RECORD: Anon. 1882. Death of Professor Darwin. The Globe (20 April): 4.

REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed by Christine Chua and edited by John van Wyhe 7.2022. RN1

NOTE: This might be the earliest public announcement of Darwin's death, many other newspapers cited it and published extracts from it.


[page] 4

DEATH OF PROFESSOR DARWIN.

Professor Darwin died yesterday at his residence, Down House, Down, near Orpington, Kent. The deceased, Charles Robert Darwin, LL.D., F.R.S., was born at Shrewsbury on February 12, 1809, and was consequently in his 74th year. His father was a physician in Shrewsbury, and his grandfather was the celebrated Dr. Erasmus Darwin, F.R.S. Mr. Darwin's mother was a daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, the modern founder of the English pottery manufacture. He was educated at Shrewsbury Grammar School, and afterwards went to the University of Edinburgh. He next entered Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1832, and M.A. in 1837. He was chosen as naturalist to accompany the second surveying expedition on board H.M.S. Beagle, from 1831 to 1836, during which time scientific circumnavigation of the globe was made. On his return Mr. Darwin published a "Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History" of the various countries he had visited. Since that time Mr. Darwin has prosecuted his scientific investigations in England. He was married 1831 to his cousin, Miss Emma Wedgwood, by whom he had a large family. After publishing numerous papers and volumes on zoology, geology, and other scientific subjects, Mr. Darwin produced in 1859 his celebrated work on evolution, the "Origin of the Species by Means of Natural Selection," which has since been translated into various European languages, and has given rise to so much discussion. Subsequent works have had for their object the explanation and supplying the data upon which he founded his conclusions. In 1871 he published "The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex," in which he infers that man has descended from a hairy quadruped with a tail and pointed ears, probably arboreal in its habits. Among Mr. Darwin's more recent publications are "The Expressions and Emotions in Man and Animals," 1872; "Insectivorous Plants," 1875; "Different Forms of Flowers in Plants of the same Species," 1877; and within the present year his important work on "Worms." The deceased was a member of several English and foreign scientific bodies; he was created a Knight the Order pour le Mérité the Prussian Government, elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Vienna, M.D. of the University of Leyden, LL.D. of the University of Cambridge, and a corresponding member the French Academy of Sciences.


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Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)

File last updated 25 September, 2022