Of course, the Jacobite army spent 4-6 December 1745 in the English city (then a prospering industrial and market town) of Derby. It was to prove to be the high-water mark of their advance on London, and the 6 December saw the army retreating back towards Scotland.
In 1995, marking the 250th anniversary of the Decision at Derby, the only public statue of Prince Charles Edward was unveiled in the city’s Cathedral Quarter. The “Bonnie Prince Charlie” room was opened at the local museum, and a programme of annual commemorations and re-enactments began.
Prestonpans also held a major re-enactment in 1995, but it didn’t become a recurring event until our Trust reignited the idea from 2007 onwards. It took us longer to get to a museum too – but when we did, we managed to bring the mannequin of the prince from Derby Museum up to ours!
We have always maintained a close connection with Derby and its Jacobite commemorations, not least because our own curator Arran is Derby born-and-bred! When the city held annual re-enactments, our Trust was always represented and laid a wreath at the ceremonies. Although the formal events ceased a couple of years ago (a case of organiser fatigue!), our chairman Gordon Prestoungrange travelled to Swarkestone Bridge to lay a posie at the monument last week.
For all of December, a special display can be seen in our museum which celebrates our Derby connections.
