Baslow is a small Derbyshire village supporting little more than agriculture in Victorian times. The Census returns of 1941 to 1901 show the early development of Administrative Services and Clerical support.

Toll Collectors were employed by the Turnpike Trusts to man the toll bars, which were situated at the (old) Bridge over the Derwent, at Robin Hood, and at Cupola on the Sheffield Road. They appear for the last time in 1871, indicating the disappearance of tolls during that decade.

In both 1841 and in 1851 there was an Excise Officer lodging in the Village. From 1861 Baslow had its own resident Policeman. None of these men were local, with one constable from Whittington and the rest from outside the county.

The first Post Office was recorded in 1851, when Mrs Stroyan was Postmistress working from the family Drapers shop at Bridge End - immediately across the main road from the Rutland Arms. The Stroyan family remained in charge until the 1890's, when Mr Taylor a Greengrocer and Fishmonger, took over the shop complete with Post Office. There was a Mail Cart Driver in 1871 and 1891, and postmen in 1891 and 1901. The Telegraph had reached the village by 1881, when the Postmaster's niece was employed as Telegraphist.

The Census lists several Clerks. Baslow had a Railway Clerk in 1881 & 1891 and a Poor Law Clerk in 1901. A Bank Clerk in 1881 is likely to have worked in Bakewell or elsewhere. The status of the other two Clerks is not clear. Hotel staff are included elsewhere.

Sextons are noted for 1851, 1861 and 1901, and a bailiff in 1861. There were two nurses and an Midwife in 1851, but none in other years (except for a few employed as servants)

Three other individuals are classified in this section. Samuel Herman, Clerk Amanuensis, and Hot Builder, appears in 1851 and 1871. He lived in Chatsworth property, so he must have been among the few in Baslow employed by the Duke of Devonshire. Two others have interesting secondary occupations. Miss Anna Caines, a Mistress at the private Girls School at Bubnell Hall, was also an Organist (1881), and James Nibbys, National School Master, was also a Patentee.

Not many, but it gives an idea of progress!

The above information was contributed by David Dalrymple-Smith in June 2006.