Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Highland Army in Derby: Authors Talk with Brian Stone

On 4th December 1745, the ragged highland army of Bonnie Prince Charlie entered the market town of Derby on their march to London. It was to be the high watermark of the Jacobite Rebellion and what happened in the next two days arguably changed the course of British history forever.

This talk reveals fresh and unfamiliar material which adds greatly to our understanding of this critical event in 18th Century history. It looks at the reception and behaviour of the rebel army, who briefly outnumbered the citizens of Derby itself. In particular, the speaker examines in detail the deliberations of the Council of War which decided on the retreat to Scotland, and analyses the acrimonious differences that separated the Prince from his senior officers. He goes on to examine the prospects of the rebels if they had decided to march on to London and what might have happened had they reached the capital. He also examines the reaction of the Hanoverian government and considers the performance of the local militia regiment, the Derbyshire Blues.

Brian Stone is a retired solicitor and is well known in the East Midlands for the talks that he gives on a variety of local history topics. For twenty years, in his spare time, he taught courses for the WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) and Nottingham University Adult Education Department on subjects such as the First World War, the Second World War, the English Civil War and the American Civil War. Since retirement he has delivered numerous talks to local history societies, heritage groups and Rotary Clubs on Derbyshire in the Civil War, the Sherwood Foresters at the Battle of the Somme, French Napoleonic Prisoners of War in the East Midlands and other historical subjects. He has published three books – Derbyshire in the Civil War (1990), Millennium Eyewitness (1999) and Bonnie Prince Charlie & the Highland Army in Derby (2015).

Suitable for adults

Booking essential. Limited places.