Derbyshire's Own - Softcover

From sixteenth-century martyr, Joan Waste to 'Spycatcher' Peter Wright; from murderess Ellen Beare to nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale; and from first Astronomer, Royal John Flamstead to record-breaking sailor, Ellen MacArthur, the county of Derbyshire has been birthplace or home to hundreds of extraordinary men and women. Writers, artists, sportsmen and women, aristocrats, socialites, war heroes, inventors, actors, scientists, entertainers, politicians and entrepreneurs are all included in this fascinating, and often surprising, collection of mini-biographies of Derbyshire people, which has been compiled by one of the county's foremost authors. Did you know, for example, that Derbyshire can boast at least three Nobel Laureates and numerous Olympians? And who knew that the man who invented the hotdog hailed from Derby, or that Derbyshire had its own representative on Captain Scott's ill-fated South Pole expedition? That Catherine Booth, co-founder of the Salvation Army, was born in Ashbourne? That one of television's most beloved actors, Arthur Lowe, was born in Hayfield? Of course the more familiar Derbyshire folk are included as well: Anthony Babington, who plotted to free Mary, Queen of Scots; Steve Bloomer, football's first true superstar; and Alison Uttley, creator of Little Grey Rabbit. This fascinating book features more than 100 of the most interesting and influential sons and daughters of the county from the fifteenth to the twenty-first century.