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DARWENT
" dweller by a river "
The name Darwent appears to be of Saxon origin.
My Darwent ancestors hailed from Thornhill, a small ancient village and
township in the parish of Hope, Derbyshire
which was owned by the Duke of Devonshire. The main occupation of the area
was farming.
There is evidence of the family being there from the late 16th to early
17th Centuries with children being born to Roger, William and John. There
were variants of the spelling of the name,
at that time "Darwend", "Darwende", "Derwent" and "Derwend" being amongst
the most common.
The register of St Peter's Church at Hope began in the 1590's and the first
Darwent appears in 1602,
"William Darewent married Anne
Thornhill on 4 February 1602".
By 1670 there were six Darwent households within the parish, located at
Aston, Brough, and Thornhill.
In the Hearth Tax Assessment 1662-1670 for Thornhill, Lawrence Darwend,
William Darwend and John Darwend
each owned one hearth. Each household was required to pay 2 shillings per
annum per hearth or stove and the
money was used as a general revenue. The Easter Roll for the parish of Hope
in 1658 lists one William Darwent at Thornhill.
This was money paid to the Church for helping the sick, paying for communion
wine and money towards Christenings
amongst other things. William paid 1s/2d, his record indicated that he had
three cows and a number of calves.
There was also a levy for ploughed acres.
Darwent Family Home, Thornhill |
MModern day |
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE
And so this is how my Darwents began:
GENERATION ONE
William Darwent and Anne Marshall
married 1666
CHILDREN
William born 1666 (my direct ancestor)
George born 1667
Thomas born 1673
Ann
Edmund born 1677
..............................
GENERATION TWO
William Darwent 1666-1735 and Grace Tim ?-1754
married 1697
CHILDREN
Elizabeth born 1698
Sara born 1701
Ann born 1702
Grace born 1707
Will born 1712
Jacob born 1716 (my direct ancestor)
Jane 1718-1765
..............................
GENERATION THREE
Jacob Darwent born 1716 and Catherine
CHILDREN
Grace born 1740 (my direct ancestor)
William born 1742
Daniel born 1744
Jacob born 1747
Alice born 1748
John born 1752
Catherine 1754-1762
..............................
Grace was baptised at St
Peter's Church, Hope on the 15th May, 1740 and married John Waterhouse on
the
13th May, 1764 at St Peter's Church, Hope.