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| Archive Reference / Library Class No. | D7812/1 |
| Former Reference | D3017 |
| Title | Lead-mining diary |
| Date | c1789-1810 |
| Description | The volume gives the appearance of being home-made, as the page sizes are not consistent and they have been roughly sewn together. Indeed, it is possible that it was not originally a single volume. However, for security purposes, the pages have been individually numbered. This can be changed if firm evidence is uncovered to suggest that there is more than one original volume.
The diary contains daily entries from 1789 to 1792, many of which are blank. A high proportion of the completed entries say only that the author was "at mine", or "drawing" or "washing"; others give the name of the mine/s at which he was working, the names of others at work, or the dates of religious holidays when no work was done. From time to time, the diary records other activities, e.g. the miner's attendance at Barmote court in Ashford. Other place names mentioned include Sheldon, Bakewell and Grindlow.
Other pages of the diary have been used to record expenses on items such as food and candles, and as an exercise book for tackling problems in mathematics, e.g. using the dimensions of a cistern to calculate its capacity.
Some parts of the volume have been used as a commonplace book, containing prayers, devotional writings and short essays on esoteric subjects (e.g. page 64, "On Dreams", referring to the attitudes of Ptolemy, Galen and Solomon towards dreams). These parts are more legible than the rest of the book. The explanation may be only that they were more carefully written; it is also possible that are they come from another hand.
If the writing in the volume is of a single hand, it is that of one John Naylor. One of the central pages (number 62) includes a note saying "John Naylor his book", and page 71 reads: July 2nd 1810: Received of John Naylor the sum of thirteen shillings for Alice Marchington - child, in full of all demands by me Thomas Winterbotham. Witness: William Needham |
| Extent | 1 volume (113 pages) |
| Level | Item |
| Repository | Derbyshire Record Office |
| Archive Creator | John Naylor of Ashford-in-the-Water area, lead miner and agent |
| Format | Document |
| Copies | A digital copy of this item is available to view on the public computers at the record office. |
| Publication Note | See Matthew Pawelski (2023) 'The Derbyshire lead miner in the late eighteenth century: the diary of John Naylor of Sheldon, 1789-92', Derbyshire Archaeological Journal, Volume 143, pp. 219-252. |
| Term | Diaries |
| Lead industry |
| Lead mining |
| Lead mines |
| Miners |
| Mineral deposits |
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