| Administrative History | Lawrence du Garde Peach was an author and playwright, born in Sheffield in 1890. After serving in military intelligence in the First World War, Peach attended Sheffield University, gaining a PhD. During the 1920s, he began writing professionally, producing short pieces for Punch, as well as many radio plays, particularly for the BBC 'Children's Hour' programme. He was the first editor of Derbyshire Life and Countryside magazine, which was first published on 1 January 1931. From 1943 he shared editorship with Edgar Osborne, the County Librarian, and retired from the post in 1949, after which Edgar Osborne became the sole editor. Lawrence du Garde Peach also wrote numerous stage plays and film scripts, as well as over thirty books in the Ladybird Books 'Adventure from History' series.
In 1927, Peach founded an amateur theatrical group in Great Hucklow, which was to continue until 1971. Politically, Peach was a Liberal Party supporter, and stood (unsuccessfully) as a parliamentary candidate for Derby in 1929. He died in 1974, at his home in Foolow. |
| Custodial History | The executors of Lawrence du Garde Peach will gifted Derbyshire Libraaries his scripts and other material in 1974/1975. Additonal material was sent in via the Trustees of the L du Garde Peach Royalties Trust and members of the public. These documents were transferred from the Derbyshire Local Studies Library collection to the archives collections of Derbyshire Record Office in January 2014. |