Whitwell Elwin (26 February 1816 – 1 January 1900) was an English clergyman, critic and editor of the ''
Quarterly Review''.
Life
He was the son of Marsham Elwin, a country gentleman of
Thurning, Norfolk, and a descendant of
John Rolfe
John Rolfe (1585 – March 1622) was one of the early English settlers of North America. He is credited with the first successful cultivation of tobacco as an export crop in the Colony of Virginia in 1611.
Biography
John Rolfe is believed ...
and
Pocahontas
Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...
. Whitwell Elwin studied at
Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...
, and took
holy orders in 1840.
He was Rector of
Booton, Norfolk
Booton is a village and civil parish in the Broadland district of Norfolk, England, just east of Reepham and seven miles west of Aylsham. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 100, including Brandiston and increasing to 196 at th ...
from 1849 until his death. There he rebuilt
St Michael the Archangel's Church to his own design.
Works
Elwin was an important contributor to the ''
Quarterly Review'', of which he was editor from 1853 until 1860.
He undertook to complete
John Wilson Croker
John Wilson Croker (20 December 178010 August 1857) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and author.
Life
He was born in Galway, the only son of John Croker, the surveyor-general of customs and excise in Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College Dubl ...
's edition of
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
, and brought out five volumes, when he dropped it, leaving it to be finished by
William John Courthope
William John Courthope, (17 July 184210 April 1917) was an English writer and historian of poetry, whose father was rector of South Malling, Sussex.
Life
From Harrow School he went to New College, Oxford; took first-classes in classical mod ...
. As an editor he was extremely autocratic, and on all subjects had pronounced opinions, and often singular likes and dislikes.
The ''Quarterly Review'' was published by
John Murray, who on 1 April 1859 agreed to publish
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 ...
's book ''An abstract of an Essay on the Origin of Species and Varieties Through natural selection'', without even seeing the manuscript. When the first three chapters were sent to Murray, he cautiously asked Elwin to review them.
Elwin was initially opposed to publication of this book on
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
, but after consulting Darwin's colleague
Charles Lyell
Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of ''Principles of Geolo ...
, Elwin felt that for Darwin "to put forth the theory without the evidence would do grievous injustice to his views, & to his twenty years of observation & experiment. At every page I was tantalised by the absence of the proofs. All kinds of objections, & possibilities rose up in the mind, & it was fretting to think that the author had a whole array of facts, & inferences from the facts, absolutely essential to the decision of the question which were not before the reader." He recommended Lyell's suggestion that, to gain public agreement, rather than "put forth the theory without the evidence", the book should focus on observations upon
pigeon
Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
s, briefly stating how these illustrated Darwin's general principles and preparing the way for Darwin's larger work ''
Natural Selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...
'' which was expected to follow soon: "Every body is interested in pigeons."
Darwin responded that this was impractical, and his book retitled as ''
On the Origin of Species
''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...
'' was published on Thursday 24 November 1859.
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Elwin, Whitwell
1816 births
1900 deaths
English magazine editors
19th-century English Anglican priests
Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
People from North Norfolk (district)
19th-century British journalists
British male journalists
19th-century British male writers