Ɛpsilon

To Wallis Nash   1 February 1880

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

Feb 1. 80

My dear Mr. Nash.

I thank you cordially for your long & very interesting letter.1 Your life sounds very prosperous & I am delighted to hear that you are all well & happy. We heard some time ago with much alarm of your illness, but I trust it was not as bad as it sounded.2 I can well understand your enjoying your new life, for in old days I well remember thinking that a colonist’s lot, with children, was a happy one. I remember especially this in regard to Tasmania.3

Frank will tell you what little news there is to be told about this quiet place.4 But I must send my own kindest remembrances to Mrs. Nash. You will both ever be a heavy loss here.5

Believe me my dear Mr. Nash

Yours very sincerely | Ch. Darwin

2
Nash and his family had emigrated to Oregon in 1879 (Smith and Dimick 1976, pp. 78–9). In his book Two years in Oregon (Nash 1882, p. 100), Wallis Nash refers to ‘a sharp attack of illness’ in the autumn of 1879. The Darwins received a false report in October 1879 that Nash had died (see Correspondence vol. 27, letter to ?, 23 October 1879).
3
While on the HMS Beagle voyage, CD had written from Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) praising it as ‘a most admirable place of emigration’ (Correspondence vol. 1, letter to Catherine Darwin, 14 February 1836).
4
Nash had written that he hoped CD’s son Francis Darwin would reply to his letter of 4 January 1880.
5
When Wallis and Louisa A’hmuty Nash moved from Down to Beckenham in 1878, CD had called it ‘an irreparable loss to our village’ (Correspondence vol. 26, letter to Wallis Nash, 27 March 1878).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

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Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12446,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12446