From E. S. Galton 31 March 1879
5, Bertie Terrace | Leamington
March 31st. 1879
My dear Cousin,
My Sister Mrs. Wheler having shewn me your letter—I will send by Railway, two views of the Priory at the time of our Grandfather’s death where he had made it, his regular residence only three weeks before—1 I send you a Drawing of the Priory—given to me by Violetta Darwin (Reginald’s sister) of what is was before it was sold, after my Uncle’s death—2
Also I thought you might like a drawing of the House in Full Street, Derby—where our Grandfather lived for so many years,— My sister in law, Mrs. Francis Galton made a sketch of it for my Mother when passing through Derby in 1871—3
Reginald Darwin (who is our first Cousin & Grandson of Dr. Eras: Darwin) has many papers, especially the “Common place book” & others of interest, which I am sure he would be very pleased to lend you, as he always has sent us anything we wanted to see, of the Darwin family—4 This reminds me of an anecdote, that my Father, & also Mr. Leonard Horner used to tell, that when our Uncle, Sir Francis Darwin went to Edinburgh to study— He was told, he must make up his mind to hear of some of his Father’s (Dr. E Darwin’s) theories roughly handled— Sir Fras. immediately stood up in the Hall, & in a loud voice said— He wished everyone to understand, that the first Person who said a word against his father (Dr. E Dn.) or his works, he would knock him down at once— His height being above 6 feet & a very powerful frame— All tongues at once were silenced!—5
Last year, we had some Photographs taken from Reginald Darwin’s family pictures at his House at Buxton—of Dr. Eras: Darwin’s Father & Grandfather— I send them also, for you to look at— Also a book with remarks on the Darwins—6
My mother,7 being only nineteen years of age when her Father died, had no letters of his—
Mrs. Rhodes Darwin (Charlotte) of Creskeld—Otley—to whom Elston belongs also Sarah, Mrs. Noel—of Clanna Falls Lydney—Gloucestershire—would probably have many family papers—8 Mrs. Noel evidently takes much interest in the Darwin Genealogy—as she asked us to help her—about a part of it she did not know—
With kind love to Mrs. Darwin | Believe me | Yours sincerely | Emma S Galton
The parcel shall be directed to the care of the Station Master | at Orpington | S. E. R.
I also send a Print of our Grandfather Darwin9
I should think Violetta Darwin could send you a good Drawg. of Breadsall Church if you wanted it—. She Lythographs well—10 My view is fm. an old drawg lent me years ago—
I forget if there is anything in Smiles life of Boulton & Watt of Dr. E Darwin11
CD annotations
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.
Keynes, Milo. 1994. Portraits of Dr Erasmus Darwin, F.R.S., by Joseph Wright, James Rawlinson and William Coffee. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London 48: 69–84.
King-Hele, Desmond. 1999. Erasmus Darwin. A life of unequalled achievement. London: Giles de la Mare Publishers.
Smiles, Samuel. 1865. Lives of Boulton and Watt: principally from the original Soho mss. Comprising also a history of the invention and introduction of the steam-engine. London: John Murray.
Summary
Sends drawings of several of Dr Erasmus Darwin’s residences, together with suggestions of sources of other material.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11962
- From
- Emma Sophia Galton
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Leamington
- Source of text
- DAR 99: 181–2
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11962,” accessed on 7 June 2023, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11962.xml