| Administrative History | The Pickford family became well-known in the eighteenth century as carriers transporting goods between Manchester and London. Thomas Pickford bought an estate at King Sterndale near Buxton in the late 1780s, apparently as a rural retreat close to the main route used by the firm for its business. After Thomas's death, the estate descended to his younger son, Revd Edward Matthew Pickford, who died unmarried in 1869. His successor was Charles Hampden Pickford (d.1882), but King Sterndale Hall continued to be occupied by Charles's four unmarried aunts. When Charles proposed selling the Hall in 1874, it was bought by the four sisters helped by a mortgage loan from their nephew. The sisters were great benefactors to the village, financing the building of the church in 1849 and establishing a school for local children. Sarah Pickford, the last survivor of the four, died in 1907. The estate then passed to their great-nephew William Pickford (d.1923), a barrister and judge who was created Baron Sterndale in 1918 and who served as Master of the Rolls from 1919 to 1923. He had two daughters, Dorothy (d. May 1971) and Mary Ada, at one time MP for Hammersmith North, both of whom died unmarried. Their cousin and heir, Charles Pickford, sold most of the remaining estate in the early 1970s. The Pickford home was originally called 'The Cottages', but was extended until it became a moderate-sized property with 10 bedrooms known as 'King Sterndale Hall'. The main strength of this series is the group of detailed estate and farm accounts for the mid 19th century. |
| Custodial History | Purchased at auction by Derbyshire Record Office in 1984 and 1990. Added to the catalogue as part of the FindersKeepers project by volunteer Vicky Kerrigan |