Sarah Peachy

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(For a brief history and context on the Darby family see this page)

Sarah Peachy was also known as Sarah Darby.³ She was born circa 1730.^1,4 She was the daughter of John Peachy and Jane Peachy.² Sarah Peachy may have been baptised on Monday, 20 November 1730 at the village of Little Hadham near the small town of Bishops Stortford, Essex.² Sarah lived in October 1749 at Roydon Hamlet, Essex.⁵

Sarah Peachy married Richard Darby, son of Richard Darby, at St. Peter's on Sunday, 26 October 1749 at Roydon, Essex. They went on to have some 12 children together.^5,1 The church has walls of flint and rubble, and probably dates back to at least 1260. Historically, Roydon was a parish of scattered farms and cottages, with open fields and common meadows. There were 105 ratepayers named in 1734, and the population was 667 in 1801. On the north and west, rivers form the parish and county boundaries.⁶



Sarah and Richard Darby became the parents of Richard Darby circa 1752.⁷

Sarah, as the mother of the bride, along with Richard may have attended the wedding of Elizabeth and Thomas Darby in a Church of England ceremony at St. Peter's on Monday, 14 September 1778 at Roydon, Essex.. Others who may have attended include . Elizabeth and Thomas went on to have 11 children together over 17 years.^8,7

Sarah died on 1 October 1779 at Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, at the reported age of 59.^3,4 She was buried on 7 October 1789 at St. Dunstan's, Hunsdon, Hertfordshire.^9,10,4 "About two miles north-east from Stanstead, in the same hundred (Braughin), stands the pleasant village of Hunsdon, in the parish of its name. From the church, and other positions in the neighbourhood, some beautiful views may be obtained, including the course of the Stort to join the Lea ... The parish [1839] contains about 600 inhabitants." The church stands close to Hunsdon House, nearly a mile south of the village. The walls are of flint rubble with stone dressings, the south chapel being built of brick. This church possesses some exceptionally good details of fittings of the 16th and 17th centuries.¹¹