To W. E. Darwin 22 February [1863 or later]1
Feb. 22d.
My dear W.—
Do you think this is so good a thing, I ought not to reject it?— I rather hate these complicated affairs— I could take £1000 or £1500. I have, however, got an awful proportion of my property in Railways— For the love of all the saints advise me.2
your affec Father | C. Darwin
Footnotes
The date range is suggested by the date at which William Erasmus Darwin became a banker, and by CD’s investment history (see n. 2, below).
CD invested in various railway companies from at least the 1850s (see, for example, Correspondence vol. 5, letter to John Higgins, 9 April [1854]), but was unlikely to have asked his son’s advice until some time after William became a banker in October 1861 (see Correspondence vol. 9). CD was still investing heavily in railway shares through a broker in July 1862 (see Correspondence, vol. 10, letter to John St Barbe, [before 3 July 1862]); William was advising him from at least 1866 (see, for example, Correspondence vol. 14, letter to W. E. Darwin, 19 [June 1866]).
Summary
Seeks investment advice.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13799
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- William Erasmus Darwin
- Sent from
- unstated
- Source of text
- DAR 210.6: 131
- Physical description
- ALS 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13799,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13799.xml
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