Joseph Strutt 1765–1844
How one industrialist generously created an arboretum for the people of Derby
Joseph was the youngest son of Jedidiah Strutt, the founder of a famous cottonspinning business at Belper in Derbyshire. After Jedidiah’s death, his three sons William, George and Joseph took over the firm – one of the biggest in the UK. It was Joseph’s job to look after its commercial dealings.
Joseph married in 1793.
In the late 1810s, after being widowed, he moved from the village of Darley Abbey to nearby Derby. A keen philanthropist,
Joseph helped found a school and a Mechanics’ Institute, and became the mayor of the borough of Derby in 1835.
In the late 1830s Joseph made a gift of an arboretum to the people of Derby “for ever”. He commissioned famous landscape gardener John Claudius Loudon to design the park, and spent at least £10,000 on pavilions, trees and evergreens. The grand opening on 16 September 1840 was celebrated with a Montgolfier balloon ascent, a procession through the streets, and a ball. Joseph declared: “As the sun has shone brightly upon me in life, it would be ungrateful in me not to employ a portion of the fortune I possess in promoting the welfare of those amongst whom I live.” The arboretum, restored in the 1980s, is now Grade II listed.