In the 1891 census he was reported to have been born in Bayswater, London. His birth on FreeBMD:
Surname First name(s) District Vol Page
Births Mar 1885 (>99%)
Darnell Philip Barrington Paddington 1a 9
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No sign of any marriage on FreeBMD from 1902 to 1935. Abroad?
I am beginning to doubt that he was married at all.
I wonder if the wills of his parents might provide more clues?
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But he, his wife and children are in the
1911 census:
They had been married for 8 years and had 3 children, all of whom were alive.
His wife was Alice, aged 28 and born in Chesham, Bucks. He was 27, so she and he were 19 and 20 respectively at marriage. Did they get their parents permission or did they run off to Gretna Green? The marriage (if any) would have been in 1903, ±1 year, say: perhaps 1902 to 1904. And I still can’t find the marriage either on FreeBMD or from the index sheets from 1902 to 1904.
The children were:
Name Age Birth Deduced birth yearMiriam 7 Chesham, Bucks 1904
Gladys 6 Chesham, Bucks 1905
Philip 5 Watford, Herts 1906
But I can find none of these three on FreeBMD.
They were living at Hill Drop, Eskdale Rd, Chesham, Bucks
He was a commercial traveller for an ironmongery firm.
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The following Darnells were born with a Norman mother after 1911:
Surname First name(s) Mother District Vol Page Births Mar 1915
Darnell Elsie M Norman W.Derby 8b 1322
Births Jun 1919
Darnell John H Norman W. Derby 8b 1003
Births Mar 1921
Darnell Robert L Norman W.Derby 8b 1211
Might they be later members of this family?
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This looks like his death on FreeBMD:
Surname First name(s) Age District Vol Page
Deaths Dec 1957 (1%)
DARNELL Philip B 74 Marlboro' 7c 528
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For the two daughters, no marriages could be found for Miriam and several for Gladys, enabling neither to be identified on public records!
Nor can any death be found for them with the Darnell surname.
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On the other hand, it now seems that I may have got hold of the wrong marriage and given him a wife and children that in fact belonged to a Philip Darvell.
I suspect the above death in 1957 might be right and so it might be worth getting hold of his death certificate and will.
He was found in the 1891 but not in the 1901 (which I also searched for all Philips with blank surname and born in London giving 332 people) or 1911 censuses. No death found from 1891 to 1921, so where was he?
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I have now received the following death certificate:
Registration District: Marlborough, Wilts
Certifcate No: 480
Death date/place: Twenty fourth October 1957, West Kennett House, West Kennett
Name: Philip Barrington Darnell
Sex: Male
Age: 74 [sic: he was 72]
Occupation: Of West Kenneth House, West Kenneth, Nr Marlborough, Wilts.
Of Independent means.
When registered: Eleventh November 1957
Registrar: W H Boaden
Note: Clerical omission in Col 5 corrected on the 17th June 1958 by me
F.K.R. Long. Superintendent Registrar.
(West Kenneth House is a very attractive pad on the west side of Marlborough, close to the A4.)
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He is on a list of Canadian WW1 enlistments and his rank or regimental number was 524634. <
http://canadian-wwi-enlistments.mooseroots.com/d/a/Philip-Barrington-Darnell>
Enlistment Details
Philip Barrington Darnell was born on December 12, 1884.
First Name Philip Barrington
Last Name Darnell
Birth Date December 12, 1884
Regimental Number 524634
Reference RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 2299 - 44
Document Number 000064347
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His enlistment led to finding him and his family in the 1911 Canadian Census in Seamish Ward I.
He was described as born in Dec 1881 and aged 29 (false), immigrated in 1908/7, working in Poultry.
Alice was described as born in Sept 1880 and aged 30, born in England, immigrated in 1909.
Their son Philip N Darnell was born in July 1910 in British Columbia, Canada and was aged 10 months.
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See his will for the evidence that they had a second son, surviving in 1931 called William Barrington Darnell. The death of one such can be found on FamilySearch:
William Barrington Darnell
England and Wales, Death Registration Index 1837-2007
Name: William Barrington Darnell
Event Type: Death Registration
Registration Quarter: Oct-Nov-Dec
Registration Year: 1990
Registration District: Lancaster
County: Lancashire
Event Place: Lancaster, Lancashire, England
Birth Date (available after June quarter 1969): 10 Feb 1914
Volume: 40
Page: 1514
This is confirmed on FindMyPast.
The birth date is credible as his mother would have then been 34.
There are five William B Darnell marriages on FindMyPast after 1931 with the last in 1974. The certificates will give the father’s name, so he can, at some expense, be identified thereby.
The London Gazette of 25 Nov 1941 has a 2 Lt Commission wef 26th October 1941 for: William Barrington DARNELL (217685).
In 1947 a William Barrington Darnell, aged 33, born in 1914, left Southampton bound for Bombay.
In 1950 the same on another boat to Bombay, this time from Liverpool.
William Barrington Darnell is entered for probate on 13 Feb 1991 at Liverpool having died on 17 October 1990 from Blaw Bank, Windermere Road, Grange over Sands, Cumberland. (April 2015: ordered)
Ancestry, on a free weekend, gave that he, aged 11, and his father, a rancher aged 42, were on Arcania, a Cunard boat, from Quebec to London, arriving on 23 Dec 1923, with a destination of 16 Foxgrove Rd, Beckenham
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No information could be found for any marriage in Canada or England.