The History and Antiquities of Eyam

By William Wood (1842)

Transcriptions by Rosemary Lockie, © Copyright 2012

The History and Antiquities of Eyam, by William Wood, is an invaluable resource for those tracing the history, and families of this Peakland village. It was first published by subscription in 1842, going subsequently into 8 editions, the last being published posthumously in 1903, over 60 years later. A copy of the latter was transcribed by Andrew McCann in 1999, and may be found as part of the Wishful Thinking Texts Collection, elsewhere online.

This is a copy of the original (1842) edition. Understandably, the two editions have differences.[1]

 PAGE
TlTLE PAGE1
Dedication
3
Preface5
Subscribers9
Description of Eyam13
Dissertation on its Name
16
Antiquities24
Manor36
Plague40
Its Nature and Origin
42
Its communication to Eyam
47
Death of the first Victim
50
Mompesson's Children sent away
56
The Cordon Sanitaire
60
Cucklet Church
62
Affecting Death of Mrs. Mompesson
69
Mompesson's Letter to his Children
Do. do. Sir George Saville
Do. do. J. Beilby, Esq
71
74
81
Traditions of the Plague82
Riley Graves93
The Name and Date of the death of every victim
113
The Church117
The Church-yard123
The Rectors127
The Mines134
Minstrels140
Families of Distinction149
Eccentric Characters
151
Introduction of Methodism
153
Benefactors of Eyam154
Mansions and Occupants
155
The Dale, &c
158

[†] Notes on the 1st Edition
(obtained from the Internet eBook and Texts Archive)
i. The original is one continuous stream of text, without chapter headings, though it has been split up for the web to provide a set of pages equivalent to the 1903 version. The 1903 edition is arranged into Chapters.
ii. As Wood himself mentions in his preface (to his regret), there are no illustrations in the original. The 1903 edition features engravings of Cucklet Church, Eyam Hall, Mompesson and Family at Breakfast, Plague Cottages, and the Saxon Cross.
iii. The original relates the story of “Madame Stafford” (supposedly a daughter of Humphrey Stafford) tending the Lamp of St Helen. This has been omitted in the 1903 edition, possibly because further research demonstrated it to be unproven.
iv. Andrew's transcription of Rectors of Eyam ends with Joseph HUNT. The original edition includes an account of subsequent Rectors - Rev. Edmund FINCH, Thomas SEWARD, and others - and includes a footnote that the author's great-great grandfather accompanied the Rev. Finch from Wigan as a servant when he came to Eyam in 1717.
v. The above are the points of comparison I've noticed - there are probably many others.

This information was collated and transcribed by Rosemary Lockie in September 2012.

This is a Genealogy Website
URL of this page: https://places.wishful-thinking.org.uk/DBY/Eyam/History/index.html
Logo by courtesy of the Open Clip Art Library