From J. D. Hooker   5 June 1868

Royal Gardens Kew

June 5/68

Dear Darwin

I am horrified to find that I did not announce to Mrs Darwin or yourself the birth of my little daur:—for,—whose congratulations would be more hearty or more welcome than yours? The reason of the omission was, that I had to play “Lady of the House” & write all the announcements to my wife’s Lady friends & both our relations; & what with this, & my other Correspondence, I was fairly thrown off my balance.1

A Lady friend of my wife’s has now come to be with her, & taken all this off my hands.

Mrs Hooker was very poorly for 10 days before, & the Doctor slept in the house, but the alarms were false & she suffered less than usual, & both she & baby are as well as I could wish.2

I wonder what you are about, it is so long since I have heard whether you have any work in hand but “Man”.—3 As for me I am in statu quo.

Ever yrs affec | J D Hooker

CD annotations

Top of letter: ‘D. of Argyll’4 pencil
1
Hooker had written to CD about the latter stages of Frances Harriet Hooker’s pregnancy on 20 May 1868. Grace Ellen Hooker was born on 3 June 1868 (Allan 1967, Hooker pedigree).
2
The doctor and Frances Hooker’s friend have not been identified.
3
CD was working on material that was eventually published in 1871 as Descent.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6231,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6231