Anne Darwin
Anne Elizabeth "Annie" Darwin (2 March 1841-22 April 1851) was the second child and eldest daughter of Charles and Emma Darwin. According to biographers she was a delightful child who brought much happiness to her parents. The eminent Darwin scholar Janet Browne writes of her thus:
- Anne was .. the apple of her proud father's eye, his favourite child, he confessed to [his friend and cousin William Darwin] Fox. More than any of the other children she treated him with a spontaneous affection that touched him deeply; she liked to smooth his hair and pat his clothes into shape, and was by nature self-absorbedly neat and tidy, cutting out delicate bits of paper to put away in her workbox, threading ribbons, and sewing small things for her dolls and make-believe worlds.
In 1849, Anne caught scarlet fever along with her two sisters and youngest brother, the last dying of the disease, and her health thereafter declined; some authorities believe that she suffered from tuberculosis. Her death at age ten was a terrible blow for both Charles and Emma, and is said by Browne to have driven Darwin to atheism. As a young man Darwin had intended to become a pastor.
Further reading
- Keynes, R. Annie's Box Fourth Estate, London.Review (http://www.aboutdarwin.com/literature/Review.html)
- Browne, Janet (1995) Charles Darwin: Voyaging. New York: Random House. ISBN 0691026068. The characterization of Anne Darwin appears on p. 499.
 | Topics relating to Charles Darwin |
|---|---|
| Family: Erasmus Darwin (grandfather) - Josiah Wedgwood (maternal grandfather) - Emma Darwin (wife) - William Darwin; Anne Darwin; Etty Darwin; George Darwin; Elizabeth Darwin;
Francis Darwin; Leonard Darwin; Horace Darwin; Charles Waring Darwin (children) - Francis Galton (cousin) | |
| Contributions to evolutionary biology: Evolution by means of natural and sexual selection. | |
| Books: The Voyage of the Beagle - The Origin of Species - The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex | |
| Named in honour of Darwin: Darwin Medal - Darwin, Australia - Charles Darwin University, Darwin College, Cambridge |