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From William Buckland   15 July [1848]

Suffolk.

15 July,

My dear L.,1

I have pleasure in forwarding to Mr. Chadwick2 your recommendation of Mr. E. Cresy,3 but as far as I know there will be occasion for no further services of engineers in the proposed map of the streets & houses of London than those of the Privates & Corporals of the Ordnance Survey Department4 at a cost of as many shillings a day to the public as would be pounds if the work were done by educated engineers. I believe the existing staff is fully adequate to all the work under contemplation & that not one additional officer will be required. Nevertheless I will forward your letter as your friend seems so valuable a person in case of any occasion for his services.5

Believe me, | Very truly yours, | W. Buckland.

1
Either a misreading of ‘My dear Sir’ by the copyist or perhaps a slip by Buckland.
2
Edwin Chadwick, the leading figure in the Victorian public health movement. He was, at that time, reviewing applications for the new General Board of Health established by the Public Health Act of 1848 and supervising the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers (Lewis 1952).
4
The typewritten copy reads ‘Surrey’, a misreading of ‘Survey’.
5
Cresy was appointed as superintending inspector to the General Board of Health in September 1848. He continued to work for Edwin Chadwick in various capacities until 1852 (Lewis 1952, p. 187).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-1190,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-1190