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Darwin Correspondence Project

From L. M. Forster to H. E. Litchfield   [11 June 1881]1

vainly begged.

My Milne2 vist did v. well in spite of rainy Sundy & Mondy. We made the most of our fine Sat. luckily & went to L.H.P. & saw the splendid azalias, & called at the Bosanquets & had a lovely tho’ cool drive back thro’ the long shadows & gleams of a 7 o’clock sun; they v. enjoyg. & admiring.3 I’m sorry to find gog. up hill still does for me, & unless I’ve a man well under control, an arm makes me worse! At least Mr. Milne’s help at L.H.P. proved the last feathers, for his idea of helpg me was to stride away with me till I cd. hardly gasp “stop”—& I felt pretty bad all the way home, wh. was tiresome because evident, & I had to take a v. easy Sunday. But out of doors fatigue nev. hurts me long, & I feel my life v. wholesome j. now. Today I mean to go to the Clays4 & look at their tennis as there’s a nice sheltered place to sit in, & have to call on a Mrs. Streatfeild5 on the way— I am glad my daisies amused Mr. Darwin—6 they struck me so much that I made a note of them wh. I’ll copy—

1st day, 10 were put into the vase, one placed with it’s face to the glass & 9 drooping into the room towards the window, but all hanging down to begin with.

2nd day (abt. 30 hours later) four distinctly turned their faces to the lookg glass (including one arranged so) 4 were so upright I could not tell which way they inclined, tho’ I got on a chair to be level with them, and two only were still turned to the window. I remember one of the latter was low down in the vase & well backed with green, so the lookg. glass cd. have no temptation for it. The effect was so completely spoiled by their contrariness that as I’d visitors coming I refilled the vase with other flowers as soon as I’d made my note. I have long thot the daisy tribe looked too m. at the ceiling to be becoming to my mantlepiece, but I never blamed the looking glass before—

I am going on Tuesd. for 2 nights to C.E.S. Holly Lodge, Long Cross, Chertsey.7 It’s rar an effort but I want v. m. to see her, & shd. like to know how m. v. short visits under v. favorable circs. answers health ways.

The Farrers have been down here, Effie evidently much enjoyed her Southn. vist. & was full of Sara’s goodness as a hostess.8 She flew off to Caverll Cas. yest.9 & is to return to town Mondy., go an expedn. with O Mondy. after., marry the Northe. nephew Tuesy. morng.,10 & Tuesd. aftern. escort her mother11 to

CD annotations

1.1 vainly … copy— 2.12] crossed pencil
5.1 I … mother to 6.4] crossed pencil

Footnotes

The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Laura Forster to Ida Darwin, 12 June 1881 (CUL Add MS 9368.1: 9533), and by reference to the marriage to the Northcote nephew (see n. 10, below). Henrietta evidently shared the letter with CD (see n. 6, below)
Probably William Oswald and Louisa Katherine Milne. William Milne had been a business partner of Forster’s brother, Edward Morgan Llewellyn Forster (Post Office London directory 1880).
Probably Samuel Courthope Bosanquet and Mary Henrietta Bosanquet, who lived in Wotton, Surrey. Leith Hill Place in Surrey was the home of Caroline Wedgwood.
The Clays have not been identified.
Probably Hannah Streatfeild, the mother of another of E. M. L. Forster’s business partners, Thomas Edward Champion Streatfeild (Post Office London directory 1880).
Forster’s notes on the daisies may relate to CD’s and Francis Darwin’s interest in diageotropism and diaheliotropism (see letter to Fritz Müller, 23 February 1881, letter from Francis Darwin, 17 June 1881 and n. 1, and Movement in plants, p. 5).
Longcross is a hamlet near Chertsey in Surrey. ‘C.E.S.’ may refer to Charles and Elizabeth Jessie Sharp.
Forster lived at West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, near Dorking, Surrey; Thomas Henry and Katherine Euphemia (Effie) Farrer lived at Abinger Hall in Surrey. They evidently visited William Erasmus and Sara Darwin at Southampton.
Caverswall Castle in Staffordshire was rented by Godfrey Wedgwood from 1878 (Wedgwood and Wedgwood 1980, pp. 311–13).
Probably John Stafford Northcote; he married Hilda Cardew Farrar on 14 June 1881 at St Margaret’s, Westminster, London (Belfast Newsletter, 17 June 1881). Northcote’s mother, Cecilia Frances Northcote, was Thomas Henry Farrer’s sister.

Bibliography

Movement in plants: The power of movement in plants. By Charles Darwin. Assisted by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1880.

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.

Wedgwood, Barbara and Wedgwood, Hensleigh. 1980. The Wedgwood circle, 1730–1897: four generations of a family and their friends. London: Studio Vista.

Summary

On flowers bending towards light reflected in a mirror.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-12960
From
Laura Mary Forster
To
Henrietta Emma Darwin/Henrietta Emma Litchfield
Sent from
unstated
Source of text
DAR 164: 158
Physical description
inc sketch † (by CD)

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12960,” accessed on 14 October 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12960.xml

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