| Description | William Thornhill Kirk was born in Castleton in February 1854. As a young man, he worked at the Great Central Railway Offices in Manchester, before working at the lime kilns in Dove Holes. He left there at the age of 21 to learn the engineering trade at the ironworks at Town End. when he was 27 he returned to Manchester as a salesman with the Ashbury Carriage and Wagon Co., until his death in April 1891 at the age of 37. William married Jane Hallam in 1878, he also played for Chapel Cricket Club and after moving to Manchester became a Wesleyan Local Preacher. |