Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury on 12 February
1809, son of Robert Waring Darwin (1766-1848) and Susannah,
daughter of Josiah Wedgwood. He studied with his brother Erasmus
at Edinburgh University but disliked the idea of following in his
father’s footsteps as a doctor. At Cambridge University he became
very much interested in natural history and sailed on the ship
HMS Beagle in 1831 to South America and the Galapagos islands. In
1839 he married his cousin Emma Wedgwood and they went to live at
Downe, a small village in Kent.
His famous work “The Origin of
Species by natural selection” was published in 1859 and he
continued working although his health was often poor. He died at
Downe on 19 April 1882.
The Dean of Westminster, George Granville Bradley, was away in
France when he received a telegram forwarded from the President
of the Royal Society in London saying “…it would be acceptable to
a very large number of our fellow-countrymen of all classes and
opinions that our illustrious countryman, Mr Darwin, should be
buried in Westminster Abbey”. The Dean recalled “ I did not
hesitate as to my answer and telegraphed direct…that my assent
would be cheerfully given”. The body lay overnight in the Abbey,
in the small chapel of St Faith, and on the morning of 26 April
the coffin was escorted by the family and eminent mourners into
the Abbey. The pall-bearers included Sir Joseph Hooker, Alfred
Russel Wallace, James Russell Lowell (U.S. Ambassador), and
William Spottiswoode (President of the Royal Society).
The burial service was held in the Lantern, conducted by Canon
Prothero, with anthems sung by the choir. The chief mourners then
followed the coffin into the north aisle of the Nave where Darwin
was buried next to the eminent scientist Sir John Herschel, and a
few feet away from Sir Isaac Newton. The simple inscription on
his grave reads “CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN BORN 12 FEBRUARY 1809.
DIED 19 APRIL 1882”. Although an agnostic, Darwin was greatly
respected by his contemporaries and the Bishop of Carlisle,
Harvey Goodwin, in a memorial sermon preached in the Abbey on the
Sunday following the funeral, said “I think that the interment of
the remains of Mr Darwin in Westminster Abbey is in accordance
with the judgment of the wisest of his countrymen…It would have
been unfortunate if anything had occurred to give weight and
currency to the foolish notion which some have diligently
propagated, but for which Mr Darwin was not responsible, that
there is a necessary conflict between a knowledge of Nature and a
belief in God…”. A later, widely believed, rumour of a “deathbed
conversion” to Christianity was denied by his daughter, who was
actually present at his death. A bronze memorial, with a
life-sized relief bust, was erected by his family in the north
choir aisle, near to the grave, in 1888. The sculptor was Sir
J.E. Boehm. The inscription just says simply “DARWIN”.
Further reading: “The Survival of Charles Darwin” by Ronald
Clark (1985).
The Darwin Museum at Down House:
www.english-heritage.org.uk