From Reginald Darwin   2 April 1879

Fern | Buxton

April 2 | 1879

My dear Cousin

I do not know whether any Photograph of the Priory has been taken, & it has been so much altered by the present possessor that a picture as it is could be almost worthless to you.1 I will however consult my sister—Violetta,2 who will know more about it than I do, & if possible I will procure an engraving of the old place— I have a Photograph of the house in Full St Derby, where our grandfather lived from the time he left Lichfield, until he removed to the Priory, (some 20 years).3 I will gladly send that for your inspection, if you think it of consequence—

With best regards | Most sincerely yours | Reginald Darwin

CD annotations4

1.6 I ... consequence— 1.7] scored red crayon
Top of letter: ‘Newmarket story | *Full Street | I have drawing of Priory [bracketed pencil] | [‘will keep big’ del pencil] book on acct of | George | I was much amused by Scraps at End’ ink
1
CD had asked for a photograph of Breadsall Priory, where Erasmus Darwin died (see letter to Reginald Darwin, 1 April 1879).
3
Erasmus Darwin had a medical practice in Lichfield, Derbyshire; he retired in 1781 and moved to Radbourne Hall, near Derby. In 1783, he moved his family into a house on Full Street, Derby. He moved to Breadsall Priory in 1802, just a month before his death. (King-Hele ed. 2003, pp. 138–9.)
4
CD made these notes for his reply of 4 April, in which he mentioned that George Howard Darwin was interested in ‘old things’ (see letter to Reginald Darwin, 4 April 1879).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-11968,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-11968