Catalogue description Papers of Haslam family of Derby and Breadsall

This very mixed collection includes partial series of business records for the Haslam Foundry and Engineering Co., especially papers concerning A S Haslam's acquisition and use of Bell and Colman's refrigeration equipment patents. A S Haslam's public life is well documented in press cuttings and photographs, including some by his son, A V Haslam. A V Haslam's photographs form an important personal archive. Similarly, K Haslam's diary of his World War 1 service and the records of his local Home Guard captaincy in World War 2 are of significance. Amongst the non-Haslam family papers are three manuscript prescriptions by Erasmus Darwin and a note on Breadsall tithes by the antiquary Adam Wolley.

Contents

D1079/1-20 Breadsall Priory Estate

D1079/1-7 Title deeds

D1079/8 Breadsall tithe papers

D1079/9 Breadsall inclosure

D1079/10 Abstracts of title

D1079/11 Estate plans

D1079/12 Estate correspondence

D1079/13 Haslam family personalia

D1079/14-17 Estate accounts

D1079/18 Forestry accounts

D1079/20 Sale catalogues

D1079/21-26 Haslam Foundry and Engineering Co. Ltd.

D1079/21 Business correspondence

D1079/22-23 Financial records

D1079/24 Engineering sketches

D1079/25-26 Papers regarding refrigeration equipment patents, etc.

D1079/27-33 Haslam family personal papers

D1079/27-29 Newscuttings books, etc.

D1079/30-33 K Haslam

D1079/34-40 Miscellaneous personal papers

D1079/34 Henry Eyre of Rowtor Hall, Birchover

D1079/35 Erasmus Darwin

D1079/36 Francis Jessop

D1079/37 Miscellanea

D1079/38 Little Eaton Girl Guides

D1079/39 Printed ephemera

D1079/40 William Valentine Ball

D1079/41 Photographs

Haslam family of Derby and Breadsall

These papers were transferred to Derbyshire Record Office in 1972.

• Haslam, Alfred Seale, 1844-1927, Knight, engineer, of Derby
• Breadsall, Derbyshire

Breadsall Priory and its associated estate was bought in 1799 from the Greensmith family for Sir Francis Darwin (d. 1858), 5th son of Erasmus Darwin. In 1889 Sir Alfred Seale Haslam (1844-1927) purchased the Priory and the estate. It remained Haslam property until the death of his son Eric Haslam in 1967.

Sir Alfred Seale Haslam was born in Derby in 1844, the 4th son of the ironfounder William Haslam. He trained as an engineer and in 1868 opened the Union Foundry in Derby. in 1876 the firm became the Haslam Foundry and Engineering Company Ltd. Alfred S Haslam was an early pioneer in the manufacture of refrigeration equipment, at first for long-distance transport by sea of meat from the Antipodean colonies. Haslam took over Bell and Colman patents for dry air refrigeration in 1880 and for the next fourteen years had a virtual monopoly of British marine meat refrigeration. In 1881 first consignment of frozen meat arrived from Australia at a cost of 2.25d per carcase. These developments opened up European markets for perishable goods and Haslam's machinery became standard equipment in warehouses and stores all over the world. Other products included boilers, hoists, mill machinery and air conditioning equipment for hospitals overseas and for transport of explosives.

Alfred Seale Haslam was a major civic figure in Derby, active in fund raising for Derbyshire Royal Infirmary. He was knighted by Queen Victoria when she visited Derby to lay the foundation stone for the new hospital in 1891 and he presented statues of the Queen to London and Newcastle as well as to his native town. In 1900 he became Member of Parliament for Newcastle Under Lyme in Staffordshire, a seat he held for six years. Alfred Seale Haslam died in 1927 leaving over £1 million. Two of his three sons, including Alfred Victor Haslam, predeceased him but the third, Eric, continued in the family business, re-named the Derby Pure Ice and Cold Storage Company.

Alfred Victor Haslam was an enthusiastic amateur photographer, much influenced by Sir Benjamin Stone (1838-1914) who had founded the national Photographic Record Association in 1897.