| Custodial History | These records were collected by the Arkwright Society and temporarily deposited with Derbyshire Record Office in August 2012 and made a deposit under standard Derbyshire Record Office terms and conditions in July 2023.
There are three main parts to the collection:
- eight items relating to Richard Arkwright’s patents of 1769 and 1775, only came to light after Colonel Peter Arkwright’s death when the roof of his family home, Willersey House, Gloucestershire (address: Broadway, Worcestershire), was being cleared prior to being vacated and sold by his family. The items were placed on loan to the Arkwright Society by the family in 1993.
- records transferred to the Arkwright Society in 2011 "on a permanent loan basis" by the Christian Guild, owners of Willersley Castle, and which were later donated (2021) to the Society (see D7573/BOX and D7573/Plan). The records had been found during building works at Willersley Castle c. 1980 and it appears had been left at Willersley Castle when it was vacated by the Arkwright family following the death in 1923 of Frederic Charles Arkwright (born 1853) and then sold in 1927 by his elder son, Richard Alleyne Arkwright (1884-1965) for use by the Methodist (later Christian) Guild as an hotel.
- a large collection of family archives, formerly owned by Colonel Peter Arkwright (1913-1987) and donated to the Arkwright Society by members of his family in 1993. |
| Arrangement | BOX - box listed records, based on a list prepared for the Arkwright Society in 2012. Part of the series found at Willersley Castle c. 1980 and ultimately donated to the Arkwright Society.
DRO - items not mentioned in the 2012 box lists and described by Derbyshire Record Office. A full listing of this material, completed in 2012 by the former CEO of the Arkwright Society, has been added to the original description compiled by the Derbyshire Record Office, with other notes by an Arkwright Society volunteer.
Plan - outsize plans forming part of the series found at Willersley Castle c. 1980 and ultimately donated to the Arkwright Society. Listed during the 2012 survey.
SBS - items were found during the 2012 survey in a small brown suitcase among the Arkwright Society collections at Cromford Mills. Further details of their provenance is not known.
SWB - items found in a small wooden box, forming part of the series found at Willersley Castle c. 1980 and ultimately donated to the Arkwright Society. Listed during the 2012 survey. |