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HE has a family crest with a Latin inscription and a string of letters after his name, but to the boys and girls from the dockland terraces and tall flats the old gentleman with the fine head of hair is simply Mr Bibby.
Sir Derek doesn't seem to mind. Mister is a title of near reverence on these streets, even if you are a baronet with a Master of Arts from Oxford, a Military Cross from World War II and your own shipping line.
You should hear what they call the people they don't respect.
And to generations of children, the names of Bibby and the Birkenhead Boys' Club have run together like bacon and eggs.
Officially it has been the Birkenhead Youth Club for about 14 years, in deference to the ground-breaking decision to allow girls to become full members.
But that sop to the monitors of political correctness makes little impression on most people of this town, where the formidable brick building will always be known as the Birkenhead Boys' Club.
This is the 70th anniversary of the organisation, which was begun by Rotarians in rooms above a timber yard in Price Street, before moving to even humbler premises nearby.
The purpose then was much the same as today - to provide young people with a safe place for sport, friendship, drama and music. Of course, that was the ideal.
Sir Derek was to find the reality rather different when he visited the club in 1953 at the invitation of a local probation officer.
At the time, he was making his way in the family shipping line after distinguished service in the Army.
"The main activities were painting obscene drawings on the wall and then, at a prearranged hour, switching off the whole of the lighting system while a gang from outside attacked the defenders inside," he recalled.
"The police had to be called three times to quell the riots."
It hadn't been like that when he was a pupil at Rugby School and a student at Trinity College, Oxford, studying Greek, economics, trade union history and other subjects.
A little more discipline would be desirable, thought the heir to the Bibby Line, founded in 1807. Even so, within three weeks, Sir Derek was the club's chairman.
This man of action quickly won the admiration of the boys drawn from a tough neighbourhood.
Some of them might have heard of his service as a lieutenant with the 53rd Welsh Division, which breached the supposedly impregnable Siegfried Line at the Reichswald Forest.
He was wounded three times by shrapnel, some of which is still embedded in his face.
For his gallantry in this and other actions, the 22-year-old was awarded the MC.
In the Army, Sir Derek had been a crack sprinter, winning many races. Also, as a combat soldier, he was able to teach the boys some unconventional judo moves.
That's how you win respect in Birkenhead.
"My theory in life is - get on. Don't worry about why you are doing something, just do it," he said.
The boys needed a decent place to meet. So, with the help of Lord Henry Cohen of Birkenhead, the physician who was to become President of the General Medical Council, Sir Derek began raising funds.
Lord Cohen, a local boy who had been raised on Cardigan Street, became the club's patron.
The new building was opened in March, 1956, on wasteground in Watson Street by General Sir Lashmer G Whistler.
In those days, Arthur Parker, now 65, was one of the regulars at the club, where he is now an administrator.
"This is a poor part of town," he said.
"It suffered a lot of damage in the war because it was close to the docks. Since then, we have had three or four regenerations."
Arthur, one of seven children, was brought up in the area as teddy boys started the first post-war teenage cult and the boys' club formed its own skiffle group.
"Very good, it was," said Sir Derek, still president of the famous Bibby Line.
"Sir Derek realised the club needed bigger premises. Thanks to him the kids in the area have a decent youth club," said Arthur.
Sir Derek and his wife, Lady Christine Bibby, who had five children of their own, regularly invite club members to play football and cricket on the lawn of their home in Willaston, Wirral.
Although he no longer teaches unarmed combat, Sir Derek, 79, visits the club once a week.
"He commands attention because of his status and for what he has done for the club," said Arthur.
"We give him that respect, but he doesn't demand it. The kids call him Mr Bibby and that's a great honour round here."
The club, a registered charity, caters for people between eight and 25.
It runs 11 football teams and has two inside five-a-side pitches, four snooker tables, three pool tables, table football, darts, table tennis, computers, a coffee bar, TV, squash badminton, netball, volley ball, short tennis, carpet bowls and weight-lifting. It has 119 female and 207 male members.
"The main thing is the parents know their children are safe here," said Julie Purnell, a voluntary worker.
Sir Derek smiled as he looked at the stage where they had performed The Wizard of Oz.
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davidcharters@dailypost.co.uk | 
