Capt. Edward Levett Darwin (12 April 1821 – 23 April 1901) was the author under the
pen-name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen na ...
High Elms of ''The Game-preserver's Manual: Containing Instructions in All That Relates to Getting Up and Maintaining a Good Head of Game'' (1859), which shows keen observation of the habits of various animals, and went through at least five editions.
Edward
Levett
Levett is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin, deriving from eLivet, which is held particularly by families and individuals resident in England and British Commonwealth territories.
Origins
This surname comes from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, no ...
Darwin was the son of Sir
Francis Sacheverel Darwin
Sir Francis Sacheverel Darwin (17 June 1786 – 6 November 1859) was a physician and traveller who was knighted by King George IV. Francis Galton and Charles Darwin were his nephews.
Biography
Early life
Francis Sacheverel was a son of Erasm ...
and his wife Jane Harriet Ryle. He was a cousin of Sir
Francis Galton
Sir Francis Galton, FRS FRAI (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911), was an English Victorian era polymath: a statistician, sociologist, psychologist, anthropologist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto- ...
and half-cousin of
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
, their shared ancestor being their grandfather, physician and poet
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Robert Darwin (12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist, inventor, and poet.
His poems ...
.
He grew up at
Breadsall Priory
Breadsall Priory is a former Augustinian priory in Derbyshire, situated around two kilometres north of Breadsall, and two kilometres east of Little Eaton. The priory was established before 1266 by a member of the Curzon family. Only a small pri ...
, near Derby. He was a captain in the
Derby Regiment of Militia from 1856. In 1850 he married Harriett Jessopp, (1825 – 1889), daughter of Francis and Ann Jessopp of Derby.
(Francis Jessopp was once Derby's solicitor and an attorney, owner of Jacobean House and under-sheriff for the county of Derbyshire.) The 1851 Census records Darwin and his wife residing at Dale House in
Matlock Bath
Matlock Bath is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. It lies in the Peak District, south of Matlock on the main A6 road, and approximately halfway between Buxton and Derby. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was ...
with his occupation as solicitor (attorney), while
Kelly's Directory
Kelly's Directory (or more formally, the Kelly's, Post Office and Harrod & Co Directory) was a trade directory in England that listed all businesses and tradespeople in a particular city or town, as well as a general directory of postal addresses o ...
of 1855 records him as a solicitor living in
Matlock Bath
Matlock Bath is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. It lies in the Peak District, south of Matlock on the main A6 road, and approximately halfway between Buxton and Derby. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was ...
. Darwin had settled in the area where Erasmus Darwin had recommended the waters to
Josiah Wedgwood
Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indust ...
.
Edward Levett Darwin is buried along with his wife in the churchyard of St John the Baptist's Church at
Burbage, Derbyshire
Burbage is a village in Derbyshire and was a parish until 1961, when it became part of the parish of Buxton. At the 2011 Census Burbage was a ward of the High Peak Borough Council. The population taken at this Census was 2,540.
Burbage is well k ...
.
References
External links
Darwin correspondence database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darwin, Edward Levett
1821 births
1901 deaths
English barristers
English nature writers
Darwin–Wedgwood family
19th-century English lawyers