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8 Bina Gardens

S. Kensington
S.W.

June 19- /82

Sir,

Having seen in the newspaper a notice requesting that letters written by the late Mr. Ch. Darwin might be sent to you, I forward per registered letter, a packet containing his correspondence with my dear brother J. Traherne Moggridge.

The subjects of the letters are botanical or entomological, &

 

P.S. The letters are only numbered in the list; my heart fails me to go through them all again—

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the dates range form 1864 to 1874, when the correspondence ceased owing to my brother's death in November, 1874—

I send a list with the packets wh I beg be returned to me when done with.— First if with your father's letters, I found some rough copies of my brother's to him, & which I also send, as they tend to elucidate the former; the

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last pencil copy may interest you specially, as it describes the feeling towards yr. father's researches at Montpelier, where we spent a week in May 1874.—

The packet contains 34 letters; 10 from my brother, 24 from yr. father—

May I ask for a line (P. card) to acknowledge their safe receipt, as they are very precious to me.—

I cannot of course judge whether these letters could be of any use to you in compiling your father's life, but I know my brother would have wished them to be sent in any case.—

I desire to take this opportunity

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of expressing the deep sense we have always had of your father's great kindness to a young & unknown worker in the field of science, & of the encouragement & pleasure his letters always afforded. Also may I allude with gratitude to the bright example he set to those like himself "in the enjoyment of bad health" to make the most of what opportunities their invalid life allowed them?—

Believe me

yrs. Faithfully

(Miss) S. D. Moggridge