Elizabeth Aylott

     (For a brief history and context on the Darby family - which this person is an extended member of - see this page)

NOTE: The information on this page is my research to date and is subject to change as I become better informed. I very much welcome any corrections or additional info you might have - my email address is at the bottom of this page. Whilst historical facts are not copyright, my writing about these facts are. If you wish to use any text from this site on Ancestry or on any other website, please ask me first - Tim Hill.


Elizabeth was born circa 1777.² She was the daughter of Samuel Aylott and Jane Campkin.^1,2 Elizabeth Aylott was baptized at All Saints and Saint John on Friday, 23 October 1778 at Hertford.² All Saints church was built in the 15th century with a cruciform plan and a west tower. However, it burnt down in 1891.

The city of Hertford dates back to at least 673, and was an important market town surrounded by agricultural land. From the late 16th century, it had access to the London corn markets via the River Lea.

Whilst neither of Elizabeth's parents could sign their name, Elizabeth could.^3,4

The will of Samuel Aylott, in which Jane Campkin, Samuel Aylott, John Aylott and Elizabeth Aylott were named as heirs was proved on 13 May 1796. His will was very particular, in that his wife would remain the benficiary as long as she didn't remarry; if she did , then their 5 children were to receive the value of his estate (which his will indicates was valued at more than £200). His three unmarried children were to receive £10 each on attaining the age of 21.⁵

George Darby and Elizabeth Aylott perhaps came to know each other through common connectiuons; Elizabeth's brother Samuel was, like George, an apprentice millwright to William Fincher.⁶

She married George Darby, a millwright and builder, son of Richard Darby and Anne Brett, at All Saints and Saint John on Tuesday, 22 April 1800 at Hertford. Witnesses to the wedding were Thomas Darby and Elizabeth Darby.⁷ Elizabeth and George Darby became the parents of their first child George Darby circa 1800. He was the first of about a dozen children born to George and Elizabeth over the next 19 years.⁸ From the birth of Eliza, their third child, all their subsequent children were baptised at Lady Huntingdon's Connexion, Hertford.Lady Huntingdon's Chapel was one a series of chapels founded in the 18th century by the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion as part of a Calvinistic movement within the Methodist church. She insisted that they should all subscribe to the doctrines of the Church of England and use only the Book of Common Prayer. It was apparently founded in 1800, and started keeping registers from 1806.

Elizabeth and George Darby became the parents of their last child John Darby circa 1819 at Hertford.⁹

On 19 December 1819 her son George died at the approximate age of 19.

Elizabeth died in January 1821. She died leaving her husband a widower with 11 children.⁸ She was buried on 11 January 1821 at St. Andrew's Parish Church, Hertford.⁸ St. Andrews was a church of Saxon origin, and was added to until the mid 18th century to accomodate a growing population. By this stage it had deteriorated to such a degree that it was torn down and a new church built in 1870.