Welcome to Old Ilkeston … the growing story of a town in the Victorian era

Please remember .. you can contribute at any time to the site. Or ask any questions. You can write to the site either using the Contact Form on the sidebar or by email ... [email protected]

To find your way around the site, there is an index to the Grand Tour, and a site guide at the end of it . And because the site is constantly being updated, I have added a Supplementary Index which is also updated every month. You can also use the search boxes -- top right and at the top of the left side-bar of this home page, --- or use the menus on most of the pages.


Recent Additions

2022

August 9th ... Don't you find local adverts of the 1850s comforting ... and so polite ?? !!

August 7th ... additional detail (1855) on the Baths at Ilkeston

August 6th ... corrections and additions to Ilkeston's water supply

July 31st ... updated Supplementary Index to show all the recent additions

July 23rd ... more detail on Mark Beardsley ... but which one ??

July 2nd ... an update of the Manor House and its inhabitants -- Cockers, Taylors and Shaws

June 30th ... updated Supplementary Index to show all the recent additions

June 27th ... the resting place of William Tunnicliffe, Parish clerk

June 8th ... thanks to Peter Cave for giving us more about the life of Edgar Chadwick in the USA

June 5th ... a new page on Frank Ebbern the emigrant

June 2nd ... new images of the Anchor Inn on Market Street

May 31st ... updated Supplementary Index to show all the recent additions

May 31st ... the first edition of Hallcroft Boys' School Magazine 1925, thanks to Blidworth and District Historical and Heritage  Society

May 30th ... the short army career (1915-1919) of George Ebbern of Millfield Road

May 26th ... extra detail on the Potter family of Queen Street, thanks to the excellent work of Anita Jackson

May 25th ... a new page on the continuing work of the Town Council 1891-1892

May 20th ... 1892: Turmoil in Robey's Yard

May 16th ... yet more burial troubles for the Rev. Edward Muirhead Evans

May 12th ... trouble at the old Toll Bar

May 11th ... more on the life and career of architect George Haslam

May 4th ... the sad death of Harry Spencer

2021 ... (All additions for 2021 can be found here)

2022 ... updates can be found here

Who lies in this neglected grave in St. Mary’s Churchyard ? You might be surprised at the office he once held in Victorian Ilkeston.

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Who is this ? 

If you live in Ilkeston, you have probably walked by the house he built over 160 years ago, on numerous occasions.

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Do you recognise these premises ? Are you aware of their connection with the Old Cricket Ground ?

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How did Sarah’s first husband die ? And where is this ?

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Sheep shearing in Ilkeston ?? (Pam Bates collection)

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The photo above can be found in Trueman and Marston’s History of Ilkeston. It is labelled as “A bit of old Ilkeston, in Bath Street“. Any idea what it was called … or where it was ? (Be careful !! — don’t make the same mistake as the census enumerator Arthur Perriam made in 1881)

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This is supposedly a copy of an oil painting by G. Paulden (1952), imagining “Ye Olde King’s Head Hotel about 1895”. (courtesy of Ilkeston Reference Library).
There are a couple of clues within the painting to help provide an exact year … and it isn’t 1895. 

And below is its neighbour inn, the Sir John Warren. Can you date that one to a year or two ? (you will need to enlarge it)

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Jim Beardsley has very kindly loaned a bundle of unique documents to the Old Ilkeston site from his personal collection. The papers include fascinating details of Victorian property ownership. All of the plans below are from Jim’s collection.

Any idea what this plan below is showing ? .. there are lots of clues within it.

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Burr Lane … but perhaps not as you know it

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Can you connect the Plan below with the Photo above ? (Jim Beardsley Collection) 

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Any contributions and comments are all very welcome.
If you have any questions about your own Ilkeston research please put them forward.

© since 2012

 

Search the site


  • The Grand Tour
  • Index to the Grand Tour and Site Guide.
  • Adeline’s articles and the Columbine family history
  • Old Ilkeston B/M/D Records and Census
  • Old Ilson Blog by ‘Insider’
  • Help and Reference Library

Contact Form


[email protected]

Dave Johnson