Ɛpsilon

From G. H. Darwin   15 October 1881

Trin. Coll. Camb.

Oct 15. 81

My dear Father,

Will you please read the enclosed.1 I think it wd. fairly meet the various views if the inscription ran

In Memory of

Erasmus Alvey Darwin

eldest son of Robert Waring Darwin M.D, F.R.S.

born 29 Dec 1804 at Shrewsbury

died 26 Aug. 1881 in London

The inscription to be on upper part of slab leaving room for others. The estate shd. not bear the whole expense. W. suggests your paying 12 & that seems reasonable I think.2 Slab to be of red granite with bevelled edge.

If this meets your views please write to 6 Qu. A.3 & I will get an estimate on Monday or Tuesday.

I will not come to Down on Monday as Mother suggests.4

I shall go & get information about Taylor’s vans for moving furniture & see the cost of transport to Down & delivery of returned goods—probably at the Auction room where they will have to be sold. I will consult the house agents as to proper method of selling.5

Mrs. Pearces case is perplexing. I think we shall have to chance the husband turning up.6

Wm. went to see Herries but has not written as to what they have done, & so I don’t know when your dividend warrants can be paid.7 I shd. hope before Xmas. We can do nothing until the transfers are all made.

The damage done by the gale is tremendous— 15 fine trees down in the Johnian gardens alone.8 We hav’nt suffered nearly so much

I have begun to make some way with my exam. work & shall get thro’ somehow.9 We shall have weekly meetings to squabble over questions from now until January.

I shall probably be back in Camb. on Wedn. Horace10 must have had a nasty tossing today.

I am going to spend Sunday with Marlborough Pryor at Stevenage & on to town on Monday   Ive not read more than 12 the Worms yet11

Your affec son. | G. H. Darwin

They want me to be Sec. of the R. Ast. Soc. but I don’t think I cd. stand that.12

1
The enclosure has not been found.
2
George and William Erasmus Darwin were the executors of Erasmus Alvey Darwin’s will. For CD’s suggested wording of the inscription, see the letter from Emma Darwin to G. H. Darwin, [14 October 1881].
3
Six Queen Anne Street, London, was Erasmus’s former home.
5
See letter from Emma Darwin to G. H. Darwin, [14 October 1881] and n. 5. The agents were Gillow & Co. of Oxford Street and the auction of household goods took place on 7 December 1881 (Standard, 6 December 1881).
6
Elizabeth Pearce had been Erasmus’s housekeeper at the time of his death and was having difficulty finding work (letter from Emma Darwin to H. E. Litchfield, 2 October [1881] (DAR 219.9: 273)). Her estranged husband was James Pearce.
7
William Darwin had arranged a temporary executors’ account at the banking firm of Herries, Farquhar, Chapman & Co. (letter from G. H. Darwin, 28 August 1881, and n. 10).
8
The gardens of St John’s College, Cambridge, neighbour those of Trinity College. A report of the damage caused by the gale that struck Great Britain on 14 October 1881 was published in The Times, 15 October 1881, p. 5.
9
George had been appointed an additional examiner for the mathematical tripos in the University of Cambridge (Cambridge University Reporter, 24 May 1881, p. 589).
11
Marlborough Robert Pryor lived at Weston Park, Stevenage. Earthworms had been published on 10 October 1881 (Freeman 1977); George’s name is on CD’s presentation list for the volume (see Appendix IV).
12
George had been a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society since November 1879; he served on the society’s council from 1881 to 1885 (Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 73 (1913): 204–10).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13401,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13401