The Shadow of the Mine: coal and the end of industrial Britain

Abstract

history, and Alan Crosby picks up this theme as he examines the history of his own family in the High Peak of Derbyshire, assessing the role of yeoman families in cementing continuity and stability in a hostile rural environment. Perhaps one important area of David Hey’s work that is underplayed in this volume is his important contribution to the study of family names, place names and the potential role of DNA analysis in historical studies. Hey argued that such research could significantly aid our understanding of population mobility and stability within a region. The final chapter of the volume, by George Redmonds, engages most closely with this material as he examines the links between personal names and settlement names in the south Yorkshire Pennines. Sadly, Redmonds died shortly after the conference took place in 2018 and his short chapter is based only on his conference presentation rather than being developed into a fuller paper. Further examples of this aspect of David Hey’s work would have created a more rounded volume. Other chapters in the book deal with the family history of the Cavendish family of Hardwick Hall (Peter Edwards), the creation and functions of deer parks in south Yorkshire (Melvyn Jones), the expansion of arable land for food production in Derbyshire during the First World War (Nicola Verdon), and the significance of boundaries and fragmented parishes in the English landscape, together with the repetition of some place names (John Broad). Overall, this is a well-presented volume containing a selection of carefully researched essays that recognize the diversity of David Hey’s research interests. The essays also reflect David’s devotion to the society, economy and landscape of south Yorkshire and Derbyshire. The book has a high standard of production with well-drawn maps. It is likely to be of interest not only to local historians of the Sheffield region but also more widely to social, economic and landscape historians who see the value of relating local studies to national processes. It is also a fitting tribute to the life and scholarship of David Hey.