Sir Edward Darcy (Darcey, Darsey; 1543/1544 – 28 October 1612) was an English politician and courtier. His
monopoly
A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...
by way of having a wide
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
on playing cards was declared illegal in 1602.
He has an alternative title: Sir Edward Darcy/Darcey/Darsey of
Stainforth,
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...
.
Background and career
Darcy was the eldest son of Mary Carew (daughter of Sir
Nicholas Carew) and of Sir Arthur Darcy (the son of
Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Darcy
Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy of Darcy or of Temple Hurst, ( 1467 – 30 June 1537) was an English nobleman, the only son, and heir, of Sir William Darcy (1443 – 30 May 1488) and his wife, Euphemia Langton, the daughter of Sir John Langton. Dar ...
). He was educated at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
before being admitted to the
Inner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...
in 1561.
[ He was a ]Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
, Cornwall from 1584 to 1585.
In 1579 he was a groom of the Privy Chamber
Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Household of the monarch in early modern England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and in Eng ...
to Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
. In 1589 the Queen granted the reversion of the manors of Epsom
Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...
and Ashtead
Ashtead is a large village in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, approximately south of central London. Primarily a commuter settlement, Ashtead is on the single-carriageway A24 between Epsom and Leatherhead. The village is on t ...
to him as Sir Francis Carew's nephew, which matured in 1612 on the latter's death.manor
Manor may refer to:
Land ownership
*Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England
*Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism
*Man ...
of Stainforth Underbargh and 20 dwelling houses with lands there.
Queen Elizabeth granted Darcy an exclusive patent in 1598 for the manufacture, importation and sales of playing cards. The Court of Queen's Bench four years later, held the patent invalid in the landmark case Darcy v Allein
''Edward Darcy Esquire v Thomas Allin of London Haberdasher'' (1602) 74 ER 1131 (also spelt as "Allain" or "Allen" and "Allein" but most widely known as the ''Case of Monopolies''), was an early landmark case in English law, establishing that th ...
("The Case of Monopolies").
Knighted on 23 April 1603, Sir Edward died 28 October 1612, aged 69,St Botolph's Aldgate
St Botolph's Aldgate is a Church of England parish church in the City of London and also, as it lies outside the line of the city's former eastern walls, a part of the East End of London.
The full name of the church is St Botolph without Aldga ...
.
Family
Edward Darcy married Elizabeth, a daughter of Thomas Astley of Writtle
The village and civil parish of Writtle lies west of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It has a traditional village green complete with duck pond and a Norman church, and was once described as "one of the loveliest villages in England, with a ravishi ...
, another groom of Elizabeth's privy chamber, in July 1579.[Arthur Collins, ''Jewels and Plate of Elizabeth I'' (London, 1955), p. 441 no. 872]
'DARCY, Edward (1543-1612), of Dartford Place, Kent', ''The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603'', ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
/ref>
Their children included:
*Robert Darcy m. Mary d. 1618;
**Edward Darcy (parted with manors);
*Christopher Darcy d. 1623;
*Isabella Darcy (1600-1669),
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darcy, Edward
1544 births
1612 deaths
People from Stainforth, South Yorkshire
Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Cornwall
Members of the Inner Temple
English MPs 1584–1585
English knights
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
17th-century English people