Francis Darby (1783)

Born 5 Apr 1783 in Madeley, Shropshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Hannah (Grant) Darby — married 16 Jun 1808 in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England, United Kingdom

Biography

Francis was a Friend (Quaker)

Francis was the son of Abraham Darby and Rebecca Smith. He was born at Hay Farm, Madeley, Shropshire on 5 April 1783.^[1][2]

Francis entered the Darby family's iron business at Coalbrookdale on leaving school. A major illness in 1810 may have affected him mentally, and he moved to the home of his wife's parents in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire for a year. It appears that he then became less active in the family business, a few years later leaving its management to his cousins Abraham Darby and Alfred Darby. He became a collector of art, china and silverware.^[3]

On 16 June 1808 Francis married Hannah Grant at Leighton [Buzzard] Quaker Meeting House, Bedfordshire. The Quaker marriage record describes him as an ironmaster of Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, son of Abraham Darby, deceased ironmaster of Coalbrookdale, and Rebecca; and her as daughter of John Grant, merchant of Leighton Buzzard, and Hannah.^[4][5] They had two daughters:

• Matilda Frances, born at Coalbrookdale, Shropshire on 23 June 1809^[6][7]
• Adelaide Anna, born at Coalbrookdale, Shropshire on 10 August 1817^[8][9]

Francis died on 20 March 1850 at Coalbrookdale, Shropshire.^[10] His death was registered in the Madeley district in Shropshire in the first quarter of 1850.^[11] He was intestate: he refused to sign a will drawn up for him in 1848, declaring that the law would make a better will for him than he could himself.^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1002, HEREFORDSHIRE, WORCESTERSHIRE AND WALES: Monthly Meeting of Shropshire: Births, FindMyPast
2. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7JG-WV3 : 11 December 2014), Francis Darby, 05 Apr 1783, Birth; citing p. 29, Shropshire, Montgomeryshire & Merionethshire, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Edward H Milligan. British Quakers in Commerce and Industry 1775-1920, Sessions Book Trust, 2007, p. 141
4. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/17, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE: Monthly Meeting of Leighton [Buzzard]: Marriages, FindMyPast
5. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWXK-YJX : 11 December 2014), Francis Darby, 16 Jun 1808, Marriage; citing p. 68, Buckinghamshire, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
6. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/240, HEREFORDSHIRE, WORCESTERSHIRE AND WALES: Monthly Meeting of Shropshire: Births, FindMyPast
7. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F73N-VXY : 11 December 2014), Matilda Frances Darby, 23 Jun 1809, Birth; citing p. 128, Herefordshire, Worcestershire & Wales, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
8. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/240, HEREFORDSHIRE, WORCESTERSHIRE AND WALES: Monthly Meeting of Shropshire: Births, FindMyPast
9. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQ27-GNL : 11 December 2014), Adelaide Anna Darby, 10 Aug 1817, Birth; citing p. 34, Shropshire, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
10. ↑ Annual Monitor - Deaths, FindMyPast
11. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2J95-KW7 : 31 December 2014), Francis Darby, 1850; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death, Madeley, Shropshire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England