Enlightenment Derby II : Erasmus Darwin and the Derby Philosophers
About this Event
Enlightenment Derby II: Erasmus Darwin and the Derby Philosophers
The Derby Philosophers were a group of people with interests in the sciences (or natural philosophy and natural history) associated with the Derby Philosophical Society, founded in 1783 who, inspired by Enlightenment progressivism, their pursuit of natural philosophy and Erasmus Darwin were at the forefront of local improvement and national political campaigns. They included professionals, especially medical men, industrialists and manufacturers, nonconformists ministers and clergy. Touring places associated with the Society, this guided walk introduces the members and their main activities explaining how they formed a large scientific library and provided a forum for philosophical discussion, especially concerning the latest developments in chemistry, electricity and geology. It shows how the Society was part of an Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment network for exchanging of ideas and practices which attracted people from different religious and political affiliations.
This guided tour around central Derby will take place on Tuesday 16 June 2026 and last for an hour and half. We will meet outside the front of Derby Local Studies Library (Riverside Chambers, Full Street, DE1 3AF) at 2PM and conclude back there at 330pm.
Professor Paul A. Elliott: Brief Biography
Professor Elliott is a Midland-based historian and senior academic from Derby with over thirty years experience working in universities and colleges and leading history tours around places in the East Midlands and beyond. He has a degree in Ancient History and History, a Masters Degree in Roman Studies, a PhD in History and Post-Graduate Certificate in Adult Education, and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Trustee of the Derby Arboretum and long-standing member of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site Research and Publications Committee.
His research interests include the history of science and medicine, landscape and environmental history, the history of art and creative cultures, local, urban and regional history, historical geography and the history of education.
Professor Elliott has authored around a hundred academic books, journal articles, book chapters, newspaper and magazine pieces, book reviews, blogs and other materials. His books include:
- The Derby Philosophers: Science and Culture in British Urban Society, 1700-1850 (Manchester; Manchester University Press, 2009/2025):
https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526171764/
- Enlightenment, Modernity and Science: Geographies of Scientific Culture and Improvement in Georgian England (London; Bloomsbury Academic, 2010/2020):
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/enlightenment-modernity-and-science-9781350165991/
- (as co-author) The British Arboretum: Trees, Science and Culture in the Nineteenth Century (Pittsburgh; University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011/2019), with Charles Watkins and Stephen Daniels:
https://upittpress.org/books/9780822966203/
- British Urban Trees: a Social and Cultural History c.1800-1914 (Cambridge; Whitehorse Press, 2016):
https://www.whpress.co.uk/publications/2016/05/01/british-urban-trees/
- (as co-editor) Nottingham's Victorian Green Spaces (Peregrine Press, 2020), with John Beckett:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nottinghams-Victorian-Green-Spaces-Beckett/dp/1912312034
- Erasmus Darwin's Gardens: Medicine, Agriculture and the Enlightenment Sciences (London; Boydell Press, 2021/2025):
https://boydellandbrewer.com/blog/early-modern-and-modern-history/erasmus-darwins-gardens/?v=7885444af42e
- Enlightenment, Sociability and Provincial Culture: Erasmus Darwin, Joseph Wright and Friends (Manchester; Manchester University Press, 2026:
https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526158468/
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 10.00
