| Administrative History | John Cupit was a poet, inventor, watch repairer and employee at Parkhouse Colliery. Born 5 June 1871, he was the illegitimate son of Joseph Cupit and Sarah Randall, daughter of William Henry Wilson and Rania (nee Cutts). For at least some of his childhood, John may have been raised by his paternal grandparents, George and Ann Cupit at Danesmoor (ref: 1881 census). Sarah had married James Randall in Chesterfield in 1868, but by the time of the 1871 census, the two were separated – James lodging in Pilsley and Sarah in Rotherham with a family from Chesterfield; seven months pregnant with John, she is described as married, but is using the surname Wilson.
Sarah married Joseph Cupit in 1873 (Belper district) and in the 1881 census James Randall (with his parents in Pilsley) is described as unmarried. The 1891 census records John with his parents Joseph and Sarah in Danesmoor, and several siblings born since their parents marriage. Joseph is described as a carpenter (his father George also a joiner in 1881) and John is working as Colliery Labourer. In 1901, it seems John is boarding in Staveley, and has now joined the family trade as a carpenter/joiner. His artistic talents may have been inherited from his maternal grandfather William Henry Wilson of Pilsley Hall, farmer and land surveyor, who's 1817 notebook contains several verses, see D8251/50.
John Cupit was interviewed in the Derbyshire Courier on 23 October 1909 in relation to his flying model of a monoplane, see page 8 under the heading 'A Clay Cross Aeroplane', including a photograph of John Cupit. According to a note the following week (2 November 1909), the model was put on display at Armistead Bros. of Corporation Street, Chesterfield [cycle agents]. |
| Custodial History | These records were transferred from Chesterfield Library in April 2019, having been bequeathed to Chesterfield Public Library. |