Ɛpsilon

From J. D. Hooker   [5 February 1872?]1

Royal Gardens Kew

Monday

D. D.

Do not write with enclosed but return it, except indeed you have any questions to ask apropos. it is from Govr Lefroy of Bermuda.2 I was wonderfully rested by my two nights at Down— I had not slept so well for weeks

Ever yours affec | J D Hooker

I do hope that Mrs Darwin is better & George too.3

1
The date is conjectured from a reference in CD’s Account books (see n. 2, below) and from the reference to Hooker’s visit to Down. According to Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242), Hooker arrived at Down on 3 February 1872. The first Monday following that date was 5 February.
2
The enclosure has not been found, but an entry in CD’s Account book–bank account for 29 January 1872 records a payment of £1 for ‘Lefroy—Castle Moreton (charity)’. John Henry Lefroy was governor of Bermuda from April 1871 to May 1877 (ODNB).
3
According to Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242), Emma was ill from 17 to 29 January 1872. There is no mention of in the diary George Howard Darwin’s being ill; however, according to F. Darwin 1916, p. xiv, his health deteriorated over the course of 1872.

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8200,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8200