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To John Lubbock   26 July [1861]1

2. Hesketh Crescent | Torquay

July 26th

My dear Lubbock

I am much obliged to you for so kindly seeing Mr. Hacon from whom I heard this morning.—2 It was entirely Mr Hacon’s wish & suggestion that William should from the first have the power of giving one year’s notice.— Having heard from him what you say I have written to him to agree to the seven years.— So little do I understand the advantages & disadvantages of the several points, that I had got to wish for a longer term than seven years.— So I felt forced to put myself into Mr Hacon’s hands. I consider now that in fact everything is settled; & I am heartily glad to think that you will have no more trouble.3 William has never for an instant fluctuated in his strong wish to join. Pray repeat my sincere thanks to Sir John.—4

I am enjoying myself & can walk a couple of miles out; & am doing a very little work in drawing up my Orchis paper.— Whether we shall stop here long I am very doubtful, for it is excessively damp & does not seem to suit Etty or my wife, which is a terrible evil & what to do & where to go Heaven only knows.

My dear Lubbock | Yours gratefully | Charles Darwin

1
The year is given by the Darwins’ stay in Torquay (see ‘Journal’; Appendix II).
2
CD’s solicitor, William Mackmurdo Hacon of Rowland and Hacon, 31 Fenchurch Street, London, was negotiating the contractual details connected with William Erasmus Darwin’s joining a Southampton bank. See letter to John Lubbock, 14 July [1861].
3
The arrangements for making William Darwin a partner in the Southampton and Hampshire Bank, which began in May, were concluded in August (see letter to John Lubbock, 10 August [1861]).
4
John Lubbock’s father, John William Lubbock, had given CD advice about the legal provisions of the contract (see letter to John Lubbock, 14 July [1861]). Father and son were both partners in the London bank Robarts, Lubbock & Co.

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

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Please cite as “DCP-LETT-3219,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-3219