Pickford's House

Pickford's House, at No 41 Friar Gate Derby, is an elegant Georgian town house built by the prominent architect Joseph Pickford in 1763-65 for his own family. When Pickford died he left the house to his son Reverend Joseph Pickford who had the house extended and divided into two properties in 1812 when his mother died. He left the house to his cousin William Pickford in his will in 1836. William promptly mortgaged the house and by 1850 it was sold to William Evans (1788–1856) of Allestree Hall. His son Sir Thomas William Evans 1st Bt, who was also a politician, sold it in 1879 to Frederick Ward who sold it to William Curgenven, the first of a number of surgeons to own it. In 1977 it was…

The museum that was established in 1988 shows the accommodation of a late Georgian professional person. The ground floor is furnished as it might have been in Pickford's time together with displays of eighteenth and nineteenth century costume. "Pickford's House" was intended to showcase his work, with the intention of securing new contacts. It was also his residence. Unlike many houses open to the public this was not owned by a member of the aristocracy but by a professional. The relative luxury of the Pickford family bedroom and dressing room which are decorated as they would have been in 1815 can be compared with the servants' bedrooms above. The house also has kitchens, scullery and…