Ɛpsilon

WCP397

Letter (WCP397.397)

[1]

Holly House, Barking, E.

Decr. 31st. 1871

Dear Fanny1

Bertie2 has got a brother,3 born last night at 9.30.

Annie4 is pretty well.

The baby weighs more than Bertie did, & seems to be about an inch taller, and decidedly better looking than Bertie was at the same age.

I am now more busy than ever at the house5 as we are just doing the waterworks & internal fittings.

In haste | Your affectionate Brother | Alfred R. Wallace [signature]

1
Sims (née Wallace) Frances ("Fanny") (1812-1893). Sister of ARW; teacher. Married Thomas Sims (1826-1910) in 1849.
2
Wallace, Herbert Spencer ("Bertie") (1867-1874). Son of ARW.
3
Wallace, William Greenell (1871-1951). Son of ARW.
4
Wallace (née Mitten), Annie (1846-1914). Wife of ARW; daughter of William Mitten, chemist and authority on bryophytes.
5
ARW moved to Holly House, Tanner Street, Barking on 25 March 1870. (Beccaloni, G. 2008. A Home Sweet Homes: A Biographical Tour of Wallace’s Many Places of Residence. 7-43. In: In: Smith, C. & Beccaloni, G. W. (Eds). Natural Selection and Beyond: The Intellectual Legacy of Alfred Russel Wallace, 2nd edition, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press [p.30]).

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP397.397)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Tew, Alison [2006-07-08] Transcription checked by Parfitt, Elisabeth [2012-03-26] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Lo, Yen [2020-01-04] Transcription checked by Beros, Matt [2020-06-10] Transcription checked by Chua, Christine [2024-11-11]

Please cite as “WCP397,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP397