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.

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 and his wife

Emma Emma may refer to: * Emma (given name) Film * Emma (1932 film), ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown * Emma (1996 theatrical film), ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow * Emma (1996 TV film), '' ...

, and the youngest of their seven children who survived to adulthood. He was educated at a private school in Woodbridge, Suffolk, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, 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 ed ...

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. * 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. * 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 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 (Britain), A14 northwest from the city centre. The road is designated the A1307 road, A1307, follows the route of the Ro ...

, Cambridge, is now the site of Murray Edwards College.

Career

In 1881 he co-founded the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company 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. Darwin led the company when the partnership ended in 1891. He was

Mayor of Cambridge The office of Mayor of Cambridge was created following the granting of a charter by King John in 1207 to the town of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. The charter gave the burgesses of the town the right to elect their own mayors in place of th ...

between 1896 and 1897, became a Fellow of the Royal Society 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