Darby Lux I

Darby Lux I (1695–1750) was a mariner, merchant, and Justice of Baltimore County, Maryland.

The son of an English clergyman, was born in Kenton Parish, Devonshire, England, on June 15, 1695.

(An earlier voyage of the ship Genoa, 1736, was captained by Lux's brother Capt.

Of the estimated 50,000 convicts transported to the British colonies, Lux carried at least 1,000 from London to Maryland on eleven voyages within seventeen years.

[2] Lux carried return cargos of tobacco on board his ships bound for Great Britain and on general consignment to Jonathan Forward, merchant of London.

Retiring from the sea, Lux moved to Baltimore Town in 1743 and became a prominent merchant.

As a merchant, Lux imported goods from England and the Caribbean (and exported Maryland products) from his wharf on Light Street in Baltimore Town.

William Lux, Sr. took over and expanded his father's business by acquiring a rope walk.

In 1733, he sailed to London aboard the sloop "Baltimore Town", which carried twenty guns and a crew of forty.

His house, located at 43-44 Light Street, and his ship are shown in the contemporary sketch "Baltimore In 1752", painted by Lt. Col. John Moale, Jr., Esq.

He was also a Justice in Baltimore County, Maryland, and at the same time served as a delegate of the Lower House of the General Assembly from 1749–1750.

Lux died October 14, 1750, of pleurisy, in his 53rd year, having served as a Magistrate and Representative of Baltimore County.

Lux's will specified equal distribution of his slaves, with one exception: no slave was to be given to his daughter Elizabeth Lux Bowley, or to her son Daniel Bowley II (1745–1807), because she had already received a wedding gift of one enslaved woman and one enslaved boy.

Ann Lux (1736), who married Nicholas Ruxton Gay (died 1770), a surveyor of Baltimore, Maryland.

William (d. 1772), executor of Lux's will & received Frederick Co. land bequest Capt.

The Lux coat of arms included three mullets with a beast rampant in the base.