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]
[†] 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.
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