Lucretia Darby

     Lucretia Darby was also known as Cressy.¹ 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.


She was born on 4 May 1809 at Greensted-juxta-Ongar, Essex.¹ Greensted is situated in a large natural clearing in Epping forest. The Ongar road is mentioned in The Caturbury Tales. The village was part of the area under Danish law, and in 1801 had a population of 102. In 1839 it was estimated to have 289 acres of arable land and 325 acres of meadows and pasture.²

She was the daughter of Richard Darby and Letitia White.¹ Lucretia Darby was baptised at St. Andrew's on Sunday, 4 June 1809 at Greensted-juxta-Ongar, Essex. She was baptized on the same day her parents were married.¹ Greensted Church has been situated in its idyllic setting for nearly 1,200 years; St. Andrews is the oldest wooden church in the world, and perhaps the oldest wooden building in Europe. It is also said to have been the resting place of unknown early crusader who is said to have arrived, badly wounded, at the church and died there.³



Lucretia Darby married Jeremy Young, son of (?) Young and Young (?), at St. Lawrence on Tuesday, 10 February 1835 at Ardeley, Hertfordshire.¹ The village of Ardeley (or Yardeley until 1850) lies on the western edge of the hill overlooking the village of Walkern and the valley of the River Beane. It consists of the church and the vicarage and a few cottages around the farm known as Church End. In addition to barley, wheat and beans are the chief crops grown. Of 2,424 acres, rather more than half is arable land. The church of St. Lawrence, which stands on high ground to the west of the village, dates back to the 13th century and is built of flint rubble, mostly covered with rough-cast, with stone dressings, and roofed with tiles and with lead. ⁴



Lucretia died on 3 December 1840 at Walkern, Hertfordshire, at age 31 of consumption. At her father's house.^5,1 She was buried on 10 December 1840 at Ardeley, Hertfordshire.¹