Sir Horace Darwin, (13 May 1851 – 22 September 1928), was an English engineer specializing in the design and manufacture of precision scientific instruments. He was a Fellow of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

Personal life and education

Darwin was born in

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 ...

in 1851, the fifth son and ninth child of the British naturalist

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, and the youngest of their seven children who survived to adulthood. He was educated at a private school in

Woodbridge, Suffolk Woodbridge is a port and market town in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is up the River Deben from the sea. It lies north-east of Ipswich and forms part of the wider Ipswich built-up area. The town is c ...

, and at

, where he graduated BA in 1874. In January 1880 Darwin and Emma Cecilia "Ida" Farrer married. She was the daughter of

Thomas Farrer, 1st Baron Farrer Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st Baron Farrer (24 June 1819 – 11 October 1899), was an English civil servant and statistician. Background and early life Farrer was the son of Thomas Farrer, a solicitor in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Born in London, he was ...

and was styled Lady Ida Darwin after her marriage. They had one son and two daughters: *

Erasmus Darwin IV frame, 2nd Lt. Erasmus Darwin in uniform of The Green Howards. The Menin Gate. Erasmus Darwin MA (7 December 1881 – 24 April 1915) was an English businessman and soldier, killed in the First World War. He was the grandson of the naturalist ...

(7 December 1881 – 24 April 1915) was killed in the

Second Battle of Ypres During the First World War, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from for control of the tactically important high ground to the east and south of the Flemish town of Ypres in western Belgium. The First Battle of Ypres had been fought the pre ...

during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. * Ruth Frances Darwin (1883–1972), married Dr.

William Rees-Thomas William Rees-Thomas CB FRCP FRSM (15 June 1887 – 13 April 1978) was a Welsh psychiatrist. He was Medical Senior Commissioner for the Board of Control for Lunacy and Mental Deficiency. Born in Senny, Breconshire, he was educated at County Sc ...

, was a notable advocate of

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or ...

. * Emma Nora Darwin (1885–1989) plant geneticist, edited the 1959 edition of ''

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 ...

'' and married the civil servant Sir

Alan Barlow Sir James Alan Noel Barlow, 2nd Baronet (25 December 1881 – 28 February 1968) was a British civil servant and collector of Islamic and Chinese art. He was Principal Private Secretary to Ramsay MacDonald, 1933–1934, and later Under-secre ...

. He is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge with his wife; his brother Sir

Francis Darwin Sir Francis "Frank" Darwin (16 August 1848 – 19 September 1925) was a British botanist. He was the third son of the naturalist and scientist Charles Darwin. Biography Francis Darwin was born in Down House, Downe, Kent in 1848. He was the ...

is interred in the same graveyard. His other brother Sir

George Darwin Sir George Howard Darwin, (9 July 1845 – 7 December 1912) was an English barrister and astronomer, the second son and fifth child of Charles Darwin and Emma Darwin. Biography George H. Darwin was born at Down House, Kent, the fifth chil ...

is buried in the Trumpington Extension Cemetery, Cambridge. His family home, "the Orchard", in

Huntingdon Road Huntingdon Road is a major arterial road linking central Cambridge, England with Junction 14 of the M11 motorway and the A14 northwest from the city centre. The road is designated the A1307, follows the route of the Roman Via Devana, and is n ...

, Cambridge, is now the site of

Murray Edwards College Murray Edwards College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1954 as New Hall. In 2008, following a donation of £30 million by alumna Ros Edwards and her husband Steve, it was renamed Murray Edwar ...

Career

In 1881 he co-founded the

Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company was a company founded in the late 1870s by Robert Fulcher. The original use of the company was to service instruments for the Cambridge physiology department. In the beginning, the company was financially dri ...

Obituary: Sir Horace Darwin, K.B.E., F.R.S. Nature 122, 580–581 (1928). https://doi.org/10.1038/122580a0 with

Albert George Dew-Smith Albert George Dew-Smith (27 October 1848 – 17 March 1903) was a British physiologist, lens maker, bibliophile, and amateur photographer. He co-founded the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company, and conducted early research with physiologis ...

. Darwin led the company when the partnership ended in 1891. He was Mayor of Cambridge between 1896 and 1897, became a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1903 and was knighted in 1918.

References

External links

*
Darwin Correspondence database
English civil engineers Darwin–Wedgwood family Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire People from Downe 1851 births 1928 deaths Mayors of Cambridge {{England-mayor-stub