There are many members of the Darling family buried at Mill Road Cemetery. The location of the graves are not known, and are unlikely to be discovered
Parishes: Andrew the Less, Holy Trinity, St Clements
Relationship: Father, two wives, five children, daughter in law, granddaughter
Joseph Frederick Darling (1856 – 7 September 1910)
Known as Fred, he was the son of James and Ann (née Barnes) and was baptised at St. Andrew the Less Church on 15 November 1863. James Darling was a ‘tinman’ and he grew up at 26 Fitzroy Street. He married Mary Jane Jarman (1860-1889) on 26 July 1885 at St. Andrew the Less Church and they had two children: Joseph Frederick (1885-1940) and Emma Jane (1887-1912). Fred worked as a brewer’s labourer at the Star Brewery from c.1881 onwards and the family lived at Wellington Street.
After he was widowed he lived with Mary’s sister Emma, eventually marrying her in the autumn of 1894. Fred and Emma had a further 10 children; Walter (1890-1957), Sydney Montague (1891-1917), Owen (1892-1894), Lance Corporal William James (1895-1917), Harry Owen Cecil (1897-1931), Grace (1898-1965), Hilda May (1900-1973), John (1902-1927), Agnes Dorothy (1903-1927) and Arthur Leonard (1910-1943).
In July 1910 Fred was unable to work through illness. He had insurance through the Foresters, who paid him with the balance to his full wages being paid by Star Brewery. He was unable to find alternative work became depressed. He got up one morning at 5am and took a drink of poison, with Emma looking on. Fred died two hours later. The inquest heard that he had been very worried about not working, and was convinced that Star Brewery would let him go. The Brewery testified that as a long server they would have tried to find him lighter work. The jury returned a verdict of ‘suicide during temporary insanity’.
He was buried in the St Andrew the Less area of the Cemetery on 10 September 1910.
Mary Jane Darling (née Jarman) (1860 – January 1889)
Mary was Fred’s first wife and was the daughter of Samuel and Susan. She was born in Steeple Morden and baptised there on 18 October 1863. She worked as a servant prior to marrying Fred Darling. She died at Wellington Street aged 29 and was buried in the St. Andrew the Less area of the Cemetery on 28 January 1889.
Emma Darling (née Jarman) (1867 – 17 May 1925)
Emma was Fred’s second wife, and Mary Jane’s sister. She was also born and raised in Steeple Morden, and worked as a nursemaid from at least the age of 14 onwards.
Emma was an active member of the Tipperary Club, which was founded in Cambridge in March 1915. It was a women’s movement, which made and sent essentials to soldiers at the front. In its first two years, the club made 4,000 sandbags, hospital bags, and knitted socks, mufflers and mittens for soldiers. It reformed in Cambridge as ‘The new Tipperary Club’ in 1920 and made clothes for the ‘famine striken children of Serbia and Central Europe’. Secretary Hilda Willink wrote in the Daily News that ‘one touch of nature makes the whole world kin and our Cambridge mothers are keen to help the suffering children of other lands’.
Emma continued to live at Wellington Street after she was widowed and died at home aged 58 years old. She was buried in Mill Road Cemetery on 21 May, where many of the Tipperary Club attended – making a guard of honour at the entrance to Christ Church, where the funeral service was held.
Owen Darling (October 1892 – 20 November 1894)
Owen was the son of Fred and Emma. He was baptised at St. Andrew the Less on 9 February 1893 and died aged 23 months old at Wellington Street. He was buried in the St. Andrew the Less area of the Cemetery on 3 December 1894.
Sydney Montague Darling (21 April 1891 – 16 March 1917)
Sydney was the son of Fred and Emma and was baptised on 19 November 1891 at St. Andrew the Less Church. He worked as a gas fitter for the Cambridge Gas Company and was also a member of the Territorial army from March 1909 onwards. He was called up to fight at the start of war, but was discharged in January 1916 as being ‘medically unfit for further war service’. From army records it is known he was 5ft, 7.5 inches tall, with dark hair, and blue eyes. He died at Wellington Street ‘after a very short illness, and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 22 March.
Emma’s son Lance Corporal William James Darling died in France six months later and is commemorated at Passchendale memorial.
John Darling (1902 – 2 February 1927)
John was also the son of Fred and Emma and was baptised at St. Andrew the Less on 19 June 1902. Aged 19 he was a Lance Corporal in the British Army, serving with the 2nd Battalion, Suffolk Regiment and posted in Beresford Barracks, Curragh, Ireland. He returned to live at 18 Wellington Street and died aged 25 after ‘a long illness’. His funeral was held on 5 February 1928.
Agnes Dorothy (Dolly) (1903 – 6 May 1927)
Dolly was baptsed at St. Andrew the Less on 20 May 1903. aged 18 she was working as a domestic servant at a Hostel on Harvey Road, employed by the Ministery of Labour. She later went to work for Chivers. She died at 18 Wellington Street ‘after a long illness’ and was buried at Mill Road Cemetery on 10 May.
Arthur Leonard Darling (20 October 1910 – 27 July 1943)
Arthur was born after his father Fred’s death and was baptised at St. Andrew the Less on 27 November 1910. He was deaf, and went to the Royal School for Deaf Children (1921), later working as a boot repairer. He lived along at 18 Wellington Street and then 58 Ross Street (1934 onwards). He died at his sister Hilda’s home at 219 Ross Street aged 32 years old and was buried in the St. Clement’s area of Mill Road Cemetery on 31 July. the wreaths left at the graveside give some indication of his passions: Members of the Gladstone Liberal Club; customers and members of the Empress Darts and Social Club.
Florence Nellie Darling (née Browne) (1892 – 27 March 1919)
Florence was the wife of Walter Darling, Fred and Emma’s eldset son. She was born in Cambridge, the daughter of carpenter Peter Browne. She married Walter at St. Paul’s Church on 13 July 1914 and they had one daughter: Mollie, born 1915. Walter worked as a brewer’s labourer and they lived at Queen Street, and then 27 Wellington Road (1919). Walter served in the 1st World War from October 1916 and was discharged on 13 March 1919.
Florence did just two weeks later aged 26 years old and was buried in the Holy Trinity area of the Cemetery on 1 April 1919. She was also a member of the Tipperary Club, and there were a ‘large number of members and friends’ of the Club at her funeral. Emma Darling was not able to be there ‘having been ill for some time’.
Mollie Dorothy Emma Darling (11 January 1915 – July 1941)
Mollie was the daughter of Florence and Walter Darling. She was baptised at St. Paul’s Church on 13 December 1916. In 1939 she was living at Queens Street and working as a shop assistant, but by September 1939 was a patient at the Papworth TB Hospital. She died there aged 26 years old and was buried with her mother in the Holy Trinity area of the Cemetery on 21 July 1941.
Sources:
Ancestry
Newspaper archives
Parish burial records
by Claire Martinsen
[If you have any further information about this family, please contact us at Friendsofmillroadcemetery@gmail.com]