To J. D. Hooker 11 September [1876]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.
Sept 11th
My dear old Friend
I am sure you will pity us, when you hear that Amy, Frank’s wife, was safely confined & was going on apparently quite well, when she was seized with convulsion which lasted for several hours, she then sunk into a stupor & I saw her expire at 7 oclock this morning.2 She was a most sweet gentle creature, with plenty of mind beneath, & they were most happy together. No pair could have been happier. Thank God she had no suffering & never knew that she was leaving Frank & all of us for ever. I cannot think what will become of Frank. She helped & encouraged him in his scientific work & whether he will ever have heart to go on again or what he will do I cannot conceive. My dear old Friend I know that you will forgive me pouring out my grief.
Yours affectionately | Ch. Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
ODNB: Oxford dictionary of national biography: from the earliest times to the year 2000. (Revised edition.) Edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. 60 vols. and index. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004.
Summary
CD grieves over death of Frank’s wife Amy; worries that it will weaken Frank’s determination to pursue his scientific work.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-10592
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 95: 417–18
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10592,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10592.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 24
