William Maskrey's Saw Mill


A summary excerpted from a master’s thesis written by Ruth Jordan
Edited by Kathryn J. Farrell

The existence of William Maskrey’s Saw Mill actually begins two generations earlier with the purchase of a small piece of land in Gorseybank just outside of Wirksworth, Derbyshire by William’s grandfather, Bartholomew Maskrey, born 10 June 1730, the seventh child of William Maskrey and Lydia Wigley, and husband of Mary Tomlinson. In a 1759 document, a Bartholomew "Mascry," described as a slater and mason, paid two shillings and sixpence for a lot "containing by estimation in length and breadth each four yards…and late in the possession of the said Thomas Griffen." As a result of the ensuing Enclosure Act, he gained an additional 726 yards of land to his meager holding, shown as plot 306 on the enclosure maps. Apparently Bartholomew greatly prospered, because at the time of his death on 24 May 1808, he was able to leave a house and garden to each of his three sons, John, Anthony and Bartholomew, also stonemasons, and the family homestead to his two spinster daughters, Mary and Ann. Furthermore, an 1805 codicil to his will provided a shop and garden to both grandsons Benjamin and John, Anthony’s sons, and some land to William, eldest son of Bartholomew II.

Bartholomew Maskrey II, born 31 March 1756, continued living in Gorseybank with his wife, Martha Greatorex, raising four sons, William, John, Bartholomew and Benjamin, and two daughters, Mary and Ann, all of whom jointly inherited a shop, tenement and garden located on plot 306 when their father died in 1816. By 1821, William had bought out his two sisters for six pounds. At this time, he built a saw mill, a smart move, since the lumber industry was growing while other trades, such as lead mining, were on the wane. He engaged his brothers to run the mill, selling them a three quarter share for four pounds ten shillings. For his own share, William kept a stone arch, still standing today, "adjoining to the East end of the said Saw Mill" which graced a garden and pathway leading to the mill. Perhaps seeing an opportunity to make a big profit, in 1829, William Maskrey sold his house, outbuildings, garden and a "newly erected building at present in an unfinished state and built against the Saw mill" to William Cadman, lace agent, for the enormous sum of 103 pounds. Although the mill continued to operate for a couple of decades, an inadequate and erratic water supply must have made the business problematic. Thus, sometime before 1840, the mill was rented to Anthony Tissington, who converted it to a paint and color mill.

The mill’s demise was brought about by a ruinous loan needed to pay for a new steam engine made by John Maskrey on 5 February 1840 for 50 pounds at 5% interest to be repaid within a year and a day from Mary Walker of Alvaston, the daughter of a wealthy farming family. For collateral he mortgaged his quarter share of the mill, dam, wheel and machinery as well as a third part of the new buildings, formerly used as a hat manufactory, but since converted into three dwelling houses. Before February was out, John and Benjamin borrowed another 50 pounds on the same terms from Elizabeth Walker, encumbering part of the paint mill, outbuildings, mill wheel, machinery and a third part of the new steam engine, "together with all the deeds, evidences and writings…unto the full end and term of one thousand years from thence." By July of 1846, Benjamin had paid off the principal and interest of the second loan, but John’s loan remained outstanding. With a sizeable debt hanging over their heads, and the mill in decline, William and Bartholomew, together with their respective wives, Hannah and Sarah, packed up and moved to Mercer County, Pennsylvania, where they continued their original trade of stonemasonry. And the mill? For a while it lay idle and untenanted. Eventually it was sold to John Fryer, draper, for 215 pounds, the proceeds being used to pay off the debt to Mary Walker.

Although the venture ultimately failed, the real culprit was very likely the land itself, with its scarcity of lumber and water, the two elements essential to a saw mill. It was a gamble that seemed promising at first, and actually provided a comfortable living to the Maskreys for nearly a quarter century. However, the real value of the mill lies not in its brief success, but rather in the little part of history that has come down to us, the Maskrey descendants. The story of William Maskrey’s mill becomes part of the heritage that we can pass on to our children.