In January 1847, The Derby Building and Investment Society was formed, with an initial £120 shares offered; this was a terminating society which, having achieved its purpose a year ahead of schedule, was wound up in May 1859. One of the Directors, Samuel Whitaker, decided to invite a group of business friends to a meeting on 12 August 1859 to discuss the preliminary arrangements for the formation of a permanent society. An immediate decision was taken and on 1 September 1859, the rules of The Derbyshire Permanent Building, Investment and Land Society were registered. Samuel Whitaker became the first secretary of the society, which was based at the offices of S Whitaker & Sons at 14 Iron Gate, Derby from 1859. In early 1870, the society moved to 4 Victoria Street, Derby, where it remained for many years. In 1966, the society merged with the Ashbourne Permanent Benefit Building Society and the Somercotes Building Society. The Somercotes society may have been based in the Derbyshire village of Somercotes where the society has a branch in Leabrooks Road. It also absorbed the Ilkeston Permanent Building Society in 2001. In 2007 the society was rebranded with a new logo containing the Peak District Millstone, and a change of the trading name from "The Derbyshire" to the legal name of "Derbyshire Building Society". The new identity incorporated new signage for all branches and replacement passbooks and cashcards for members. On 8 September 2008 it was announced that the Derbyshire, along with the Cheshire Building Society, had agreed to a merger with the Nationwide Building Society, the largest such institution. The merger was borne out of increasing fears about the financial security of both the Derbyshire and the Cheshire societies with the former expected to post half-yearly losses of £17 million and the latter posting losses of £10.5 million. As a result of these projected losses no windfall payments were made to the savers of the smaller societies. Unusually there was no vote amongst members as to this proposition, after a special resolution under the Building Societies Act enabling a faster merger. The deal was concluded on 1 December 2008 following agreement by the Financial Services Authority and the Office of Fair Trading. Upon completion of the merger, the society's logo was again changed, this time removing the Peak District millstone image. In May 2013, it was announced that the Derbyshire, Cheshire and Dunfermline brands would be phased out over two years, and branches either rebranded under the Nationwide brand or closed.
