Emma Darwin

Emma Darwin (née Wedgwood, 2 May 1808–7 October 1896) was the wife and cousin of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and mother to their ten children. Emma Darwin. ... Emma Darwin. ... The French word née (feminine) or né (masculine) (or the English word nee) is still commonly used in some newspapers when mentioning the maiden name of a woman in engagement or wedding announcements. ... May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... 1808 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... October 7 is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an eminent English naturalist who achieved lasting fame by convincing the scientific community that species develop over time from a common origin. ...

Biography

Emma Wedgwood was born in 1808 at the family estate of Maer Hall, Maer, Staffordshire, the youngest of six children of Josiah Wedgwood II and his wife Bessy (Elizabeth). She grew up in a wealthy manufacturing family; her grandfather Josiah Wedgwood had made his fortune in pottery, and like many others who were not part of the aristocracy they were nonconformist, belonging to the Unitarian church. Charles Darwin was her first cousin; their shared grandparents were Josiah Wedgwood and his wife Sarah; and as the Wedgwood and Darwin families were closely allied, she had been acquainted with him since childhood. 1808 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The large 17th century stone built country house and estate of Maer Hall dominates the village of Maer, Staffordshire. ... Maer is a rural village in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, to the west of the pottery manufacturing town of Stoke-on-Trent. ... Josiah Wedgwood II (1769-1843) was Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent. ... Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (July 12, 1730 – January 3, 1795) was an English potter, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. ... Unfired green ware pottery on a traditional drying rack at Conner Prairie living history museum. ... A nonconformist is an English or Welsh Protestant of any non-Anglican denomination, chiefly advocating religious liberty. ... Historic Unitarianism believed in the oneness of God as opposed to traditional Christian belief in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). ... Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an eminent English naturalist who achieved lasting fame by convincing the scientific community that species develop over time from a common origin. ... Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (July 12, 1730 – January 3, 1795) was an English potter, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. ... The Darwin — Wedgwood family was a prominent English family, descended from Erasmus Darwin and Josiah Wedgwood, the most notable member of which was Charles Darwin. ...

She was very close to her sister Fanny, the two being known by the family as the "Doveleys", and was charming and messy, getting called "Little Miss Slip-Slop". She helped her older sister Elizabeth with the Sunday school which was held in Maer Hall laundry, writing simple moral tales to aid instruction and giving sixty village children their only formal training in reading, writing and religion.

For a time in her youth she was sent to Paris, where she studied piano with the celebrated composer Frédéric Chopin, and conducted a grand tour of Europe. In 1826 she went with her sister Fanny to stay with their Aunt Jessie (Madame de Sismondi, wife of the historian Jean Charles Leonard de Sismondi) for eight months near Geneva. When her father went to collect them he was accompanied by Caroline Darwin and also took Charles Darwin as far as Paris, where they all met up again before returning home in July 1827. She was keen on outdoor sports and became a "Dragoness" at archery. City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin (French: Frédéric François Chopin; English: IPA: or ; French: ) (March 1, 1810[1] â€“ October 17, 1849) was a Polish pianist and composer of the Romantic era. ... The interior of the Pantheon in the 18th century, painted by Giovanni Paolo Panini In the 18th century, the Grand Tour was a kind of education for wealthy British noblemen, wherein the primary educational value was exposure to the cultured artifacts of antiquity and the Renaissance as well as the... This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Jean Charles Leonard de Sismondi (May 19, 1773 - June 25, 1842), whose real name was Simonde, was a writer born at Geneva. ... Hunters a cool hobo For other uses, see Geneva (disambiguation). ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Naval Battle of Navarino by Carneray 1827 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... In Target Archery, the object is to hit targets such as this to score points. ...

At Maer on 31 August 1831 she was with her family when they helped Charles Darwin to overturn his father's objections to the Voyage of the Beagle. During the voyage Charles's sisters kept him informed of news including the untimely death of Emma's sister Fanny and the gossip that his brother Erasmus Alvey Darwin was "paired off" with Emma to avert "an action in the Papers" over his "carrying on" with Hensleigh Wedgwood's wife. When Charles returned and was quick to visit Maer she joined in the interest in his travels. August 31 is the 243rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (244th in leap years), with 122 days remaining. ... Leopold I 1831 (MDCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... A watercolor by the HMS Beagles draughtsman, Conrad Martens. ... Erasmus Darwin Stone-cast bust of Erasmus Darwin, by William John Coffee, c 1795, (Crown Derby Modeller and world renown artist) Erasmus Darwin ( December 12, 1731 – April 18, 1802) trained as a physician and wrote extensively on medicine and botany, as well as poetry. ... Hensleigh Wedgwood (21 January 1803 - 2 June 1891) was a British etymologist, philologist and barrister, author of A Dictionary of English Etymology. ...

Emma herself had turned down several offers of marriage, but after her mother suffered a seizure and became bedridden Emma had to nurse her mother and look after her older sister Elizabeth who was dwarfish and had severe spinal curvature.

She accepted Charles' marriage proposal on 11 November 1838, at the age of 30, and they were married on 29 January 1839 at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Maer, Staffordshire. Their cousin, the Reverend John Allen Wedgwood officiated. Following a brief period of residence in London, they moved permanently to Down House, located in what was then the rural village of Down, close to the city. November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... January 29 is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1839 (MDCCCXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ... Maer is a rural village in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, to the west of the pottery manufacturing town of Stoke-on-Trent. ... The Reverend John Allen Wedgwood (1796–1882), normally known as Allen Wedgwood was rector of Maer Staffordshire. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Down House, photo by Richard Carter Down House is the former home of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. ...

Charles and Emma had ten children. They raised them in a distinctly non-authoritarian manner, and several of them later achieved considerable success in their chosen careers. Sir George Darwin, for example, became a scientist. George Howard Darwin Sir George Howard Darwin, F.R.S. (July 9, 1845 – December 7, 1912) was a British astronomer and mathematician, the second son and fifth child of Charles and Emma Darwin. ...

Emma Darwin is especially remembered for her patience and fortitude in dealing with her husband's long-term illness which became apparent shortly after their marriage. In nursing and humoring Charles through his many ups and downs, she was a crucial factor in her husband's scientific accomplishments. She also nursed her children through frequent illnesses, and endured the deaths of three of them: Anne, Mary, and Charles Waring. By the mid 1850s she was known throughout the parish for helping in the way a parson's wife might be expected to, giving out bread tokens to the hungry and "small pensions for the old, dainties for the ailing, and medical comforts and simple medicine" based on Dr. Robert Darwin's old prescription book. Charles Darwin (1809-1882) For much of his adult life Charles Darwins illness repeatedly affected him with an uncommon combination of symptoms, leaving him severely debilitated for long periods of time, incapable of normal life and intellectual production, staying in bed most of the time for months. ... Annie Darwin Anne Elizabeth Annie Darwin (2 March 1841_22 April 1851) was the second child and eldest daughter of Charles and Emma Darwin. ... Robert Darwin, from an oil painting by James Pardon. ...

A source of difficulty in the Darwins' marriage was conflict between Charles' scientific findings (most particularly, the origin of humanity in the undirected process of evolution) and Emma's own devout Christian beliefs. The difficulty was increased when, following the painful and emotionally devastating death of their 10-year-old daughter Anne, Charles no longer accepted the orthodox Christian view of God. After T.H. Huxley coined the word "agnostic" around 1868, Darwin used it to describe himself. Charles was evidently pained by the anxieties his beliefs produced in Emma, and tried to express them as gently as he could. This article is about evolution in biology. ... Christians believe that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (see Hebrews 8:6). ... Thomas Huxley Thomas Henry Huxley F.R.S. (May 4, 1825 - June 29, 1895) was a British biologist, known as Darwins Bulldog for his defence of Charles Darwins theory of evolution. ... The term agnosticism and the related agnostic were coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869. ... 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ...

Emma often played the piano for Charles, and in Charles' 1871 The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex, Darwin spent several pages on the evolution of musical ability by means of sexual selection. 1871 (MDCCCLXXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex by British naturalist Charles Darwin was first published in 1871. ... Illustration from The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex by Charles Darwin showing the Tufted Coquette Lophornis ornatus, female on left, ornamented male on right. ...

See also

• Social history of the piano
• Emma Darwin (Novelist)

This social history article treats the role of the piano in the home, from its invention in the early 18th century to the present day. ... Emma Darwin is a novelist whose first book The Mathematics of Love was published to critical acclaim in 2006. ...

Children

Emma Darwin with her son Leonard

• William Erasmus Darwin (1839-1914)
• Anne Elizabeth Darwin (1841-1851)
• Mary Eleanor Darwin (1842)
• Henrietta Emma "Etty" Darwin (1843-1927)
• George Howard Darwin (1845-1912)
• Elizabeth Darwin (1847-1926)
• Francis Darwin (1848-1925)
• Leonard Darwin (1850-1943)
• Horace Darwin (1851-1928)
• Charles Waring Darwin (1856-1858)

The Darwins also brought up Francis' son Bernard Darwin after the death of Bernard's mother. Image File history File links (I very much think) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Leonard Darwin Leonard as a boy with his mother, Emma Darwin Major Leonard Darwin (15 January 1850 — 26 March 1943), a son of the British naturalist Charles Darwin, was variously a soldier, politician, economist, eugenicist and mentor of the statistician and evolutionary biologist Ronald Fisher. ... Annie Darwin Anne Elizabeth Annie Darwin (2 March 1841_22 April 1851) was the second child and eldest daughter of Charles and Emma Darwin. ... Darwins family tree The Darwin -- Wedgwood family was a prominent English family, descended from Erasmus Darwin and Josiah Wedgwood, the most notable member of which was Charles Darwin. ... Darwins family tree The Darwin -- Wedgwood family was a prominent English family, descended from Erasmus Darwin and Josiah Wedgwood, the most notable member of which was Charles Darwin. ... George Howard Darwin Sir George Howard Darwin, F.R.S. (July 9, 1845 – December 7, 1912) was a British astronomer and mathematician, the second son and fifth child of Charles and Emma Darwin. ... Sir Francis Darwin, F.R.S. (August 16th 1848 - 19th September 1925) was the botanist son of Charles Darwin. ... Leonard Darwin Leonard as a boy with his mother, Emma Darwin Major Leonard Darwin (15 January 1850 — 26 March 1943), a son of the British naturalist Charles Darwin, was variously a soldier, politician, economist, eugenicist and mentor of the statistician and evolutionary biologist Ronald Fisher. ... Sir Horace Darwin, F.R.S. (13th May 1851 - 29th September 1928), a son of the British naturalist Charles Darwin, was a civil engineer. ... Bibliography . ...

References

• Healey, E. Emma Darwin: The Inspirational Wife of a Genius ISBN 0-7472-7579-3 New Scientist review
• H. Litchfield (ed) (1915). Darwin, a century of family letters, 1792-1896, in two volumes. London, John Murray.
• Emma Darwin, a Century of Family Letters, 1792-1896 - edited by her daughter Henrietta Emma Darwin Litchfield (1915).