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Abraham Darby (1678 - 1717)

Abraham "Abraham Darby I" Darby
Born in Woodsetton, Staffordshire, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Son of and [mother unknown]
Brother of
Husband of — married 18 Sep 1699 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, Englandmap
Descendants descendants
Father of , , , , , , , , , and
Died at age 39 in Madeley Court, Madeley, Shropshire, Englandmap
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Profile last modified | Created 30 Jan 2017
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Contents

Biography

Abraham was a Friend (Quaker)
Notables Project
Abraham Darby is Notable.

Abraham, often known as Abraham Darby I to distinguish him from a son and grandson of the same name, was a brass and iron founder, the first of a dynasty of Darbys engaged in the industry.[1]

Birth, Parents and Earlier life

Abraham Darby was the son of John Darby and Ann Baylies.[1] He was born at Wrens Nest, Woodsetton, Staffordshire (now transferred to Worcestershire) on 14 April 1678.[2][3]

Abraham was apprenticed to a Quaker called Jonathan Freeth, who made malt mills and was based at Birmingham, Warwickshire.[1][4]

Life

Abraham moved to Bristol, where initially he was a malt mill maker.[1] His 1699 marriage record describes him as an ironmonger, indicating that he had branched out.[5] In 1702 he and three other Quakers established a business, the Bristol Brass Company, at Baptist Mills, Bristol making brass pots.[1] This was one of the earliest joint stock companies.[6] The next year he set up a separate business at Cheese lane, Bristol for making iron pots, using a new technique which he patented in 1707. He subsequently established metal-working businesses at Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, using coking coal instead of charcoal to achieve greater metal purity. A venture into copper mining near Shrewsbury, Shropshire was probably not very successful. He also acquired interests in furnaces at Dolobran, Montgomeryshire and Vale Royal, Cheshire.[1]

For health reasons, from 1715 Abraham largely withdrew from day-to-day involvement in his business, leaving this to his brother-in-law Thomas Baylies. This led to financial problems, and the business nearly went under.[1]

Marriage and Children

Abraham married Mary Sergeant/Serjeant (spelt Sargeant in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography[1]) at Birmingham Quaker Meeting House, Warwickshire on 18 September 1699. The Quaker marriage record describes him as an ironmonger of Bristol, and his wife as daughter of Thomas Sergeant of Fulford Heath in the parish of Solihull, Warwickshire.[5][7] They had the following children (the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says they had ten children,[1] but there are Quaker records for eleven):

  • Mary, born at Bristol on 29 August (Quaker 6th month) 1700[8][9]
  • Ann, born at Bristol on 11 January 1701/2 (Quaker 11th month 1701)[10][11]
  • Hannah/Hanah, born at Bristol on 8 July (Quaker 5th month) 1703,[12][13] buried there on 25 July (Quaker 5th month) 1704[14]
  • another Hannah, born at Bristol on 19 April (Quaker 2nd month) 1705[15][16]
  • Esther, born at Bristol on 11 December (Quaker 10th month) 1706[17][18]
  • Sarah, born at Bristol on 20 November (Quaker 9th month) 1707[19][20]
  • Sephina, born at Bristol on 30 January 1708/9 (Quaker 11th month 1708)[21][22]
  • Abraham, born at Madeley Court, Madeley, Shropshire on 12 May (Quaker 3rd month) 1711[23][24]
  • Edmund, born at Madeley, Shropshire on 2 August (Quaker 6th month) 1712[25][26]
  • Sarjeant/Sargeant, born at Madeley, Shropshire on 28 September (Quaker 7th month) 1713[27][28][29][30]
  • John, born at Madeley, Shropshire on 27 September (Quaker 7th month) 1716[31][32]

Death and Burial

Abraham died on 5 May (Quaker 3rd month) 1717[33] at his home, Madeley Court, Madeley, Shropshire[1][34] and was buried at Broseley Friends Burial Ground, Shropshire on 8 May 1717.[35]

Memorial

A memorial to Abraham was unveiled at his birthplace, Wrens Nest, Woodsetton, in 2021.[36]

World Heritage Site

Because of its importance in the Industrial Revolution, the area around Coalbrookdale is a World Heritage Site.[37]

Research Notes

Birth Date

Abraham's birth date is mis-transcribed as 14 December in one transcript on Familysearch;[38] in another it is wrongly given as 14 February, with the birth county mistakenly said to be Warwickshire.[39]

Death Date

Until 14 March 2020, Abraham’s Wikipedia entry gave his death date as 8 March 1717.[40] This is wrong. The month was May - Wikipedia had misinterpreted the Quaker "third month" - and, as sourced above, the day was the 5th: the 8th was the burial date.

Possible Disambiguation

A poorly sourced Abraham Darby (1700-) who married a Mary Sargent of Suffolk also exists on WikiTree. The other Abraham has very little detail; the facts given for the other Mary are inconsistent with being the present Abraham's wife, but they are unsourced.

A book of transcripts of Suffolk marriage licences shows that there was a different Darby family in Suffolk in this period, as well as families with the last name Sargent (or variants).[41]

Sources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Nancy Cox, "Darby, Abraham (1678–1717), iron founder, copper smelter, and brass manufacturer" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (print and online 2004, revised online January 2008, Oxford University Press); also available as printed version; https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/7137 (pay site, but free access available to via some UK libraries and institutions)
  2. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1428, WARWICKSHIRE, LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND: Monthly Meeting of Warwickshire North (comprising Birmingham, Dudley, Stourbridge, etc): Dudley, births, FindMyPast
  3. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J3VV-BQ5 : 10 April 2021), Abraham Darby, 1678
  4. ↑ The Darby Family, Quakers in the World website, accessed 23 August 2023
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The National Archives, ref. RG6/1463, WARWICKSHIRE, LEICESTERSHIRE AND RUTLAND: Monthly Meeting of Warwickshire North (comprising Birmingham, Dudley, Stourbridge, etc): Birmingham, FindMyPast
  6. ↑ Wikipedia:Baptist Mills, Bristol
  7. ↑ Abraham Darby of Bristol, ironmonger, and Mary daughter of Thomas Sargeant of Fulford Heath in the parish of Solihull married on eighteenth day of the month called September 1699 at a public assembly at the [Quaker] meeting house in Birmingham: North Warwickshire Monthly Meeting: The National Archives of the UK, reference RG 6/1463 fol. 10 Ancestry Record 7097 #502035
  8. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1440, BRISTOL AND SOMERSET: Monthly Meeting of Bristol: Births, FindMyPast
  9. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQTM-7PF : 11 December 2014), Abraham Darbe in entry for Mary Darbe, 29 Jun 1700, Birth Note; citing p. 278, Bristol & Somerset, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London: misinterprets Quaker 6th month as June
  10. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1440, BRISTOL AND SOMERSET: Monthly Meeting of Bristol: Births, FindMyPast: transcript gives year as just 1701
  11. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F31J-MX6 : 11 December 2014), Abraham Darbye in entry for Ann Darbye, 11 Nov 1701, Birth Note; citing p. 123, Bristol & Somerset, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London: misinterprets Quaker 11th month 1701 as November 1701
  12. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1652, BRISTOL AND SOMERSET: Monthly Meeting of Bristol: Birth notes, FindMyPast
  13. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQBB-HHQ : 11 December 2014), Abraham Darbye in entry for Hannah Darbye, 08 May 1703, Birth Note; citing p. 37, Bristol & Somerset, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London: misinterprets Quaker 5th month as May
  14. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/666, BRISTOL AND SOMERSET: Monthly Meeting of Bristol: Burials, FindMyPast
  15. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1440, BRISTOL AND SOMERSET: Monthly Meeting of Bristol: Births, FindMyPast
  16. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWXF-7R3 : 11 December 2014), Abraham Darbye in entry for Hannah Darbye, 19 Feb 1705, Birth Note; citing p. 159, Bristol & Somerset, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London: misinterprets Quaker 2nd month as February
  17. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1652, BRISTOL AND SOMERSET: Monthly Meeting of Bristol: Birth notes, FindMyPast
  18. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQYP-LBJ : 11 December 2014), Abraham Darbye in entry for Esther Darbye, 11 Oct 1706, Birth Note; citing p. 176, Bristol & Somerset, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
  19. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1440, BRISTOL AND SOMERSET: Monthly Meeting of Bristol: Births, FindMyPast
  20. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FW6B-TR8 : 11 December 2014), Abrham Darby in entry for Sarah Darby, 20 Nov 1707, Birth; citing p. 115, Bristol & Somerset, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
  21. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1440, BRISTOL AND SOMERSET: Monthly Meeting of Bristol: Births, FindfMyPast: transcript gives year as just 1708
  22. ↑ "England, Bristol, Non-Conformist Church Records, 1777-1936," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2Z7-GXNT : 11 March 2018), Abr Darby in entry for Sephina Darby, 30 Nov 1708; citing Christening, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom, Bristol City Archives, England; FHL microfilm 004319956: misinterprets Quaker 11th month 1708 as November 1708
  23. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1002, HEREFORDSHIRE, WORCESTERSHIRE AND WALES: Monthly Meeting of Shropshire: Births, FindMyPast
  24. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F7NQ-RB6 : 11 December 2014), Abraham Darby in entry for Abraham Darby, 12 May 1711, Birth; citing p. 25, Shropshire, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
  25. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1002, HEREFORDSHIRE, WORCESTERSHIRE AND WALES: Monthly Meeting of Shropshire: Births, FindMyPast
  26. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FWGJ-JV6 : 11 December 2014), Abraham Darby in entry for Edmund Darby, 02 Aug 1712, Birth; citing p. 26, Shropshire, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
  27. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1002, HEREFORDSHIRE, WORCESTERSHIRE AND WALES: Monthly Meeting of Shropshire: Births, FindMyPast
  28. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1327, HEREFORDSHIRE, WORCESTERSHIRE AND WALES: Monthly Meeting of Shropshire: Broseley Meeting, FindMyPast
  29. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQY6-LJW : 11 December 2014), Abraham Darby in entry for Sargeant Darby, 28 Sep 1713, Birth; citing p. 45, Broseley, Shropshire, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
  30. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQY6-LJW : 11 December 2014), Abraham Darby in entry for Sargeant Darby, 28 Sep 1713, Birth; citing p. 45, Broseley, Shropshire, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
  31. ↑ The National Archives, ref. RG6/1002, HEREFORDSHIRE, WORCESTERSHIRE AND WALES: Monthly Meeting of Shropshire: Births, FindMyPast
  32. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQN7-NQ3 : 11 December 2014), Abraham Darby in entry for John Darby, 27 Sep 1716, Birth; citing p. 26, Shropshire, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
  33. ↑ Arthur Raistrick, Dynasty of Iron Founders. The Darbys and Coalbrookdale, 2nd edition, William Sessions, 1989, p. 44, citing diary of John Kelsall
  34. ↑ Arthur Raistrick, Dynasty of Iron Founders, p.47
  35. ↑ England & Wales, Society Of Friends (Quaker) Burials 1578-1841, HEREFORDSHIRE, WORCESTERSHIRE AND WALES: Monthly Meeting of Shropshire: Broseley Meeting, RG6/1327, FindMyPast and accompanying image
  36. ↑ Lucy-Ann Jone. New Woodsetton memorial unveiled, 16 October 2021, 'Dudley News' website, accessed 23 August 2023
  37. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage List, entry for 'Ironbridge Gorge', accessed 23 August 2023
  38. ↑ "England and Wales Non-Conformist Record Indexes (RG4-8), 1588-1977," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQMW-62C : 11 December 2014), Abraham Darby, 14 Dec 1678, Birth; citing p. 25, Dudley, Worcestershire, record group RG6, Public Record Office, London
  39. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JSJQ-RRW : 4 February 2023), Abraham Darby, 1678
  40. ↑ Wikipedia: Abraham Darby I
  41. ↑ W Bruce Bannerman and G G Bruce Bannerman. Allegations for marriage licences in the archdeaconry of Sudbury, in the county of Suffolk, Harleian Society, 1919, Internet Archive, passim

See Also:

  • Time Team, Season 9, Episode 5, "The Furnace in the Cellar" (Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire)




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Cayley-55 Michael Cayley
I have substantially expanded the bio on behalf of the Quakers Project. If anyone spots any typos etc, please correct them or message me. I plan shortly to turn to his parents, wife and children.
posted by Michael Cayley
Cayley-55 Michael Cayley
Profiles for wife and children now added.
posted by Michael Cayley

Abraham is 25 degrees from Emeril Lagasse, 21 degrees from Nigella Lawson, 23 degrees from Maggie Beer, 41 degrees from Mary Hunnings, 30 degrees from Joop Braakhekke, 29 degrees from Michael Chow, 25 degrees from Ree Drummond, 23 degrees from Paul Hollywood, 24 degrees from Matty Matheson, 27 degrees from Martha Stewart, 32 degrees from Danny Trejo and 30 degrees from Molly Yeh on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.

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Categories: Quaker Notables | Madeley, Shropshire | Coalbrookdale, Shropshire | Bristol Monthly Meeting, Bristol | Warwickshire North Monthly Meeting, Warwickshire | Baptist Mills, Bristol | England, Notables | England, Industrial Revolution Key Figures | Shropshire Notables | Broseley Friends Burial Ground, Broseley, Shropshire | Shropshire Monthly Meeting, Shropshire | Antiquarians et al, Time Team | Notables