Ɛpsilon

From Julia Margaret Cameron   [before 10 July 1868]1

My dear Mr. Darwin

My Bromley people rejoice for us in your coming to be our Neighbors & friends as we hope—2

A hurried answer I send to your note—3

We have in occasional use a person of the highest respectability & usefulness who acts as House Maid or House Keeper a general help— We give her a shilling a day & food— We could ask her to keep disengaged for you to try her if you want help— We have said nothing abt. our gardener   our last Tenant Lady Manners paid 14/ a week to our gardener but if you like to have our gardener for half the time & pay 7/ we will pay the other 7/s thus yr. garden & lawn will be his care4

To day is a great & busy day in this place yet I write this word rather than delay yr. answer tho I was up till past midnight at work & still have much to do to be ready to open our first Reading Room at Fresh Water at 1 PM.

Yours truly | Julia M. Cameron

Our Tenants bring their own Plate & Linen

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from J. M. Cameron, 10 July 1868.
2
The ‘Bromley people’ have not been identified. The Darwin family spent from 17 July to 20 August at Freshwater on the Isle of Wight.
3
CD’s letter to Cameron has not been found.
4
The maid has not been indentified. Cameron’s gardener was Charles Gilbert (Julia Margeret Cameron Trust, Isle of Wight, personal communication). Lady Manners was probably Janetta Manners.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-6270,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-6270