Ɛpsilon

To W. M. Hacon   8 November [1879]1

Nov 8th

Hacon

My dear Sir—

I am very much obliged for your letter & valuable assistance. Considering what Mr T. H Farrer will settle, I think Mr W. Farrer’s proposal reasonable.2 The sole objection that I see to it, is that in case of the early death of Horace’s wife, leaving one child, & Horace afterwards having other children, the child by the first marriage wd inherit in excess; but the risk must be run for I suppose there is no way of avoiding it.— If I understand Mr W. F. proposal correctly, it is that I shd settle on Mrs Horace Darwin 5000£ at once,3 & covenant that at my & my wife’s death £5000 additional shall be settled & on her, (this additional £5000 I trust be a [considerable] advantage of the offer) in the mean time covenanting to pay interest of 10,000£, which I presume will be 400£ annually.— Mr T. H Farrer in a note to me, said he wd covenant to pay 300£ only4

I think that you will be able to advise me how best to arrange the affair, if I tell you what I give Horace independently of any marriage.— I allow him 300£ annually & I have already made over property to which he was entitled at my death to amounting to a little over 100£ a year. I intend for the future to divide amongst all my children the overplus of my income, which for an average of the last 10 years, will give Horace about 400£, so he will have from me. 800£ annually.—

With respect to the £5000 to be placed in trust; I hold 13,000 North-Eastern Ry. Debenture stock & 27,000£ of London & N. Western 4 per cent guaranteed stock5 & I could put in trust 5000 of either of these stocks whichever Mr W. Farrer wd prefer or

Will you kindly arrange the whole affair with Mr W. Farrer

ADraft

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from W. M. Hacon, 7 November 1879.
2
Hacon had met with Thomas Henry Farrer’s brother William James Farrer to discuss the marriage settlement of Horace Darwin and Ida Farrer (see letter from W. M. Hacon, 7 November 1879).
3
This was the amount that CD had settled on his other children at the time of their marriages (see letter from W. M. Hacon, 7 November 1879 and n. 2).
5
CD had stock in the North Eastern Railway Company and the London and Northwestern Railway Company (see letter from W. E. Darwin, 9 January 1879 and n. 1 and CD’s Investment book (Down House MS)).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.1 & valuable assistance] interl pencil
1.2 T. H] interl
1.4 &] after del ‘that’
1.4 Horace] after del ‘that’
1.4 having] pencil above del ‘had [altered pencil to ‘having’]’
1.5 for … avoiding it. 1.6] interl
1.6 shd] interl pencil
1.6 on … Darwin 1.7] interl
1.7 my wife’s death] underl pencil
1.7 5000£] ‘£’ above ‘5000’; after interl & del pencil ‘(any other plan wd cause far more [troubles] to my executors)’
1.8 shall] altered from ‘shd’
1.8 on her,] added in margin
1.8 (this … offer) 1.9] added pencil
1.8 a [considerable]] above del pencil ‘advantage’
1.9 advantage of the offer)] above ‘advantage’
1.9 interest] after del ‘400’
1.9 10,000£] ‘£’ above ‘10,000’
1.10 I presume will be] above del ‘I presume may be assumed to be’
1.10 Mr … only 1.11] added
2.1 how] after del pencil ‘& Horace’
2.2 give Horace] pencil after del pencil ‘do & [above del ‘in at present’]’
2.2 independently of any marriage.] interl above del pencil ‘intend to do.’
2.2 him] pencil above del pencil ‘Horace’
2.3 I have] ‘I’ added
2.3 already] interl
2.3 to which] ‘to’ above del ‘in’
2.3 he … death] above del ‘I had only a life interest to’
2.4 amounting to] altered pencil from ‘amount of’
2.5 the last] ‘the’ interl
2.6 about] after del pencil ‘an addition of’
2.6 from me.] interl
3.1 £5000] ‘£’ above ‘5000’
3.1 to be placed in] interl
3.1 trust] before del ‘property’
3.1 North-Eastern] interl above del ‘N.E.’
3.2 27,000£] ‘£’ above ‘27,000’
3.3 whichever] after del ‘or a’
3.3 whichever … prefer] del & stetted
3.4 or] before del ‘Metropolitan Co’
4.1 Farrer] before del pencil ‘& do whatever is necessary about the covenanting the 400£ which income [‘&’ del] as [above del ‘could’] [‘Horace has 600£ of his own could be joined in the covenant’ del]’

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12301,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12301