To Hubert Airy   24 August 1872

Down, | Beckenham, Kent.

Aug. 24 ’72

My dear Sir,

I have thought that you would excuse my begging a favour of you; that is if you think it a proper one to grant, of which I am not at all sure.

One of my sons Leonard Darwin of the Royal Engineers has sent me an application to Sir G. Airy to be one of the observers in the transit of Venus expedition.1 I find that he has not mentioned any of his qualifications; and perhaps you could find an opportunity of mentioning the few following particulars to your father.

In the preliminary examination for Woolwich he entered as 2nd man, and he likewise passed out as Second.2 These examinations are well known to be very severe; and Success in them implies some knowledge & aptitude for mathematics. On this head I believe that Prof. Sylvester would speak in his favour.3 At Woolwich & since he has been at Chatham he has worked hard at Surveying, drawing fortifications &c;4 and he is very neat handed in making maps plans &c. I mention this as I suppose a steady hand & a good eye are important requisites for observation. I can speak from my own knowledge that he is energetic, industrious and accurate in details; & that he has a very clear intellect; so that I should think he would make a good observer; but I must add that he has had no experience in Astronomical observations. I hope that you will excuse me for thus troubling you, & do what you can to aid me.

Yours very sincerely, | Ch. Darwin

LS(A)

1
Letter from Leonard Darwin to George Biddell Airy, 21 August 1872 (CUL: Royal Greenwich Observatory archives 6/273 (section 3–4: 347)). G. B. Airy was in charge of the British expeditions to observe the transit of Venus in different parts of the world (ODNB). Leonard was eventually appointed as a photographer and was stationed in New Zealand in 1874 (ODNB; Chauvin 2004, pp. 40–1).
2
Leonard had been second in the preliminary examination at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, in 1868, and second in the final examination in 1870. On Leonard’s success in 1868, see Correspondence vol. 16, letter to Horace Darwin, 26 [July 1868], and letter from Alfred Wrigley, 28 July 1868.
3
James Joseph Sylvester was professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. On his high regard for Leonard, see Correspondence vol. 18, Supplement, letter from E. A. Darwin, [September 1868 – August 1870].
4
After being commissioned in the Royal Engineers in 1871, Leonard worked at the School of Military Engineering at Chatham (ODNB).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

2.4 particulars] interl in CD’s hand

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-8486A,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-8486A