Assistance needed with John Edward Darby b.1881

[Neural]

Hi

I have really hit a brick wall and need some help with a John Edward Darby, my great grandfather.

He was born in England in around 1881 (his gravestone speaks of him being 50 years old when he died on 26 Nov 1931). I have no idea where he was born or who his parents were, or if he had siblings.

Word of mouth says he came to South Africa and fought in the Anglo-Boer War where he was then injured and returned to the UK. I have only been able to find two John Darbys who fought in the Anglo-Boer war and they were both killed.

Apparently he then returned to South Africa and married a Lilian Florence Bristow. They had 5 children, Leslie (male), Richard, George (b 1912 in Swinburne, South Africa), Douglas (b 1916) and Helen (b 1920).

In South Africa, he was a commercial traveller, and was Vice-president of the South African Commercial Travellers’ Association. He was mudered by a rampage killer, Cornelius van Heerden, who killed him and 8 others outside Bethlehem.

I also know very little about his wife, Lilian Florence Bristow, where she was born or who her parents were. The last most interesting information about her, was that after her husband's death in Nov 1931, she went to England by ship (Balmoral Castle) arriving on 13th June 1932 in Southampton. She travelled with her daughter Helen, 12 years old at the time and stayed at 4 Pierremont Avenue, Boadstairs, Kent. Now the interesting part, is who did she stay with? Did she visit her own family after the death of her husband, or did she travel to the UK to visit her deceased husband's family.

I really would appreciate any assistance that anyone would be able to give me.

Regards

Richard

[KGarrad]

Welcome to RootsChat!

Unfortunately, there are a number of births for John Edward Darby around 1881!

June qtr 1879, Marylebone
September qtr 1880, West Ham
March qtr 1881, Leeds
June qtr 1881, West Bromwich
December qtr 1881, Uttoxeter


Without knowing some more details, he is going to be difficult to trace.

[Neural]

Thanks KGarrad!

I was hoping his wife's visit to Broadstairs was going to help, but it seems that if this was his family, he was not born in that area.

I have over the course of years been able to narrow the group of John or John Edward Darbys down to the following based on those who have died in the Anglo-Boer war or who remained in the UK and were in the 1911 census (by this stage he was in South Africa). The possibilities are thus as follows:

• John Edward Darby, born Oct-Dec 1881, Uttoxeter.
• John Edward Darby, born April-Jun 1881, West Bromwich
• John Darby, born 1881, Wigan, Lancashire (there is also a John Darby born in July 1881 in Charlton which may be the same one)
• John E Darby, born 1880, Marylebone

This means the list is narrowed down to at least 4, but none of them close to 4 Pierremont Avenue, Broadstairs!

Thanks again.

[heywood]

Hello and welcome to Rootschat,

Have you found a marriage for John and Lillian? Do SA marriage certificates have details of fathers?

regards
heywood

[Neural]

Hi heywood

Marriage certificates are not digitized or online and one has to go to the local registry office to access these records. I have no idea where he was married in South Africa.

SA marriage certificates generally do have the father's details. The problem is that to request a marriage certificate, you need to provide a fair amount of information, some of which I do not have. This is the obvious route to go though.

Many thanks!

[softly softly]

Neural,
See if you can get a moderator to link this with the Kent board. Someone may be able to look at the electoral register for you for the address they were travelling too, this may reveal names. I have had some sucess doing this.

John

[softly softly]

Neural,
There are 2 J Darby's listed as dead but also a 3rd who was only a casualty.

J DARBY - PRISONER
CASUALTY DATE 15.9.1901
CASUALTY PLACE - LEUWFNTN
PRIVATE
SOUTH AFRICA FIELD FORCE
6TH DRAGOONS 4124
REJOINED
Not sure if it helps or muddies the waters??

John

[Neural]

Hi John

The JE Darby that was taken prisoner appears to be the same as one of those who was killed a little later. The service number of the man who was taken prisoner is the same as one of those later killed.

Thanks for the help in any case.

[Neural]

Hi

Often you will come across a post somewhere that leaves you hanging and never answers the original question. Well, here it is...

John Edward Darby was born in August 1881 in Stoke-upon-Trent. His father was William Darby and his mother was Emma Alcock. His birth was registered in Uttoxeter and his Christening on 24 Sep 1881 in Leigh shows Wiiliam and Emma as his parents.

He appears to have had 2 brothers, Albert William Caswell Darby and a George Darby. Unfortunately, William died at 22years of age and then what was quite odd was that the 3 brothers split up and John and George went to live with their grandfather Edward Darby (as per 1891 census) and Albert went to stay with the other grandfather John Alcock (also confirmed in 1891 census).

John Edward Darby married Lilian Florence Bristow in Swinburne, South Africa. Lilian's parents were an Edwin Bristow and a Jane Lillywhite.

Hopefully this will be of help to someone some day.

Kind regards