Jack Darby

John H. “Jack” Darby was born in 1895 at Goodooga, New South Wales, one of the sons of John and Ellen Darby. His brother George was among the first pupils at Opale School in 1907. Jack was married in 1914, while residing at Lightning Ridge.

Darby is credited with the discovery of Darby’s Potch and Colour field, a small field to the east of town that Stuart Lloyd describes as “worth prospecting”.

Alongside opal mining, he worked as a police constable and later as a private agent in Sydney. His work as an investigator brought him notoriety in the 1930s, when he was twice before the courts: first in 1933, fined for impersonating a police officer, and again in 1934, when he was committed for trial on a charge of demanding money “with menaces”.

Jack Darby died on 20 May 1950, aged 55, and was buried at Rookwood Cemetery.

• Jack Darby @ Find a Grave.

Article: Research by Leisa Carney, edited by Russell Gawthorpe. LRHS research compiled by Len Cram and Barbara Moritz. Sources: ‘Darby’s Donah Doesn’t Like The Country, So Seeks Solace with a Substitute’, Truth, 4 December 1921, p. 8; ‘Inquiry Agent Fined for Posing as Policeman’, Sydney Morning Herald, 5 July 1933, p. 9; ‘Alleged Blackmail, Private Inquiry Agent Charged’, Sydney Morning Herald, 4 September 1934, p. 10; The Lightning Ridge Book, Stuart Lloyd, 1967, p. 73.