A 360-page hand-written nightwatchmen’s logbook detailing nightly goings-on in Belper during the 1830s surfaced in 2021 and Belper Historical Society worked with Derbyshire Record Office to secure it so the public could have access to it.
Adrian Farmer, for the Historical Society, said: “It was such an exciting find. The Strutts had their own unique way of policing the town, and the nightwatchmen reports give us a very vivid feel for what Belper was like in the evenings and at night, and how these brave men tackled many a confrontation armed with just a trusty truncheon.
“There are lots of recognisible Belper family names in it. The reports really bring those names to life and tells us what they were up to.”
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