ABSTRACT
Although the return of the agricultural labourer and proto-industries to the country did not occur, villages were beginning to be built by the mill owners. The early mills from the mid-eighteenth century were powered by water, so were dependent upon creeks, rivers or waterfalls. Consequently, many of these mills were built away from existing towns or villages. Early in the Industrial Revolution it was difficult to attract workers to the mills. The working hours and the conditions were unattractive to agricultural labourers and proto-industry cottagers, who had been able to specify their hours of labour or take days off if they desired, and generally controlled their own fate. 1 However, in the mills they worked in injurious conditions, working 14-hour days for six days a week. In 1783, Thomas Evans established a paper and cotton mill at Darley Abbey, one mile north of Derby. In order to attract workers to the area Evans provided well-built housing, wages that were above those of the agricultural labourer, and medical and educational facilities. In 1788, there were 47 houses and the census returns show a steady increase in the size of the town: in 1801 there were 92 houses; in 1811 there were 116 houses, and by 1831 there were 172 houses. From the beginning of the town’s creation the Evans family maintained a paternalistic attitude towards their employees and assumed responsibility for their welfare. A substantial number of the records of the development of the mill, its expenses, and the punishment of workers for indiscretions still exist. 2 Towns similar to Darley Abbey began to spring up around the countryside near the waterways. Unfortunately, much of the documentation for these towns has not survived, and in some cases the towns no longer survive and even their urban layout has been forgotten. 3
