From Charles Shaw 3 October 1865
Admiral FitzRoy Testimonial Fund. | 55, Charing Cross, London, S.W.1
Oct. 3d. 1865
Sir,
I have to acknowledge the receipt of your kind note requesting a statement of the objects of the “FitzRoy Testimonial”, & the largest amount subscribed in one sum.— 2
In consequence of Admiral FitzRoy haveing expended the whole of his patrimony, amounting to £6100, & which was never reimbursed to him;—3 three children by his first wife—two of them daughters, the son a young Lieut. in the Navy, with nothing but his pay—are literally without means.—4
Mrs. FitzRoy (his second wife) & her young daughter5 have a small provision under her marriage settlement.— It is therefore contemplated to raise by this fund a provision for the family of the late Admiral FitzRoy.—
The largest amount at present subscribed is £100 & the smallest ten shillings. I regret I have not a printed statement to send, but I hope the information I have given is what you require6 I may add that the £3,000 granted by Government will do no more than pay the existing debts.
I have the honour to be | Sir, | Your obedient Servant | Charles Shaw | Hon Sec.
Charles Darwin Esq | &c &c &c
Footnotes
Bibliography
Burke’s peerage: A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage of the United Kingdom. Burke’s peerage and baronetage. 1st– edition. London: Henry Colburn [and others]. 1826–.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
DNB: Dictionary of national biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. 63 vols. and 2 supplements (6 vols.). London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1912. Dictionary of national biography 1912–90. Edited by H. W. C. Davis et al. 9 vols. London: Oxford University Press. 1927–96.
Mellersh, Harold Edward Leslie. 1968. FitzRoy of the Beagle. London: Rupert Hart-Davis.
Modern English biography: Modern English biography, containing many thousand concise memoirs of persons who have died since the year 1850. By Frederick Boase. 3 vols. and supplement (3 vols.). Truro, Cornwall: the author. 1892–1921.
Post Office London directory: Post-Office annual directory. … A list of the principal merchants, traders of eminence, &c. in the cities of London and Westminster, the borough of Southwark, and parts adjacent … general and special information relating to the Post Office. Post Office London directory. London: His Majesty’s Postmaster-General [and others]. 1802–1967.
Summary
Admiral FitzRoy’s daughters by his first marriage have been left without means. The largest subscription to the fund has been £100.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4908
- From
- Charles Shaw
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Admiral FitzRoy Testimonial Fund, London, Charing Cross, 55
- Source of text
- DAR 177: 147
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4908,” accessed on 26 September 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4908.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 13
