Ɛpsilon

To the Darwin children   8 January 1882

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

Jan 8th. 1882

Circular of Distribution of 3034£, according to the scale in my present will.—1 N.B. next year the amount will be less, as there are a good many Railway calls,2 & I intend for the future to give away 500£ or 600£ annually for science.—

£

William. 492)

Bessy 287) 779

George 492

Francis 492

Leonard 492

Horace 492

R. B. Litchfield 287.—3

So William please send this circular to Henrietta & she to Horace. The others have seen it here.— I do not know whether the money will be distributed at once or in a week’s time after money on Deposit has been placed to my current account.

Ch. Darwin

1
CD had made a new will in September 1881 (see Correspondence vol. 29, letter to W. M. Hacon, 11 September 1881). He had begun distributing his surplus income to his children in 1880 (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter to the Darwin children, 10 January 1880).
2
CD held shares in about ten railway companies (CD’s Investment book (Down House MS)).
3
William Erasmus Darwin, Elizabeth Darwin, George Howard Darwin, Francis Darwin, Leonard Darwin, and Horace Darwin. Bessy’s share was sent to William to deposit or invest, making his total £779. Henrietta Emma Litchfield’s share went to her husband, Richard Buckley Litchfield.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (Railway … S.E.R.)] parentheses added
1.2 are] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-13603,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-13603