To J. D. Hooker   2 December [1874]

Down, | Beckenham, Kent. | Railway Station | Orpington. S.E.R.

Dec 2d

My dear Hooker

You will see by the enclosed very nice note from Farrer what he has done; & I shd. think nothing could be better, as Sir S. N. will see by my note to Farrer that it was my thought to write to him; & your own letter shows admirably how you are overworked.1 I hope to God it will be all successful.

Ever Yours | Ch. Darwin

We go to 2 Bryanston St to Henrietta’s tomorrow for a week.—2

Endorsement: ‘74’

1
CD was trying to have an assistant appointed to help Hooker in his work at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Thomas Henry Farrer was permanent secretary to the Board of Trade and one of CD’s regular correspondents. Stafford Northcote, as chancellor of the Exchequer, was ultimately in charge of the Royal Botanic Gardens; he was also the brother-in-law and old schoolfriend of Farrer (ODNB). See letter to T. H. Farrer, 29 November [1874], and letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 November [1874]. Farrer’s note has not been found. Hooker’s ‘own letter’ may have been the memorial to the Board of Works mentioned in the letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1874].
2
The Darwins stayed in London with their daughter Henrietta Emma Litchfield from 3 to 12 December 1874 (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9739,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9739