William Darell

William Darell or Darrell (died after 16 February 1580) was an English Anglican clergyman and antiquarian. Born in Kent, Darell first appears in the historical record when in 1546 he was presented to the rectory in his home town of Little Chart. A pluralist, Darell went on to hold many benefices, rectories, and vicarages during his ecclesiastical career. This included notably a prebend at Canterbury Cathedral, where he was among those who elected Matthew Parker to the Archbishopric of Canterbury and subsequently worked under Parker as an antiquarian. However a succession of controversies within the church—including one where he was found smuggling a woman of "suspect behaviour" into his Canterbury quarters—precipitated a loss of favour in the 1570s. After he lost his prebend at Canterbury in 1580, Darrel disappeared from the historical record. Biography Darell was born into the ancient Darell family of Calehill, Little Chart, Kent who remained loyal to the Catholic Church after the English Reformation; nothing more is known of his early life. He first appears in the historical record when he is presented to the rectory of Little Chart in 1546. By 1548, he had the benefice of St Andrew's, Droitwich, Worcestershire; thereafter he found himself in the rectories of Milton-next-Gravesend, Kent in 1549 and Chawton, Hampshire in 1553. When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558, Darell was living in Lenham, Kent. On both 23 September 1553 and 24 March 1554, Darell was assigned to take over the third prebend of Canterbury Cathedral, Kent from the previous incumbent Robert Goldeston. Darell also attended Oxford University, where he graduated BA on 24 April 1554 and MA on 29 May 1554. At Canterbury, Darell was among five-person chapter who elected Matthew Parker to the Archbishopric of Canterbury. He was tasked with announcing the chapter's decision and presenting it to Parker for his approval. Darell thereafter advanced through the ranks of the Cathedral, becoming subdean in 1560. Under Archbishop Parker, Darell was among those encouraged in antiquarianism. He authored a work on the castles of Kent, entitled Castra in campo Cantiano ab antiquo aedita nobilium ope et diligentia, dedicated to his patron, William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham, lord of the Manor of Cobham, Kent and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. Darell was also a diligent collector of manuscripts.