| Administrative History | The diary appears to have been maintained by an individual named John Naylor, who mined lead in the area around Ashford-in-the-Water. The PhD thesis of Lynn Willies, Technical and Organisational Development of the Derbyshire Lead Mining Industry in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (Leicester University, 1986) mentions a John Naylor as "the agent, and possibly the major shareholder" of the Maypit (or Maypitt or Maypitts) Mine, who "produced ore under the Horsesteps Title" after 1781, citing the Bagshawe collection, document 433. This document is a record of ore measurements in the Liberty of Ashford from 1766 to 1799, now held at Derbyshire Record Office (D7676/CBag/433). |
| Custodial History | In March 2015, this item was re-accessioned from collection D3017, i.e. the records of the Boyle family of Belper, donated to Derbyshire Record Office in 1986. It is possible that there is a connection of some sort with D3017, but Derbyshire Record Office staff have been unable to establish any such connection. |