; and was purchased, in 1789, by Sir Richard Arkwright. Willersley Castle, or the Rock House, is a spacious mansion, built by Sir Richard, and now the seat of P. Arkwright, Esq. About 200 Roman coins were found, not many years ago, at Scarthen-Nick. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £180. Patron, P. Arkwright, Esq. The church was built in 1797; and contains a marble font and a monument by Chantrey. There are a free school and an alms-house.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
Parish Records
England, Derbyshire, Church of England Parish Registers, 1537-1918
Parish Records - FamilySearch
Census
England and Wales Census, 1841
England and Wales Census, 1851
England and Wales Census, 1861
England and Wales Census, 1871
England and Wales Census, 1881
England and Wales Census, 1891
England and Wales Census, 1901
England and Wales Census, 1911
Records for England
Births and Baptism Records
England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975
Great Britain, Births and Baptisms, 1571-1977
England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
Marriage Records
Great Britain Marriages, 1797-1988
England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
Death Records
England Death Records, 1998-2015
England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991
Great Britain Deaths and Burials, 1778-1988
England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957
England and Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1640-1660
Non-Conformist Records
England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977
Occupations
United Kingdom, Merchant Navy Seamen Records, 1835-1941
War and Conflict
Great Britain, War Office Registers, 1772-1935
United Kingdom, Chelsea Pensioners' Service Records, 1760-1913
United Kingdom, Royal Hospital Chelsea: Discharge Documents of Pensioners 1760-1887 (WO 122)
United Kingdom, Maritime Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1787-1933
United Kingdom, Militia Service Records, 1806-1915
United Kingdom, World War I Service Records, 1914-1920
United Kingdom, World War I Women's Army Auxiliary Corps Records, 1917-1920
Newspaper Archives
British Newspaper Archive, Family Notices
British Newspaper Archives, Obituaries
Administration
County: Derbyshire
Civil Registration District: Bakewell
Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Lichfield (Episcopal Consistory)
Diocese: Lichfield
Rural Deanery: Ashover
Poor Law Union: Bakewell
Hundred: Wirksworth
Province: Canterbury