User:Lloydyowen

Caroline Darnell (18th April 1849 - 9th October 1930 ) better known as Kit Nash was a female poacher and eccentric in the Welwyn area of Hertfordshire.

Kit was a tall woman, about 6'2", and very handsome in her youth. She dressed like a man, with trousers, sacking around her waist, cloth tied around her feet, boots and a man's black hat.

At the age of just 16 she had her first brush with the law when she received a 14 day sentence for assault. In the next seven years she received 9 sentences totalling almost 9 months as well as a fine, for offences ranging from petty theft to assault and malicious damage. In February 1873 she committed her most notorious crime when she shot a policeman in the backside when he was trying to serve her with a summons. For this she received 5 years in St Albans prison. No sooner released from prison, she was in back in front of the courts for theft, assault, drunk in charge of a horse and cart.

In July 1879 she married the boy next door, Henry John "Sackings" Darnell. The same afternoon her first child Eleanor Elizabeth was baptised. Henry was also frequently in trouble with the authorities and eventually disappeared, some say he was deported to Australia. Kit had two more daughters with Henry, Caroline and Katherine Cecilia.

In 1887 Kit was still extending her criminal record by stealing grain to feed her young family. For this she received a 9 month sentence in St Albans prison where she gave birth to her son Valentine (born the day after Valentine's day 1888).