Derby Museum and Art Gallery – “The King of Rome” Pigeon

This is quite an important pigeon and known to many people in Derby. It’s a homing pigeon that flew into local legend in May 1913 when it completed a gruelling 1,001-mile journey from Rome to Derby in just under 24 hours. In the spring of 1913 there were more than 2,000 homing pigeons gathered in the Italian capital for the arduous “One Thousand Mile Athens to Rome Club” race. Entrants came from as far afield as Austria, Belgium, Germany and beyond, but it was a modest loft in Littleover, Derby, that produced the eventual victor. The pigeon was owned by professional baker Charles “Charlie” Hudson (1871–1948) and the bird known only by its band number “42PN150” took wing from Rome on the morning of 13 May. When it alighted in Derby just under 24 hours later, it had beaten every other pigeon by more than an hour, crossing the finishing loft at thirteen minutes past eight on 14 May. It did rather well to survive, as a number of the pigeons were shot on their way home which was a little sub-optimal.

After the event Hudson, ever the practical man, resisted calls to tour the now named “King of Rome” around poultry shows and fairs. He instead housed the bird in solitude, allowing it to rest before entering it in subsequent races. Very proud of his pigeon, in 1914, Charlie Hudson had it stuffed (after it died obviously) and he gave it to the museum in 1946. Today, the pigeon even has its own Wikipedia page….