Grave memorial to Susannah Darby and William Darby (also known as Pablo Fanque)

Summary

Grave memorial to Susannah Darby (1848) and her husband William Darby (1871), better known as Pablo Fanque, the celebrated equestrian who was Britain’s first Black circus proprietor.

Reasons for Designation

Grave memorial to Susannah Darby and her husband William Darby, better known as Pablo Fanque, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest: * for its direct association with William Darby (Pablo Fanque), a nationally renowned mid-C19 equestrian who was Britain’s first Black circus proprietor; * as one of only a very small number of grave markers that were retained when the former Woodhouse Cemetery was re-landscaped as public open space in the late 1960s;

Group value: * with the nearby cemetery chapel, lodges and a small number of other surviving grave monuments.

History

Susannah Darby, nee Marlaw, born around 1801, died on 18 March 1848 when staging for seating at her husband’s circus collapsed on her during a performance. Her husband, William Darby, was more widely known under his professional name of Pablo Fanque. Fanque was a nationally renowned equestrian, performer and circus owner. He was one of the most successful circus impresarios in Victorian England, particularly in the 1840s -1850s, which is often regarded as the golden age of the circus. He was also the first Black circus proprietor in Britain. Fanque was also a member of the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds, a Friendly Society, and regularly held benefit performances to raise money for fellow circus performers who were in need because of retirement or ill health and for more general community organisations such as mechanics’ institutes. An advertisement for one such performance, ‘Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite’ inspired John Lennon to write the 1967 Beatles song of the same name.

William Darby was born in Norwich to John Darby, an African-born gentleman’s servant/butler and Mary Darby. The couple had a child named William, born 28 Feb 1796 who appears to have died in infancy, buried 30 April 1797, but reused the name William for their fifth son born 30 March 1810. This has led to confusion over Pablo Fanque’s date of birth and he is now thought to have been 61 when he died in 1871 of bronchitis in Stockport, rather than 75, which is recorded on his grave cover and was also stated in contemporary death notices in the press. Fanque’s fortunes had declined by 1870 and he was insolvent when he died. However, his publicist, Edward Sheldon, helped to arrange for his body to be transported to Leeds and interred in the same plot as his first wife Susannah. It was reported in the press that thousands of mourners attended the funeral procession, which included his favourite horse following behind his hearse.

What is now known as St George’s Fields was opened as Woodhouse Cemetery in 1835 by the Leeds General Cemetery Company when the Leeds Parish Cemetery became over-filled and insanitary. The cemetery was acquired by Leeds University in 1956 and most of the monuments were cleared after 1965. The area was re-landscaped without disturbing the over 90,000 burials by then contained within the cemetery, and in 1969 the cemetery was reopened as a public open space. The grave memorial to Susannah Darby and William Darby (Pablo Fanque) forms part of a tight group of four memorials that were left in situ, one of a small number of similar groupings of memorials left as part of the landscaping.

Details

Grave memorial to Susannah Darby, 1848 and her husband William, professionally known as Pablo Fanque, added 1871.

MATERIALS: fine-grained sandstone.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial is in two parts: a standing grave slab raised on a moulded plinth, and a horizontal grave cover shaped like a pitched roof projecting east from the plinth to a hipped east end.

The standing grave slab incorporates a bas-relief carving of an ornamented funerary urn partly covered by a cloth above a cornice formed by carved leaves and acorns. Below this is the following inscription:

‘SACRED / TO THE MEMORY OF/ SUSANNAH DARBY, / AGED 47 YEARS. / THE BELOVED WIFE OF/ WILLIAM DARBY, EQUESTRIAN MANAGER, / PROFESSIONALLY KNOWN AS/ PABLO FANQUE / HER DEATH WAS OCCASIONED BY THE FALLING / OF A PORTION OF THE CIRCUS ERECTED IN / KING CHARLES CROFT / LEEDS / ON SATURDAY THE 18TH DAY OF MARCH 1848.

TO THE GODS DECREE WE MORTALS ALL MUST BEND, THY WILL BE DONE OUR BEST AND ONLY FRIEND, MY SOUL BY THY COMMAND, IS BORNE AWAY, TO REALMS OF LIGHT AND NEVER ENDING DAY, TORN FROM THE WORLD, AND FROM MY HUSBAND DEAR, PITY MY FATE, AND DROP A SILENT TEAR.

HER BEREAVED AND AFFLICTED HUSBAND / HAS CAUSED THIS MONUMENT TO BE ERECTED.’

Below this, in slightly different type:

‘ALSO CAROLINE SUSANNAH, THE INFANT DAUGHTER OF WILLIAM / AND ELIZABETH DARBY, WHO DIED JANUARY 1ST 1859, / AGED 1 YEAR AND 4 MONTHS. Of such is the kingdom of Heaven.’

The horizontal grave cover has the following inscription: ‘ALSO THE ABOVE NAMED / WILLIAM DARBY PABLO FANQUE / WHO DIED MAY 4TH 1871 AGED 75 YEARS.’

Sources

Websites
Biography of William Darby, accessed 08/09/2022 from https://norfolktalesmyths.com/tag/william-darby/
Burial Record for Susannah Darby, accessed 08/09/2022 from https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/516850
Burial record for the infant Caroline Darby, accessed 08/09/2022 from https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/524245
Burial record for William Darby, accessed 08/09/2002 from https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/535982
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for William Darby, Pablo Fanque, accessed 08/09/2022 from https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/53827

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