RECORD: Darwin, George Howard? n.d. It was curious that Dr D[arwin] being a freethinker my father should have been so orthodoxly brought up. CUL-DAR112.B3a. (John van Wyhe ed., 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed from the manuscript by Kees Rookmaaker, checked by John van Wyhe 4.2009. RN2
NOTE: See record in the Darwin Online manuscript catalogue, enter its Identifier here. Reproduced with the permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library and William Huxley Darwin. The volume CUL-DAR112 contains recollections of Darwin by family and friends and letters to Francis Darwin for Life and Letters.
[3a]
It was curious that Dr Darwin being a freethinker, that my father should have been so orthodoxly brought up. It was no doubt part of the sense of expediency which made Dr D give it as a rule that a freethinker should most carefully conceal his opinions from his wife. It was also perhaps curious that Dr Darwin being such an advocate for water drinking, that my father drank wine as a young man. But I believe he never drank wine till he was grown up
Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)
File last updated 13 February, 2026