Online Encyclopedia

BELPER

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 711 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BELPER  , a

market-
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town in the
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mid-
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parliamentary division of
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Derbyshire, England, on the
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river Derwent, 7 M . N. of Derby on the Midland railway . Pop. of urban
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district (19o1), 10,934 . The
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chapel of St John is said to have been founded by Edmund Crouchback, second son of Henry III., about the
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middle of the 13th century . There is an
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Anglican convent of the Sisters of St Lawrence, with orphanage and school . For a considerable period one of the most flourishing towns in the county, Belper owed its prosperity to the establishment of cotton
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works in 1776 by Messrs Strutt, the title of Baron Belper (cr . 1856), in the Strutt
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family, being taken from the town . Belper also manufactures
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linen,
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hosiery,
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silk and earthenware; and after the decline of nail-making, once an important industry,
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engineering works and iron foundries were opened . The Derwent provides
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water-power for the cotton-mills . John of Gaunt is said to have been a
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great benefactor to Belper, and the
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foundations of a massive
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building have been believed to mark the site of his residence . A chapel which he founded is incorporated with a
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modern schoolhouse . The scenery in the neighbourhood of Belper, especially to the west, is beautiful; but there are collieries, lead-mines and quarries in the vicinity of the town .

Belper (Beaurepaire) until 1846 formed

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part of the parish of Duffield, granted by William I. to Henry de Ferrers,
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earl of Derby . There is no distinct mention of Belper till 1296, when the
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manor was held by Edmund Crouchback, earl of Lancaster, who is said to have enclosed a park and built a hunting seat, to which, from its situation, he gave the name Beaurepaire . The manor thus became parcel of the duchy of Lancaster and is said to have been the residence of John of Gaunt . It afterwards passed with Duffield to the Jodrell family . In a great storm in 1545, 40 houses were destroyed, and the place was scourged by the plague in 1609 . See C . Willott,
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Historical Records of Belper .

End of Article: BELPER
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