Ɛpsilon

From S. H. Haliburton   8 September [1881]1

Pavilion Hotel | Folkestone

Septr 8th.

My dear Charles Darwin

I cannot refrain from offering to you my very sincere condolences on the loss of your Brother, for I know it must be a great sorrow to you, & I must always sympathize in all that concerns you—2 When I last saw Erasmus, this Spring, he appeared much in his usual health—

I am here, & have been, for more than three weeks, in attendance on my poor Sister Sobie, who returned from Aix les Bains in a most wretched state, & she has ever since been dangerously ill, Inflammation of the Lungs, & her Heart also affected, her recovery is more than doubtful, & her sufferings are sad to witness—3 Fanny Biddulph is here also, she desires many kind remembrances to you—4

Believe me always | Most sincerely Your’s | S H Haliburton

Do not take the trouble to answer this, I only wished to assure you, that your trouble had not been disregarded by me—

1
The year is established by the reference to Erasmus Alvey Darwin’s death.
2
Erasmus Alvey Darwin had died on 26 August 1881. Haliburton had been a neighbour and friend of CD and Erasmus in Shrewsbury before her marriage.
3
Sobieski Mostyn Owen, Haliburton’s youngest sister, died in September 1882 (England & Wales, national probate calendar (index of wills and administrations), 1858–1995 (Ancestry.com, accessed 6 November 2020)). Aix-les-Bains is a spa town in south-east France.
4
Fanny Myddelton Biddulph had been a close friend of CD before the Beagle voyage (see Correspondence vol. 1).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13323,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13323