DERBY

one of the classic English horse races, with the Saint Leger, the Oaks, the One Thousand Guineas, and the Two Thousand Guineas. It dates from 1780 and is named for Edward Stanley, 12th earl of Derby. With a field limited to three-year-old colts and fillies, the race is run the first Wednesday in June over a 1 1/2-mile (about 2,400-metre) course at Epsom Downs, Surrey. Many other horse races have been named for the Derby (e.g., Kentucky Derby), and the term itself has come to signify a race or contest of any type. city, coextensive with the town (township) of Derby, New Haven county, southwestern Connecticut, U.S. It lies at the junction of the Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers, a few miles west of New Haven. Early settlement developed around a trading post established by Captain John Wakeman in 1642 in an area bought from the Paugusset Indians; Wakeman was joined by colonists from Milford in 1651. In 1675 it became a town and was renamed for Derby, Eng. Its boundary was reduced when Oxford (1798), Seymour (1850), and Ansonia (1889) were separately incorporated. The city of Derby was incorporated in 1893 and consolidated with the town. Derby prospered as a shipbuilding, shipping, and fishing centre, but these activities had declined by the mid-19th century. The economy is now based on diversified manufacturing. Pop. (1990) 12,199; (1996 est.) 11,960. city and unitary authority, geographic and historic county of Derbyshire, England. It lies along the River Derwent at an important route focus at the southern end of the Pennines. The unitary authority covers Derby and its suburbs. Just northeast of the city centre, at Little Chester, is the Roman site of Derventio. Derby was founded in the 9th century by the Danes as Deoraby, from which the present name is derived. Early royal charters were granted in 115456 and 1204. All Saints Church (cathedral from 1927) has a tower 210 feet (64 metres) high that was built in 150927. The manufacture of porcelain in the locality began in 1750. After a visit by George III in 1773, the town was granted a patent to mark the china with a crown, and the local product was known thereafter as Crown Derby, amended to Royal Crown Derby by Queen Victoria in 1890. Silk throwing, or spinning by machine, was introduced into the town from Italy in 1719. Many people in Derby were formerly employed in the manufacture of silk hosiery, lace, and cotton, and textile factories are still important in the city's economy. Derby's early factories were helped by a canal network, and in the 19th century the city became a major railway centre. Rail and aircraft engineering are important industries in the city. Derby also has large cattle markets. Area 30 square miles (78 square km). Pop. (1998 est.) 235,800. town and port in West Kimberley shire, northern Western Australia. It lies on the western shore of a peninsula in King Sound (an inlet of the Indian Ocean), near the mouth of the Fitzroy River. Founded in 1883 to serve a pastoral district, it was named after Lord Derby, who was then the British secretary of state for the colonies. The town boomed during the Kimberley gold rush (1885) in the hinterland. Situated near the Great Northern Highway to Perth (1,500 miles [2,400 km] southwest), Derby is the major port for the cattle of West Kimberley. Beef cattle from the Fitzroy Valley and King Leopold Ranges are brought to slaughterhouses in Derby. The output of these and the nearby Glenroy Station works is shipped along the coast from a 1,800-foot (550-metre) jetty at Derby that was built to partially overcome difficulties presented by a 35-foot (11-metre) tidal range. Derby also serves the iron mines on Cockatoo and Koolan islands in Yampi Sound (80 miles north). Pop. (1986) 3,258.