Elizabeth Darby

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Elizabeth Darby was born in 1826.¹ She was the daughter of Richard Darby and Letitia White.² Elizabeth Darby was baptised at St. Mary the Virgin on Thursday, 31 August 1826 at Walkern, Hertfordshire.³ The village lies off the main road in the valley of the Beane on the road to Watton. It is fairly large and somewhat straggling, the church, rectory and school, and Walkern Place, a 17th-century farm-house of timber and plaster lying at the north end. Nearby is a small castle of the mount and bailey type, thrown up possibly by Hamo de St. Clare in the reign of Stephen.The church of St. Mary The Virgin stands to the north-east of the village on the east bank of the River Beane. It is built of flint rubble with dressings of Barnack stone and clunch. The original church consisted probably of a chancel and nave. The former has been wholly rebuilt, and the earliest part of the existing church is the nave, which dates from the 11th century and is probably part of the pre-Conquest church.⁴



She was recorded as living with her parents and siblings Eliza and Henry in the 1841 census at Holmes Farm, Walkern, Hertfordshire. She was recorded as being 15 years old (rounded down to the nearest 5 years).⁵

Elizabeth Darby married Thomas Playl, son of Thomas Playl and Mary Randall, at St. Mary the Virgin on Wednesday, 17 September 1845 at Walkern, Hertfordshire.^6,7

In Richard Darby's will on 30 September 1850 Henry Richard Darby, Elizabeth Darby and Eliza Darby were named as heirs. The estate consisted of 'farming stock goods chattels and personal estate' and a small amount of cash; overall, it was valued at less than three hundred pounds.. But not immediately; Richard's widow Letitia and Thomas Playl were granted all of Richard's estate (except for twenty pounds bequeathed to his son Henry Richard) for the purposes of carrying on the running of the farm as long as they thought it viable. When it was no longer thought viable, it was to be sold and a third given to Letitia and the other two-thirds divided between his three surviving children..⁸

Elizabeth Darby was recorded as the spouse of Thomas Playl in the 1851 census at High Street, Chipping Ongar, Essex.⁹

Elizabeth Darby was recorded as the spouse of Thomas Playl in the 1861 census at Albert Cresent, Lee, Kent.¹⁰

Elizabeth died circa March 1891 at Camberwell, London.¹¹