WILLIAM HUTTON - 'FATHER OF LOCAL HISTORY'

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Of all the 'Famous Residents' in the Bygone Derbyshire archive, one is particularly befitting of his place on a website dedicated to local history. He is the Derby-born antiquarian William Hutton, for whom the epithet 'Father of Local History' might have been tailor-made.

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The increasingly-popular discipline of Local History relies for its propagation upon the innate curiosity and enthusiasm of those who both write and read it. At its heart is an interest in the past which embraces the minutiae of life as it once was. In such a fashion 'the everyday past' as opposed to conventional 'history' is brought to life and perpetuated for the enjoyment of future generations.

The man who more than any other was considered to have conceived the discipline of Local History as a commercial entity was the writer, poet and antiquarian William Hutton (1723-1815). It is therefore with no little satisfaction that it can be stated that he was a Derbyshire man by birth.

William Hutton was born in Bridge Gate, Derby, on 30 September 1723 of a family which had migrated there from Northallerton, Yorkshire, during the Civil War. His father, also William Hutton (1691-1758), was a wool-comber, who had married Anne Ward of Mountsorrel, Leicestershire.

At the age of five William Hutton junior went to school in Derby under the tutelage of Thomas Meat, but proved an unexceptional student. As a consequence he was sent to work at the Derby Silk Mill in 1730 when aged only seven.

There he served a gruelling seven-year apprenticeship, rising each day at five in the morning. When he was aged only 10 his troubles were further compounded by the death of his mother Anne - she perished in 1733 giving birth to a ninth child. William's father took comfort in drink, and as a result the family suffered much deprivation.

William disapproved of his father's behaviour and left the Silk Mill in 1737 to take up a second apprenticeship, this time in Nottingham with his uncle, a stockinger. He remained in his uncle's employ for nine full years, but took little genuine pleasure from his time there. Like many before and since he dreamed of doing something he truly enjoyed.

In 1746 when his uncle died William Hutton set about shaping his own destiny. He taught himself how to bind books and in 1749 opened a small bookshop in Southwell, some 14 miles from Nottingham. Each working day he walked the distance between Nottingham and Southwell 'there and back' to carry out his work.

His dedication apart, the business did not thrive as he had hoped, and in 1750 he settled in Birmingham, where again he opened a bookshop, this time serving a much more populous locality.

In 1755 he married Sarah Cock - from the Derbyshire village of Aston-on-Trent - and in the course of time the couple had three sons and a daughter. Two of the sons died in early childhood but the daughter Catherine (1756-1846) lived to become a writer of some renown herself.

William's second venture into bookselling enabled him to branch out into allied trades. In 1756 he opened the first paper warehouse in Birmingham. But he still had much to learn as a businessman - when he attempted a further venture into paper milling he suffered the considrable loss of £1,000.

However, his paper 'selling' warehouse did well, and by 1766 when he was aged 43 he was able to begin specualting in the purchase of land and property. In 1769 he acquired land in Bennett's Hill near Birmingham and built a country house. He subsequently bought a house in High Street, Birmingham, in 1772.

He had by that time cultivated an interest in 'history' of the more parochial kind, and to that end had begun writing and publishing his own books. In 1782 he published his History of Birmingham, the first of its kind on that city. At about the same time he was elected an F.A.S.S. - a Fellow of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland - for like most men who harbour a natural curiosity for the world around them, William Hutton was an avid traveller.

He continued writing and turned his attention to his home town - the result of his labours was the publication in 1791 of A History of Derby. This was again a pioneering text of its kind - the first chronicle of the town - and in such a fashion was the discipline of 'local history' first seriously introduced to Derby.

That apart, the year 1791 was not altogether pleasant for Hutton. He was a committed Quaker, and in that year he was the victim of religious riots that occurred in Birmingham. Both of his homes were burnt down by a mob who objected to his religious stance. He was later paid £5,390 compensation for his losses. Undaunted, he rebuilt his Bennett's Hill residence and spent the next few years caring for his ailing wife.

After his wife died in 1795 he embarked at the age of 72 on yet another energetic phase of his life. He began to travel more extensively - often in the company of his daughter Catherine - and regularly walked long distances.

He resolved to write down even more of his findings, and stated his philosophy thus: 'In order to ensure that I was never idle I endeavoured to recollect an anecdote, as insignificant and remote as I was able, for every day, but rejecting all under ten years old.'

His final output amounted to many books and poems. Most of these were highly entertaining and often displayed a light and gossipy touch - Hutton was no dry historian.

One of his most remarkable titles was published in 1802 when he was aged 79. This was his History of the Roman Wall. Remarkable because he had walked the whole length of Hadrian's Wall in researching it - and he is said to be the first man to accomplish that feat.

Today William Hutton is accorded more status as a 'historic celebrity' for Birmingham than for Derby. He features significantly in the city's heritage literature, and a blue plaque marks the site of his home in High Street, latterly and very appropriately a branch of the booksellers Waterstones.

However, visitors to Derby with a keen eye may yet spot two 'memorials' to William Hutton in the town of his birth. His statue is one of several adorning the first floor level of the fomer Boots the Chemist building on the corner of St. Peters Street and East Street - it carries his name but is best recognised as he is accompanied by a small dog.

The second memorial to William Hutton is in the form of one of the four relief plaques which adorn the Exeter Bridge spanning the River Derwent adjacent the Council House. Thousands of people pass it each day, although doubtless only a handful could state with confidence who William Hutton was. That is a pity, for Hutton was a 'man of the people' in his age.

The man who was labelled by a contemporary the 'Celebrated Historian' died aged 91 on 20 September 1815. Now 'The Father of Local History' is himself the subject of his own discipline - William Hutton might well have appreciated that.

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