Derby Canal Company
The records of the Derby Canal Company date from 1793-1974.  They include detailed accounts of the proceedings of the Committee 1793-1914 and 1936-1970, wages and account books, conveyances, lists of shareholders, and maps and plans of the canal.  A detailed list is available for reference.  DL76

Evans Cotton Mill
There are 13 manuscript volumes relating to the business of Walter Evans and Co Ltd of Darley Abbey, near Derby.  Dating between 1787 and 1923, records include wages and cash books, a stock book 1815-1826, a correspondence book 1797-1809, and business ledgers 1795-1810.  A list of the volumes is available for reference.  This collection is available on microfilm.  BS677.

Derby China Factory
The most extensive collection of business records are those relating to the early years of the Derby China Factory, founded by Andrew Planche in 1748.  Planche was joined by William Duesbury in 1756 and the collection of records held at the Local Studies Library is often referred to as the Duesbury Papers.  The period covered is from around the 1780s to the 1830s, though the bulk of the material relates to the last twenty years of the 18th century.  There are over two thousand documents in all, mostly business correspondence and including bills and accounts, apprenticeship indentures and details relating to specific items of china.  There is lengthy correspondence from James Lygo to Duesbury and to Richard Egan, and between Eagan and Duesbury and Vullaimy to Duesbury.  A complete index is available for consultation.  DL82.
In addition to this deposit, the Local Studies Library has a collection of manuscript records of China Sales in the London Warehouse between 1782 and 1790, and two manuscript volumes of drawings, one by several Derbyshire artists including Webster, William Coden and Joseph Bancroft; the other volume of watercolours is by Joseph Bancroft only.  MSS8473 and MSS4701.

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