Tag: litchurch

Volunteer blog – ‘A Man of Many Parts 2’

Posted on by wwwinterheritagetrust

In this weeks blog Joanna talks us through Winter’s ‘other’ career in local politics which spanned 35 years:

Local politics played a big part in Walter Winter’s life. His expanding business gave him an opportunity to meet and serve a wide range of prominent Derby citizens. He was a churchman and like many men of the time and he saw it as part of his duty to do the best for his fellow man and the community in which he lived.

The local newspapers of the time reported in detail all local government issues and it has been possible to build up a chronological picture of Walter Winter’s political career.

In 1875 WWW was elected to the Litchurch Local Board. Litchurch at that time had its own Local Board set up in 1860 as a self-governing body for that area. It later became integrated back into Derby under a Local Government Reform Act. He went on to represent this area on the local board and the Derby Council as a local and independent candidate eight times, six of them unopposed. The newspapers reported his regular attendance at many meetings only missing them because of illness for which he apologised to the ratepayers of Litchurch through the newspapers and thanking them for their kindness and good wishes. As well as full council meetings he attended the estates committee, the special drainage committee and school board meetings. In 1903 he was elected JP (justice of the peace), and in March 1904 his dedication to council work was rewarded when he was elected an alderman in recognition of his many years of service.  He was one of the few to be elected alderman without first serving as mayor. He served on the council right up to his departure to Canada in April 1910.

 

Volunteer blog – ‘Midland Road’

Posted on by wwwinterheritagetrust

This weeks post from Joanna gives us an insight to the growth of Derby on what would have originally been the Castlefields estate.

Looking at maps and plans has always been a big part of my research, ‘the where’ aspect helps to fit another piece into the jigsaw of the history of the Winter’s business.

The part of Derby known as Litchurch was originally its own place and mentioned in the Domesday Book. Records show that by 1841 there were only 855 persons recorded. By 1877 this had risen to nearly 70,000 due to the selling of the Castlefields estate, the subsequent development of the area and the coming of the railway. The Litchurch Local Board was set up in 1860. Mr Winter became a member of this, playing an active role in the management of the area. The area was finally integrated into Derby under the Local Government Act of 1877. Mr Winter was then elected to the Council as member for the Litchurch Ward.

The coming of the railway triggered the development of the area. This major railway junction made travel to and from Derby to the north, south, east and west much easier. It also brought about the Railway Village built to house railway workers, and manufacturing industries on a big scale. Streets were laid out and the boom years began. Into this major expansion came Monsieur E. N. Charles. The buildings in Station Road, as Midland Road was then known, were under construction at the time of the 1851 Census but are clearly marked on the 1852 map commissioned by the Board of Health. It is here that M. Charles had his premises. These buildings on the north side of Midland Road today between London Road and Carrington Street are the original buildings. The same 1852 Board of Health map shows no building at all on the south side, the site of the present Winter’s premises, between London Road and the Midland Hotel (opened 1843). It is marked as pasture land in the owned by J. Cuff, manager of the hotel at the time.  Development on this side began with the corner of London Road towards the end of the 1850s.

The premises housing the original studio remained as part of the Winter’s business into the 20th Century. The photograph of the framing room on display in an upstairs room at the present studio is actually the front upstairs room of these premises. The roofline and chimney of the present studio can be seen through the window. The framer is Mr Samuel Wain who worked at W.W. Winter’s from 1889 to 1914. 

 I hope to continue with the story of the development of Midland Road next time.

If Joanna’s research has whet your appetite for more land history there is an interesting article in Country Image Magazine about the history of the Castlefields, now known as Castleward in Derby.