| Description | Prosecutions book (Northern Division) 1911-1922, Records of Standards books c1914-1967, Verification indentures 1834-1965, inventory records 1926-1962, explosives storage licence register 1949-2004, animal disease registers 1920-1960.
These records have not yet been catalogued into the Derbyshire County Council collection (ref: DCC). For more information please consult the catalogues using the reference numbers below:
D4668 - Trading Standards Division, formerly Weights and Measures: prosecutions registers, accounts, complaints, 1933-1991
D5891 - Public Analyst's Department: Sampled departmental records, including General Laboratory Experiment Books 1929-1965, County Water Books 1932-1955, Derby Borough Samples Books 1938-1963, Specific Product Tests 1928-1970s, Other
D7570 - Papers relating to water supply and drainage in Derbyshire: File of County Analyst's Laboratory Reports with water analysis results for Ashbourne 1897-1905; South Derbyshire Water Board Plan of Coxbench Springs, Carr Brook and Cold Isobel source, route of collecting mains and drainage path of The Dumble (scale 6":1mile), 22 Jun 1965; Copy plan (two parts) of geology, caves and drainage of Castleton area [20th century] |
| Administrative History | The Weights and Measures Act 1825 introduced the imperial system of weights and measurements, replacing the Winchester Standards which had been in effect since 1588. The act required verification of locally held standards against central government's official Exchequer Standards. The Office of Weights and Measures maintained a central set of records relating to verification, while issuing a verification indenture to the Clerk of the Peace, to be held locally. These indentures were then endorsed each time the standards were re-verified. The Weights and Measures Act 1859 required regular re-verification of standards: weights every 5 years and measures every 10. From 1864, the practice was adopted of stamping each standard with the number of its indenture, to link the physical measuring equipment with the related records (Source consulted: Marks and Marking of Weights and Measures of the British Isles, Carl Ricketts and John Douglas, 1996). The Weights and Measures Act 1889 allowed local authorities to provide “working standards”, subject to the approval of the Board of Trade. These working standards were not legally designated as local standards but were permitted to be used for inspecting weights and measures as if they were. The system of endorsing indentures was ended by the Weights and Measures Act 1963, which instead required the Board of Trade to issue a certificate of fitness after each test. The measuring equipment to which these records refer is still held by Derbyshire County Council. The local government reorganisation of 1974 had significant effects on the system, with Derbyshire County Council taking on for weights and measures from the previously independent offices covering the boroughs of Derby and Chesterfield.
The County Analyst Department (later Public Analyst Department) of Derbyshire County Council was formed in 1894, when John White was appointed the first County Analyst, on a salary of £350 per annum. The first laboratory was in Derby, but the department later relocated to Smedley's Hydro in Matlock, which became County Hall. By 1954, eleven people worked within the department. Their duties revolved around the statutory requirements concerning the sale of food products and other articles. By 1954, some 2000 samples were being taken annually by the department under the Food and Drugs Act. They samples were purchased by an inspector, from shops or market stalls. The subsequent analysis may be directed to detect the presence of an adulterant (such as water in milk), or, in certain other foods, to ascertain that the proportion of preservative present does not exceed the amount permitted under the regulations. The analysis may also be extended to ensure that the article is free from prohibited colouring matters or preservatives and from chance metallic contamination. Other departments of the council also used the facilities to determine promptly the quality and standard to specification of materials.
Scientific Advisor and Public Analyst
R W Sutton was appointed as Public Analyst both of Derbyshire County Council and Derby Borough Council in 1933, a position he held until at least 1960 (see "The Analyst" vol LVIII 1933 and p1822 of the British Medical Journal vol 1 No 5188, June 1960).
temp 1974-1977 Joseph Markland. Joseph Markland is named as co-author with R W Sutton of various papers in learned journals, during Sutton's tenure as Public Analyst.
County Trading Standards Officer
temp 1974-7 John Waller |
| Custodial History | A sample of Public Analyst records was transferred to Derbyshire Record Office in November 2002, during the closure of the department.
Subsequently, records were accessioned to collection D4668 and DCC/PP in 1997 and 2017. These were re-accessioned in February 2024.
Also in February 2024, a further transfer of records came from Trading Standards, deriving from the former Weights and Measures department. |