13 Ashley Place | S. W. | Sunday 23d Dec.1
Dear Tyndall,
I put your note in my pocket and walked after Church to consult our President:2 but he
had gone to the Regent Park3 for a walk.
I have no hesitation in expressing the opinion that you may set to work at once whilst
your thoughts intent on the subjects. It is precisely a subject to which the Gov[ernment]
Grant,4 the funds of the Society itself, & the donation fund5 are applicable: and I have no
doubt whatsoever that your request for £100 from one or other of these sources will be
acceded to.
I will however send this note (enclosing yours) thro' Dr. Sharpey,6 who will give you
his opinion.
Sincerely yours | Edward Sabine | John Tyndall Esq.
RI MS JT/1/S/44
Sunday 23d Dec.: Dated by the fact that 23 December 1855 was a Sunday.
our President: John, Lord Wrottesley who lived at Blackheath to the south of Greenwich.
Regent Park: Regent’s Park was one of the royal parks laid down by the Prince Regent (later King George IV) and the architect John Nash, from 1818 onwards. It was opened to the public in 1835.
Gov[ernment] Grant: An annual sum of £1000 administered by the RS from 1851 onwards on behalf of the government for the promotion of scientific research in the United Kingdom. For Tyndall’s first grant from this source in 1852, see Sabine’s advice in volume 3, letters 0613 and 0625.
the donation fund: an investment fund for the promotion of scientific research set up in 1828 through a legacy left to the RS by William Hyde Wollaston and to which Fellows donated. By the 1840s it produced an annual income of £120 per annum..
Dr Sharpey: William Sharpey (1802–80), professor of anatomy and physiology at University College London, and one of the joint secretaries of the RS between 1853 and 1872.
Please cite as “Tyndall1173,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on