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	Picture source: Will Larter
The Bird In Hand was situated at 126 High Street. This pub has now been converted to residential use.
Just outside this pub on Wednesday 17th July 1901, the regulars came out of this pub to witness a scene of carnage. One George Edward Hobbs, age 20, had shot his father twice, with a revolver, once in the chest and once in the leg, following what appeared to be a drunken fit of rage. Hobbs had been awarded £100 compensation following an accident in the local coal mines (a considerable sum in those days) but seemingly spent most of this on drink, such that he had only about £5.5s left shortly afterwards. The Hobbs family, who lived in High Street near the pub, ran out to try and stop the developing scene of destruction, with the result that Annie Maria, one of Hobb’s sisters was also shot in the arm and another brother was hit by a bullet in one of his fingers. The perpetrator was disarmed and taken into custody, the wounded father being taken into the pub until medical assistance arrived. Hobb’s father, John, later died in hospital from his wounds and, as a result, George Hobbs was charged with his murder. He was tried in Derby and sentenced to death but the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
Richard Bird (January 2015)
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Other Photos
Picture source: Hania Franek