Henrietta Emma Litchfield (née Darwin; 25 September 1843 – 17 December 1927) was a daughter 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 ...

and his wife

Emma Wedgwood Emma Darwin (; 2 May 1808 – 2 October 1896) was an English woman who was the cousin marriage, wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin. They were married on 29 January 1839 and were the parents of ten children, seven of whom survived to adulth ...

. Henrietta was born at

Down House Down House is the former home of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theory of evolution by natural selection, which he had conceived in London before moving to Down ...

Downe Downe, formerly Down, () is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley but beyond the London urban sprawl. Downe is south west of Orpington and south east of Charing Cross. Downe lies on a hill, and ...

, Kent, in 1843. She was Darwin's third daughter and the eldest daughter to reach adulthood after the eldest,

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

, died aged 10, and a second daughter, Mary, died before she was a month old. She and her brother

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

helped their father with his work, and Henrietta helped edit ''

The Descent of Man ''The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex'' is a book by English naturalist Charles Darwin, first published in 1871, which applies evolutionary theory to human evolution, and details his theory of sexual selection, a form of biol ...

''. On 31 August 1871, she married Richard Buckley Litchfield, who was born in Yarpole, near Leominster, in 1832; the couple had no children. She was widowed on 11 January 1903, when Richard died in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

; he was buried in the English Cemetery, Cannes. Henrietta edited Charles Darwin's biography of his grandfather

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 ...

, '' The Life of Erasmus Darwin'', and ''

The Autobiography of Charles Darwin ''The Autobiography of Charles Darwin'' is an autobiography by the English naturalist Charles Darwin. Darwin wrote the text, which he entitled ''Recollections of the Development of my Mind and Character'', for his family. He states that he star ...

'', removing several contentious passages. She also edited her mother's private papers ('' Emma Darwin: A Century of Family Letters'') (1904). She responded to the

Lady Hope Story Elizabeth Reid Cotton, (9 December 1842 – 8 March 1922) who became Lady Hope when she married Sir James Hope in 1877, was a British evangelist active in the Temperance movement. In 1915, she claimed to have visited the British naturalist C ...

that her father had undergone a

deathbed conversion A deathbed conversion is the adoption of a particular religious faith shortly before dying. Making a conversion on one's deathbed may reflect an immediate change of belief, a desire to formalize longer-term beliefs, or a desire to complete a ...

by writing an article in ''The Christian'' in 1922 saying it " adno foundation whatsoever". She died in

Burrows Hill Burrows may refer to: * Plural of burrow * Burrows (surname), people with the surname ''Burrows'' Places * Burrows (electoral district), a provincial electoral district in Manitoba, Canada * Burrows, Saskatchewan, Canada * Burrows, Indiana, Uni ...

Gomshall Gomshall is a village in the borough of Guildford in Surrey, England.OS Explorer map 145:Guildford and Farnham. Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton. It is on the A25, roughly halfway between Guildford and Dorking, and i ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, aged 84. An obituary was in ''The Times''.The Times, Saturday, Dec 24, 1927; pg. 10; Issue 44773; col B Mrs. Litchfield. Darwin's Daughter And Helper. A correspondent. Obituaries She is buried in St Mary the Virgin Churchyard,

, Kent.

VIAF

References

* Period Piece: A Cambridge Childhood – an autobiographical work by

Gwen Raverat Gwendolen Mary "Gwen" Raverat (née Darwin; 26 August 1885 – 11 February 1957), was an English wood engraver who was a founder member of the Society of Wood Engravers. Her memoir '' Period Piece'' was published in 1952. Biography Gwendolen ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Litchfield, Henrietta 1843 births 1927 deaths Darwin–Wedgwood family People from Downe