Downe House and Emmetts Garden
29th September 2014
Downe House was the home of Charles Darwin for 40 years after he had got married. It tells an interesting story of Charles Darwin.
He was a man of means, (his father made a lot of money and he married his cousin who was a Wedgewood) consequently he did not have to work for a living and could concentrate on his scientific work.
His father wanted him to study medicine but then when that did not work out he was sent to Cambridge to study for the Church. He lost interest in this but was persuaded to become the Captain’s companion on HMS Beagle that was being sent on a surveying trip to South America. Although he was away for 5 years he only actually spent 18 months at sea!.
After he was married he moved from London to Downe House where carried on with his experiments such as putting a box of earthworms on the drawing room piano to see if they could hear sounds.
It was here that he wrote up his story of the voyage and his “origin of the Species”.
He was a good family man and very open with his 10 children for a Victorian father. He even had a wooden slide made for the children to slide down the stairs.
He played billiards with his man servant. He was agnostic and was strongly opposed to slavery.
Click an image to see it full size.
He was a man of means, (his father made a lot of money and he married his cousin who was a Wedgewood) consequently he did not have to work for a living and could concentrate on his scientific work.
His father wanted him to study medicine but then when that did not work out he was sent to Cambridge to study for the Church. He lost interest in this but was persuaded to become the Captain’s companion on HMS Beagle that was being sent on a surveying trip to South America. Although he was away for 5 years he only actually spent 18 months at sea!.
After he was married he moved from London to Downe House where carried on with his experiments such as putting a box of earthworms on the drawing room piano to see if they could hear sounds.
It was here that he wrote up his story of the voyage and his “origin of the Species”.
He was a good family man and very open with his 10 children for a Victorian father. He even had a wooden slide made for the children to slide down the stairs.
He played billiards with his man servant. He was agnostic and was strongly opposed to slavery.
Click an image to see it full size.