Family Historian User Group

Wonder if someone can help with some information about Kirkby on Merseyside.
I have my 4x great grandfathers will and hope someone could help with information contained in it.

My 4x great grandfather was a George Mawdsley and in his will he describes himself as a Delf Master (In the 1841 and 1851 census he was described as a quarry master). Does anyone know whereabouts there was (or is ) a quarry in Kirkby, or would he have travelled to Appley Bridge where I know there were quarries?

He also seems to have owned a leasehold in Moss Land in Simons Wood. Does anyone know where this was and if the leasehold he held would be registered anywhere?

At the time of his death and in the 1841 and 1851 census he lived in Delf lane.

Any info greatly appreciated.

I'm not in Merseyside, but a bit of Google searching has produced the following:

Moss Lane, Simonswood, Liverpool L33 4YG

Delf Lane, Liverpool L4 6SE & L4 6SH
Delf Lane, Downholland, Ormskirk, L39 7JJ

All the above within about 7 miles of Kirkby.

Delf Master:
He was a Quarry Master and being a former stonemason it would probably be a Stone Quarry, where not only the stone was quarried but also the rough blocks cut and dressed and some carved into ornate shapes.
Although corrupted in some dictionary (and Scrabble word) definitions to be associated with Delftware, a delf is a colloquialism, mainly in Lancashire, for a mine or quarry.
Hence, you may see things like the occupation of bearer in Stone Delf or a Delf Lane or a sandstone delf or Lawn's Delf (Upholland) & Waite’s Delf, (Pemberton) both Lancashire collieries.

The British Geological Survey website has some Merseyside downloads at:
https://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/search. ... e&dlBtn=go
The first one listed Merseyside - Building Stone Atlas has map that shows quarries near Kirkby.

I'm not in Merseyside either, but this map from the National Library of Scotland shows several delfs, quarries and pits in the Kirkby and Simonswood area. I think the chances are that your man worked locally.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=1 ... rs=168&b=1

Hope this helps.

Andy