Ɛpsilon

To Horace Darwin   20 April [1880]1

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

Ap. 20th

My dear old Horace

The advantage of a garden, if you have children & even without these appendages is so great, combined with the house itself suiting you & having a good landlord, that I if I were in your place, I wd. wait for the chance of getting it.2 For such advantages it wd be worth while to economise in some other way; though this is a wicked line of argument & could not have been expected from your honoured & stingy old father.—

Perhaps the Belvoir House may not be let.3 My best of loves to Ida.

Your affect. Father | Ch. Darwin

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from G. H. Darwin, 28 May 1880.
2
Horace Darwin was looking for a house in Cambridge; he and his wife, Ida, were married on 3 January 1880 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)). The house being discussed has not been identified.
3
CD evidently refers to a house in Belvoir Road, Cambridge.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-12584,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-12584