From John Evans   30 July 1859

Scarborough

30 July 1859

My dear Sir

Your kind letter of congratulations followed me here and I must send you a few lines to thank you for it—It is indeed a source of thankfulness to me, that there was anyone so well calculated, in every respect to take the charge of my motherless children, as my present wife— She has known them all their lives and was always on the most intimate and sisterly terms with her cousin my late dear wife. I have therefore every reason to be confident that our union will not only be productive of happiness to myself but of real benefit to the children— My eldest (of five) is only 8 years old & your youngest it appears is old enough to leave the paternal roof— Allow me to offer my congratulations to you on the approaching marriage though no doubt you will feel the loss— We commenced our tour by Colchester, Ipswich & Norwich and were therefore in your neighbourhood— I felt rather tempted to call upon you but our time was limited and we have devoted as much as possible to visiting the cathedrals of the Eastern Counties— combined with a little Geology— You may have noticed a discovery in which I have been much interested, of flint implements in the Drift in conjunction with bones of the extinct Mammalia, on which I read a paper to the Society of Antiquaries which has led to some correspondence in the Athenaeum— They have been found at Hoxne in Suffolk as well as on the Continent and I make no doubt will be found in other places in the drift. If you have any that is productive of Elephant remains near you I hope you will examine them with a view of finding some of these weapons— You will see an engraving of one in the first N. o of one a week— Should you ever find yourself able to pay us another visit in Hertfordshire I hope you will do so, and form M rs Evans acquaintance— With kind regards believe me

Yours very truly | John Evans

I don’t think I ever thanked you as I ought to have done for your Cottage Garden reports.

Please cite as “HENSLOW-531,” in Ɛpsilon: The Correspondence of John Stevens Henslow accessed on 29 March 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/henslow/letters/letters_531