Ɛpsilon

To H. A. Huxley   28 July 1875

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

July 28. 75

My dear Mrs Huxley

Will you be so kind as to keep the enclosed safely & when your husband1 returns ask him to sign it & return it to me.2 I hope you & he are all well

Yours sincerely | Ch. Darwin

My dear Mrs Huxley

The candidate & scribe has a word to say himself. I shall be very proud if Mr Huxley will be so kind as to sign my paper

I don’t know whether you have started for your summer holiday but I hope you are now that St Swithin has left off for a bit—3 Weather is very important to me a landed proprietor—4 I am said to have the best stack of hay in the parish— Please give my love to Jessy Maidie & all your children.5 With kind remembrance to Mr Huxley

Yours affectionately | Francis Darwin

LS

2
CD was collecting signatures to a statement supporting Francis Darwin’s election to the Linnean Society (see letter to J. D. Hooker, 25 July 1875). The enclosure, probably the proposal form for the Linnean Society, has not been found.
3
According to legend, if it rains on St Swithin’s day (15 July), it will rain for forty days thereafter. St Swithin was the bishop of Winchester in the ninth century. According to Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242), it did rain on 15 July.
4
Francis had moved to Down Lodge, in Down, Kent (Post Office directory of the six home counties 1874).
5
Jessie Oriana and Marian Huxley. The other Huxley children were Leonard, Rachel, Nettie, Henry, and Ethel Gladys.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10098,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10098