| Administrative History | Breadsall Priory and its associated estate was bought in 1799 from the Greensmith family for Sir Francis Darwin (d. 1858), 5th son of Erasmus Darwin. In 1889 Sir Alfred Seale Haslam (1844-1927) purchased the Priory and the estate. It remained Haslam property until the death of his son Eric Haslam in 1967.
Sir Alfred Seale Haslam was born in Derby in 1844, the 4th son of the ironfounder William Haslam. He trained as an engineer and in 1868 opened the Union Foundry in Derby. in 1876 the firm became the Haslam Foundry and Engineering Company Ltd. Alfred S Haslam was an early pioneer in the manufacture of refrigeration equipment, at first for long-distance transport by sea of meat from the Antipodean colonies. Haslam took over Bell and Colman patents for dry air refrigeration in 1880 and for the next fourteen years had a virtual monopoly of British marine meat refrigeration. In 1881 first consignment of frozen meat arrived from Australia at a cost of 2.25d per carcase. These developments opened up European markets for perishable goods and Haslam's machinery became standard equipment in warehouses and stores all over the world. Other products included boilers, hoists, mill machinery and air conditioning equipment for hospitals overseas and for transport of explosives.
Alfred Seale Haslam was a major civic figure in Derby, active in fund raising for Derbyshire Royal Infirmary. He was knighted by Queen Victoria when she visited Derby to lay the foundation stone for the new hospital in 1891 and he presented statues of the Queen to London and Newcastle as well as to his native town. In 1900 he became Member of Parliament for Newcastle Under Lyme in Staffordshire, a seat he held for six years. Alfred Seale Haslam died in 1927 leaving over £1 million. Two of his three sons, including Alfred Victor Haslam, predeceased him but the third, Eric, continued in the family business, re-named the Derby Pure Ice and Cole Storage Company.
Alfred Victor Haslam was an enthusiastic amateur photographer, much influenced by Sir Benjamin Stone (1838-1914) who had founded the national Photographic Record Association in 1897. |
| Custodial History | These papers were transferred to Derbyshire Record Office in 1972. |