Named after the Shirley family, in early times Shirrilaw or Shirlaw. At least three generations of the family made their living as shoemakers and were based here from the early 1700’s.

By 1825 John Shirley, M.D. and Surgeon was the head of the family and was succeeded in the 1860s by his son Thomas, also a doctor. The last member of the family to live here was John F. Shirlay, a younger son of John, Bank Accountant and the family connection with this close ended when he died in 1926.