While the Jacobite army was at Derby on 5 December 1745, London experienced what became known as Black Friday — the Bank of England was subjected to a run and paid out in sixpences to slow withdrawals, government ministers considered flight, and the King packed his valuables. Government militia were mobilised throughout the Midlands and south. At Derby itself, Jacobite parties reconnoitred south and east of the town, encountering nervous militia pickets. A Jacobite patrol rode within fifty miles of London. The panic demonstrated how close the Stuart restoration came in December 1745 — and how the decision to retreat threw away the best chance the Jacobites ever had.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
Research a location near this battlefield