Joseph Pickford of Derby (Biography, Letters & Diaries)

Joseph Pickford (1734-82) first arrived in Derbyshire as a young man in 1759, having recently completed what amounted to an apprenticeship as a mason with an uncle in London. He was an ambitious man and rapidly acquired a reputation as an architect and builder of flair. His circle of influential friends included some of the best known artists and intellectuals of the day, Joseph Wright the painter, Josiah Wedgewood and Erasmus Darwin all numbered as close associates. Such contacts assured him of prestigious and diverse commissions in Derby, and the Midlands and from these arose some fine buildings, like St. Helen's House in Derby, the Edensor Inn at Chatsworth, the Riding School at Caulke Abbey, the Derby Assembly Rooms and Wedgewood's own house and factories at Etruria in Staffordshire.
Edward Saunders, himself an architect, has produced the first comprehensive account of Joseph Pickford and his work. The volume is well-illustrated with photographs and drawings of Pickford's surviving work and usefully puts him in context as the important architect of his time that he undoubtedly was.