From W. M. Hacon 22 May 1879
18, Fenchurch Street. | London | E. C.
22nd. May 1879
My dear Sir
I have your letter of yesterday.— It is at all events not improbable that the contents of the will of William Darwin, who died Septr 24th 1682, or of the will of his widow Anne (née Waring) who died May 22nd 1722, would remove your doubt as to how Robert, the younger son of William acquired Elston Hall, when it would be expected to have gone to William the elder son.—1 I was therefore disappointed to learn to-day at the Record office that there are no duplicates or copies of wills proved, in either the Lincoln or the York registry, at any period prior to 1858.
Upon the chance of the wills, desired to be consulted, having been proved (as they might have been) in the Registry of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury I had searches made to-day in that Registry for a few (four) years after the dates of the two deaths given in your letter. But neither of the wills was proved in that registry.
The searches I made to-day in the Prerogative Registry of Canterbury might at a small expence be repeated in the registries of Lincoln and of York: one of them being the Registry of the diocese and the other the Prerogative Registry of the Province of York. If you would like to have such searches made, I shall be glad to instruct local solicitors to make them: and the cost ought not to be considerable.
Do you know that Robert Darwin took Elston Hall upon—i.e. immediately after his fathers or his mothers demise?— And are you sure that it did not go, upon the father’s or the mothers death, to William, the elder son, and from him by devise or descent if he died childless to his brother Robert?
If you have no information as to this do you know the date of William’s (the Eldest son’s) death and might it not be worth while to have his will looked at?—
Have you looked at the County History, if any, in the British Museum?— It was suggested to me that there is a book called “Upcott’s depository” or some such name,—at the Museum containing a kind of index to the histories and books upon the halls &c in Great Britain?2
I am | My dear Sir | Yours very truly | Wm M Hacon
Charles R. Darwin Esqre | Down | Beckenham | Kent
Footnotes
Bibliography
Erasmus Darwin. By Ernst Krause. Translated from the German by W. S. Dallas, with a preliminary notice by Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1879.
Upcott, William. 1818. A bibliographical account of the principal works relating to English topography. 3 vols. London: Printed by Richard and Arthur Taylor.
Summary
Has searched to no avail for 17th- and 18th-century wills to learn how Elston Hall was acquired by Robert Darwin rather than by William Darwin, even though Robert was the younger son.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-12059
- From
- William Mackmurdo Hacon
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- London, Fenchurch St, 18
- Source of text
- DAR 166: 20
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12059,” accessed on 24 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12059.xml