An unfortunate work-related injury some 144 years ago resulted in the birth and emergence of one of Chesterfield’s longest-standing institutions. For it was in 1875 that Isaac Eyre of Barrow Hill, near Chesterfield was left jobless, and needed to find a way of earning income to raise his family. Necessity was the mother of invention and, from a humble start of buying and selling sewing machines and mangles, Victorian Eyres was born. Being a likeable sort of chap, Isaac made friends with all his customers, and his little enterprise grew to a size which enabled him to move to a shop in the centre of Chesterfield at 3 Holywell Street, which prospered. By the time his son had joined him, they had expanded into the making of furniture, a product in much demand by the prosperous middle classes that were emerging in that age of Victorian prosperity.
