THE SOLICITOR OF NEWTON ABBOT
Above: The English town of Newton Abbot, with the Tower
of
St Leonard, where the D’Arcy’s moved at about the time of the
Great Famine
in Ireland
LT WILLIAM D’ARCY
Francis and Lucy Knox’s son, William D'Arcy was born on the farm at Gorteen in 1780. Like many a young Irishman, he joined the British Army a lieutenant and fought the French. He later married a Devonshire girl and settled in Kent. These were the grandparents of Bertha D’Arcy.
WILLIAM FRANCIS D’ARCY
Lieutenant William D’Arcy’s only known son was William Francis D'Arcy. During the 1830s, he set up practice as a solicitor in the lively town of Newton Abbot, Devonshire. There he married Elizabeth Baker, daughter of the Rev. Robert Bradford, with whom he had a son, William Knox D’Arcy, and six daughters, including Bertha. The D’Arcy’s lived on the Abbotsbury estate outside Newton Abbot. In about 1865, William made an unfortunate financial decision that bankrupted both himself and a number of his clients. The D’Arcy’s were obliged to leave England in haste.