To W. E. Darwin 24 [July 1874]1
Down, | Beckenham, Kent.
24 th
My dear W
We hope to start tomorrow for Abinger & shall be with you on Thursday.2 James3 shall start on Wednesday, so as to get established in his lodgings before we arrive,
Yours affect | C. Darwin
Poor mamma has had bad head all day from the marriage.4
Footnotes
The month and year are established by the reference to Francis Darwin’s marriage and Emma Darwin’s subsequent headache (see n. 4, below).
The Darwins visited Thomas Henry and Katherine Euphemia Farrer at Abinger, Surrey, from 25 to 29 July 1874. They visited William in Southampton from Thursday 30 July until 24 August 1874 (see ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).
James may have been CD’s footman. Both James Tester and James Johnson held the position but it is not certain which of them was employed in 1874.
Francis Darwin married Amy Ruck on 23 July 1874. Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242) records the wedding, and her headache on 24 July 1874.
Summary
Arrangements for the visit to Southampton.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-9560F
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Erasmus Darwin
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- Michael Silverman (dealer): Catalogue 25 (2006)
- Physical description
- ALS 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 9560F,” accessed on 19 May 2022, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-9560F.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 22
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