George Darell

The Reverend Dr George Darell, Canon of Westminster 1607-1631, is buried in the south aisle of the nave of Westminster Abbey but he has no monument or readable gravestone. He was the seventh son of Edward Darell of Pagham in Sussex who was Clerk of the Acatery (keeper of provisions) to Queen Elizabeth I, and his wife Mary, daughter of Marmaduke Darell. His brothers were Sir Thomas Darell and Sir Marmaduke Darell of Fulmer, Buckinghamshire (who was joint-victualler of the Navy and cofferer of the King's household and built a house in the Abbey precincts). George was Doctor of Divinity as of All Souls, Oxford and after being installed prebendary of Westminster he was also rector of Wormley in Hertfordshire and West Hanningfield in Essex. His first wife Elizabeth (Eton) was buried in the Abbey in 1621. Daughter Anne was baptised at St Margaret's Westminster in 1616 and another daughter was Elizabeth. He married secondly Anne daughter of John Darell of Kent. In his will he left money towards building the New Chapel in Tothill Fields, Westminster. The was built on waste ground and burials there were recorded in the registers of St Margaret's Westminster. Its churchyard was consecrated by Dean John Williams in 1626 and the church opened in 1642. A later church on this site, called Christ Church Broadway, was demolished. The churchyard area is now an open space on the corner of Victoria Street and Broadway.