The Old Darlingtons

The Darlingtons are widely known in Cheshire (and north Staffordshire) as a well established dairy farming family. They also have a swathe of relatives in the USA (who originate in the main from the settlement of Abraham and John Darlington in Chester County, Pennsylvania around 1704).

Horace shared a common ancestry with these US Darlingtons - the common ancestor farmed Brookhouses near Whitegate, Cheshire.

Tracing the exact links between gnerations is very taxing because the names 'Abraham' and 'John' cascade down the generations. The loose association of families with particular places, and changes in official boundaries and designations, do not help either.

For example: Whitegate, Darnhall and Over are very close (especially if you are walking across the fields as they probably did in the 16th and 17th centuries). Similarly, many of Horace's branch appear to have married in Acton Church (Acton by Nantwich) although they were living at Aston (Aston-juxta-Mondrum) - a place that hardly exists nowadays and is more often designated as Worleston.

The monograph 'Genealogy of the Darlington Family - A Record of the Descendants of Abraham Darlington of Birmingham, Chester Co, Pennsylvania' by Gilbert Cope (1900) is full of interesting material, including an overview of 'Our English Kith and Kin'.

Both Cope and I agree that all the Darlingtons from Cheshire are almost certainly ultimately related. Unfortunately, although Horace's ancestor Abraham of Poole Old Hall, Aston (i.e. Worleston) appears in the tree, I think that Cope had become fatigued and stubbed his toes on too many Abrahams and Johns when he came to establishing the links.

Taking Cope's information into account, this is my best effort so far:

DARLINGTON FAMILY TREE

1.Richard Darlington of Whitegate (born about 1530)

2.Richard Darlington of Whitegate (born 1564) – married Catherine Threlfall

3.Hugh Darlington of Darnhall (born 1599, Whitegate / Over)

4.John Darlington of Darnhall (born 1620, Whitegate) - married Elizabeth Barker

5.Richard Darlington of Darnhall (born 1674, Whitegate)
– married Mary Anderton of Whitegate, at Acton 1699
- remarried to Mary Cocksey (modern Cooksey) at Acton, 1718

6.Abraham Darlington of Aston (born 1721, son of Richard & Mary Cocksey) - married Sarah Hulse

7.John Darlington of Aston (born 1753, son of Abraham & Sarah) - married Mary Bullock, 1777

8.Abraham Darlington of Aston (born 1808 son of John & Mary) – married Mary Galley

9.Abraham Darlington of Poole Old Hall, Aston-juxta-Mondrum / Worleston (born 1841 Willaston, Nr Nantwich, died 1889) – married Esther Foster (formerly Scragg)

10.Herbert Darlington of Hoolgrave Manor, Church Minshull (b 1884, died 1954) - married Sarah Price Kinsey

11.Horace Darlington of Corner Farm, Wettenhall (b 1917, Church Minshull, died 1968) – married Mabel Kenyon Johnson (formerly Clarke)