Ɛpsilon

To J. M. F. Ludlow   18 May [1875 or 1880]1

[Down.]

(May 18th)

Sir

I hope that you will excuse the liberty which I take in troubling you.— Yesterday was the annual m of the D. F Soc. has been held today & I just discovered that I have lost the annual audited the Balance sheet, which I always read aloud to the members.2 I believe that very forgetfully I sent off one copy & then a second to you, as Registrar.—3 It wd be a very great kindness if you wd return me one copy, if preserved & if 2 were sent; or lend me a copy for a short time, that I may have it copied, & the original shall be carefully returned to you, in a few days. This will be a great kindness, as I feel bound that an [authoritative] copy of the annual account shd be preserved by the Society.

Hoping that you will excuse | I remain etc

ADraft

1
The possible years are established by the fact that the draft is on the back of a page of the fair copy of the second edition of Descent, published in 1874, and the annual general meeting of the Down Friendly Society took place on Whit Tuesday (The National Archives (TNA) (FS 1/232 626620)). CD’s draft is unclear as to whether the meeting took place on 17 or 18 May, however, between 1875 and 1881, Whit Tuesday occurred on 18 May twice (1875 and 1880) and never on 17 May.
2
CD was treasurer of the Down Friendly Society; he held the annual general meeting of the society at Down House (Freeman 1978).
3
Although friendly societies were voluntary societies, they were encouraged to register with and submit financial reports to the registrar of friendly societies in order to receive any advice needed to ensure their financial viability; because only two-thirds of societies registered with this central office, in December 1875 an Act of Parliament was passed in order to enforce registration (P. Gosden 1961, pp. 184–97). John Malcolm Forbes Ludlow was the chief registrar of friendly societies from 1874 (ODNB).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

0.1 (May 18th)] added in margin pencil
1.1 Yesterday was 1.2] below del ‘To day has been’
1.2 the annual] ‘the’ over ‘]’
1.2 Soc.] above del ‘Club’
1.2 has … today] added
1.2 &] after del ‘&’
1.2 just] added after del ‘in the’
1.6 preserved & if] interl
1.6 were] above del ‘have been’
1.7 carefully] interl
1.8 that] after del ‘to return the’
1.9 shd] after interl illeg del

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-9983,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-9983