The Hauntingly Excellent Range
Frankenstein
Frankenstein's monster was of course the creation of Mary Shelley. and you may well be asking yourself just how this is connected to Derby - the answer is via Dr. Erasmus Darwin, a man who spent much of his personal life and working life in Derby and who is buried in Breadsall, Derbyshire.​
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Grandfather of Charles Darwin, Erasmus performed numerous experiments over the years, with some of them in particular drawing the attention of Shelley.
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During her discussions with Lord Byron and Percy Shelley, talk turned to "the nature of the principle of life, and whether there was any probability of it ever being discovered and communicated" - in essence the creation of life. This was something that also fascinated Erasmus.
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Alongside this, Erasmus was also fascinated with the connection between biology and electricity and performed experiments based around this - it was this that inspired Mary Shelley to write her famous novel.
Related places to visit in Derby
LOCATION: Full Street, Derby, DE1 3AF
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CONNECTION: Erasmus Darwin lived at 3 Full Street, Derby, from 1782 until his death in 1802, in a three-storey terrace house near the town centre that was later demolished in 1933. His house on Full Street was known for the innovative well he dug for a clean water supply, a feat he celebrated with a plaque, and a large walled garden that sloped down to the River Derwent.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
LOCATION: Magistrates Court, 27 St Mary's Gate, Derby DE1 3JR
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CONNECTION: Being dissected was a form of "post-mortem punishment" that was carried out on the corpses of executed criminals - particularly after the introduction of the 1752 Murder Act. County Hall in Derby contained a dissection room where this took place. The dissections were performed by local doctors - often in front of an audience of medical professionals. One of the doctors to perform these dissections was Dr. Erasmus Darwin.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
Derby History Walks
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Come and join us for a 90-minute walk full of revelations, curses, deaths, superstitions, evil doers and much more!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
Learn all about Derby's most notorious murders and murderers on Derby's murder walk - not for the faint-hearted!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
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True, but weird, Derby history including frogs falling from the skies, ghouls roaming the town, historic hot dogs, mummified cats & more.
VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
A walk full of tortured spirits who met a grisly end including both the murderers and their victims
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
