About The Authors

 

Janet Spavold has been interested in local history from childhood, developing it through a B.A. (Leeds) followed by an M.A. (Victorian Studies, Leicester), an M.Sc. (History of Science and Technology, UMIST) and an M.Sc. (IT, Loughborough). She had a longstanding interest in the history, industrial archaeology and vernacular architecture of South Derbyshire, running WEA/Nottingham University research groups for over 20 years which resulted in three books: Pits Pots and People (an analysis of the 1851 Swadlincote area census); At the Sign of the Bulls Head (a study of the 1765 enclosure of Hartshorne) and In the Name of God, Amen (about the wills and inventories of Church Gresley parish pre 1700). She is a retired university lecturer and generations of Derby students will remember field-walking days in Ticknall. She lives with her long-suffering husband and Siamese cats.

Sue Brown's interest in Ticknall extends back over thirty years; her ancestors there go back into the seventeenth century, including three Ticknall potters. She has wide experience in both family and local history and was Secretary of the Leicestershire and Rutland FHS for seventeen years as well as project co-ordinator, being responsible for organising the indexing of the 1851 Census for Leicestershire and other publications for the society. She took a B.A. (Open), the Certificate in Local History and an M.A. in Local and Regional History, both at Nottingham University. In recent years she has run WEA Family and Local History classes. She took early retirement from teaching to pursue her research interests. She has been known to dream about Ticknall pots.

This joint research had its roots in the work on Church Gresley. Janet and Sue discovered a common interest in Ticknall and decided to pursue it. This book is the result. At present they are working on a follow up book about the landscape and social history of Ticknall as there is so much information on this area.