Ɛpsilon

From W. E. Darwin to John Higgins Jr   18 December [1875]

Southampton

Dec 18

Dear Sir,

I return the agreement properly signed & witnessed. I am perfectly satisfied with whatever is the usual agreement in your county.1

I shall be at home at Christmas & will talk to my Father about the land you mention; as far as I can remember it would certainly be well to get the wretched cottages into our hands.2 I remember when I was last with you, your brother showed me a field that he said wanted draining badly, so that I am very glad to hear he has taken it in hand.3

I am dear Sir | Yours truly | W. E Darwin

J. Higgins Esqre

Endorsement: ‘Decr 18/75’

1
The agreement has not been identified.
2
This may be the property that CD agreed to purchase in November 1876; in CD’s Investment book (Down House MS), p. 147A, there is an entry for £53 on 5 November 1876, ‘Deposit on Purchase of 4 acres & cottage’, followed by £477 on 5 April 1877, ‘Remainder of Purchase’. See also Correspondence vol. 24, letter to W. E. Darwin, 29 September [1876].
3
Frederic Higgins was William’s tenant on his land at Claythorpe in Lincolnshire (see this volume, Supplement, letter from W. E. Darwin to John Higgins, 30 October [1871]).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-10305F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-10305F