Ɛpsilon

To Harriet Lubbock   [8 December 1856]1

Down.

Monday

Dear Lady Lubbock

I thank you cordially for your very great kindness in thinking of us, & being willing to take so much trouble to keep the house quiet. But Mrs. Darwin is going on perfectly well, & as Etty2 is not well, & Miss Thorley3 not with us, we think we had had better keep our little Boys at home, & we shall be able to get on perfectly well with them in the house.—

My wife desires me to give you her kindest thanks.— We have now half-a dozen Boys, which seems perfectly awful to me, but will seem less dreadful to you.—4 Permit me again to say how very sincerely I thank you for your great kindness, & believe me dear Lady Lubbock | Your Ladyship’s | Most truly obliged | Charles Darwin

1
The first Monday after the birth of Charles Waring Darwin.
3
Catharine Ann Thorley was the governess of the Darwin children until 6 January 1857 (Emma Darwin’s diary). Mary Ann Pugh took her place in April 1857.
4
The Lubbocks had eight sons and three daughters.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-2015,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-2015