Very many thanks to everyone who looked up old maps, googled, suggested alternative spellings etc. Unfortunately this street still remains a mystery. The census entry is wonderfully clearly written. A suggestion to account for the naming of this street was provided by Sue : "Wonder if its name is to do with Dronfield steel works in Derbyshire that closed down in 1882 when Cammel found that Workington was a better location. A lot of the people "Dronies" came along too." and this sounds good to me. Regards, Jennifer.