The year 2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of “On The Origin of Species.” The University of Cincinnati is marking these anniversaries with a year-long celebration of Darwin’s life and work.Charles Robert Darwin was born on February 12, 1809, at the Darwin family estate (called “The Mount”) just northwest of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Charles was the fifth child and second son of the prominent physician Robert Darwin and of Susannah Wedgwood, daughter of the famous potter.
Both of Charles’s grandfathers, physician Erasmus Darwin and potter Josiah Wedgwood, were active members of the fabled Lunar Society, an informal scientific fraternity that also included Matthew Bolton, Joseph Priestly, and James Watt. Robert and Susannah Darwin had six children: Marianne (born 1798), Caroline (born 1800), Susan (1803), Erasmus (born 1804), Charles, and Catherine (born 1810).
By most accounts Charles was an active, noisy, attention-seeking child. Mischievous and inquisitive, young Darwin was both a frequent fibber and an avid collector. His education began at home under the direction of his older sister Caroline. By his 8th birthday, however, it had become clear that a more formal setting was required.
In February 1817, Darwin began attending Mr. Case’s school near St. Chad’s church. Soon afterward, in July 1817, his mother, Susannah, died. Darwin remained at Case’s school through September 1818, at which time he entered the Shrewsbury School, where his brother Erasmus was already a student. The Shrewsbury School, run by the Reverend Samuel Butler, provided a highly-structured regimen of Latin, Greek, classic literature, and mathematics. Darwin found much of the instruction tiresome and appears to have been an average student at best. Away from the school, Charles spent his time visiting his Wedgwood cousins, collecting insects, experimenting with Chemistry, and hunting quail. Darwin’s preoccupation with hunting and collecting were to become a constant frustration to his father.
In July, 1825, Robert Darwin withdrew Charles (now 16) from the Shrewsbury School with the intent of enrolling him at Edinburgh University in pursuit of a career in medicine. Robert’s choice of medicine as an occupation for his son would turn out to be a poor one.
Note: There are several outstanding biographies of Charles Darwin readily available to the public. The definitive biography is a two volume work by E. Janet Browne titled “Charles Darwin: Voyaging” and “Charles Darwin: The Power of Place.” “Darwin: the Life of a Tormented Evolutionist,” by Adrian Desmond and James Moore is also highly regarded. For a shorter biography of Darwin try “The Reluctant Mr. Darwin,” by David Quammen.