Erasmus Darwin House

Born at Elston Hall, near Newark, Nottinghamshire, on 12th December 1731, Darwin was the youngest of four sons who became one of the foremost physicians of his time; indeed King George III asked him to be his personal physician but Erasmus declined, preferring to stay where he had settled in Lichfield, Staffordshire. Erasmus Darwin came to live in Lichfield after qualifying as a doctor in 1756. He married a year later, and moved into the medieval timber-framed and 17th-century brick buildings on the site. The fine Palladian front, which is seen today, was built on to the medieval house and not long after the Darwins moved into the fashionable new front of their house, a wooden bridge was thrown across the ditch and a twin-tier terrace was built, causing alterations to be made to the basement windows. By about 1761 the fashionable new west range had been built for him over the ditch around the Close. It was not until after 1784 that the earlier buildings were replaced by the surviving eastern portion of the house. For 20 years this house was the base for Darwin's medical practice.

With his ability to make friends Erasmus soon built up a vast network of associates, men and women like himself who independently became known as the leading social and philosophical lights of their time. With contacts like Matthew Boulton, Josiah Wedgwood, and James Watt he set up the Lunar Society which became the main intellectual powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution in England.

Among Darwin’s many talents was his extraordinary scientific insight in physics, chemistry, geology, meteorology and all aspects of biology. His theories of biological evolution by means of natural selection were vilified by the church, and were handed down from father to son and to grandson; but it was left to his grandson, Charles, to prove biological evolution. Towards the end of his life he gained recognition as the leading English poet of his day.

Darwin died suddenly on the 18 April 1802, weeks after having moved to Breadsall Priory, just north of Derby. He is buried in All Saints Church, Breadsall.

The Parlour was the hub of the household. It was here that people would be entertained, letters would be written, and the mistress of the household could plan her day. The Parlour is decorated to around 1770! At this time Darwin's beloved wife, Polly, had died, his sister Susannah had come to look after him and the three boys, Charles, Erasmus and Robert, (Charles Darwin's father), and Anna Seward, a friend who lived in the Close, were here to comfort him. This is also the year in which he began to think about evolution, invented the horizontal windmill for his friend Josiah Wedgewood to use in the Potteries and earned nearly £1000 from his medical practice.

Erasmus Darwin had five children with his first wife, Mary (Polly) Howard (1740–1770), they had four sons and one daughter, two of whom (Elizabeth Darwin (1763, survived 4 months) and William Alvey Darwin (1767, survived 19 days)) died in infancy, Charles Darwin (1758-1778), tragically died at medical school from a cut sustained while performing an autopsy. Erasmus Darwin II (1759–1799), died before his father. Robert Waring Darwin (1766–1848) became a doctor also and father of the naturalist Charles Darwin.

Following the death of 'Polly' Darwin hired a governess, Mary Parker, was hired to look after Robert. By late 1771, employer and employee had become intimately involved and together they had two illegitimate daughters, Susanna Parker (1772–1856) and Mary Parker Jr (1774–1859).

In 1775, Darwin met Elizabeth Pole, daughter of Charles Colyear, 2nd Earl of Portmore, and wife of Colonel Edward Pole (1718–1780); but as she was married, Darwin could only make his feelings known for her through the 27 romantic poems he wrote. When Edward Pole died, Darwin married Elizabeth and moved to her home, Radbourne Hall, four miles (6 km) west of Derby. The hall and village are these days known as Radbourne. In 1782, they moved to Full Street, Derby. They had four sons, one of whom died in infancy, and three daughters: Edward Darwin (1782–1829), Frances Ann Violetta Darwin (1783–1874), married Samuel Tertius Galton, son of Lunar Society member Samuel "John" Galton Jr., Emma Georgina Elizabeth Darwin (1784–1818), Sir Francis Sacheverel Darwin (1786–1859), John Darwin (1787–1818), Henry Darwin (1789–1790), died in infancy, and Harriet Darwin (1790–1825) who married Admiral Thomas James Malling.

Within the display cases of the Inventions Room is an unopened bottle of beer brewed for his baptism, an early copy of Mary Shelly's 'Frankenstein' who it is said to have drawn insperation from Darwin's experiments in galvanism, Darwin's own writing case and his book upon the education of young ladies, a progressive work entitled 'A plan for the conduct of female education in boarding schools' (1797), the work probably resulted from his liaison with Mary Parker and their two illegitimate children, Susanna and Mary, for whom he established a boarding school for girls in 1782, at Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

Most fascinating of all is Darwin's Commonplace Book, in which he recorded his observations of the weather, medical matters and sketched his inventions - a reprodution on a nearby stand allows you to flick through page after page of these glorious notes, invaluabel as an insight into the tastes, interests, personality and concerns of Darwin.

Darwin did not patent any of his devices as he believed this would damage his reputation as a doctor and so he encouraged his friends to patent their own modifications of his designs. In notes dating to 1779, Darwin made a sketch of a simple liquid-fuel rocket engine, with hydrogen and oxygen tanks connected by plumbing and pumps to an elongated combustion chamber and expansion nozzle, a concept not to be seen again until one century later.

Here in the Inventions Room you can see a model of the differential turning mechanism invented by Darwin in 1766 to prevent carriages from tipping over, an idea developed by Rudolph Ackermann an still found upon vehicles to this day. He also designed a sprung wheel, for greater comfort, which he handed over to fellow Lunar Society member Richard Lovell Edgeworth to develop. Other devices and inventions include a speaking machine (1799), a canal lift for barges and a minute artificial bird. Here in the Inventions Room you can use Darwin's copying machine (1778) to reproduce his signature or create a silouette using the wonderfully named physiognotrace.

Darwin's Study and Consulting Room is recreated to how it may hace appeared to a visiting Josiah Wedgewood in the 1770's. Opposite as you enter the room is a weather-vane made by John Whitehurst of Congleton; a member of the Lunar Society. Darwin studied the weather, particularly when he was going on a journey to see a patient, and developed ideas about weather patterns and cloud formations. Upon the desk are placed fossils, papers and a scattering of books, Darwin was keen to learn all he could from others. In the bookcase are his microscope, medical instruments and larger medical reference books.

Hung over the fireplace is a reproduction of 'An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump' painted by Joseph Wright of Derby in 1768, it was one of a number of candlelit scenes that Wright painted during the 1760's. The painting departed from convention of the time by depicting a scientific subject in the reverential manner formerly reserved for scenes of historical or religious significance.

The painting depicts a natural philosopher, a forerunner of the modern scientist, recreating one of Robert Boyle's air pump experiments, in which a bird is deprived of oxygen, before a varied group of onlookers. The group exhibits a variety of reactions, but for most of the audience scientific curiosity overcomes concern for the bird. The central figure looks out of the picture as if inviting the viewer's participation in the outcome.

Wright was intimately involved in depicting the Industrial Revolution and the scientific advances of the Enlightenment. His 'Air Pump' was unusual in that it depicted archetypes rather than specific people, though various models for the figures have been suggested. The young lovers may have been based on Thomas Coltman and Mary Barlow, friends of Wright's, whom he later painted in 'Mr and Mrs Thomas Coltman' after their marriage in 1769; Erasmus Darwin has been suggested as the man timing the experiment on the left of the table, and John Warltire, whom Darwin had invited to help with some air pump experiments in real life, as the natural philosopher; the boys in the picture are thought to be Erasmus's sons, Charles and Erasmus junior. But, Wright never identified any of the subjects or suggested they were based on real people.

The scientific subjects of Wright's paintings from this time were meant to appeal to the wealthy scientific circles in which he moved. While never a member himself, he had strong connections with the Lunar Society: he was friends with members John Whitehurst and Erasmus Darwin, as well as Josiah Wedgwood, who later commissioned paintings from him. The inclusion of the moon in the painting was a nod to their monthly meetings, which were held when the moon was full. Wright apparently painted 'Air Pump' without a commission, and the picture was purchased by Dr Benjamin Bates, who already owned Wright's 'Gladiator'. An Aylesbury physician, patron of the arts and hedonist, Bates was a diehard member of the Hellfire Club who, despite his excesses, lived to be over 90.

Darwin formed the Lichfield Botanical Society in order to translate the works of the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus from Latin into English. This took seven years. The result was two publications: A System of Vegetables between 1783 and 1785, and The Families of Plants in 1787. In these volumes, Darwin coined many of the English names of plants that we use today.

Darwin then wrote The Loves of the Plants, a long poem, which was a popular rendering of Linnaeus' works. Darwin also wrote Economy of Vegetation, and together the two were published as The Botanic Garden. One of the first popular science books, The Botanic Garden was intended to pique readers' interest in science at the same time as educating them. By embracing Linnaeus's sexualized language, which anthropomorphized plants, Darwin made botany interesting and relevant to his readers. In a daring suggestion, however, Darwin emphasized the connections between humanity and plants, arguing that they are all part of the same natural world and that sexual reproduction is at the heart of evolution (ideas that his grandson, Charles Darwin, would later turn into a full-fledged theory of evolution). This evolutionary theme continues in The Economy of Vegetation which contends that scientific progress is part of evolution and urges its readers to celebrate inventors and scientific discoveries in a language usually reserved for heroes or artistic geniuses.

Because amateur botany was popular in Britain during the second half of the eighteenth century, The Botanic Garden, despite its high cost, was a bestseller. Nevertheless, the poem's radical political elements, such as its support of the French revolution and its criticism of slavery, angered conservative British readers.

Darwin's most important scientific work is Zoönomia (1794–1796), which contains a system of pathology, and a treatise on 'generation', in which he anticipated the views of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, and Lamarckism, which foreshadowed the modern theory of evolution and the modern evolutionary synthesis. Darwin based his theories on David Hartley's psychological theory of associationism. The essence of his views is contained in the following passage, which he follows up with the conclusion that one and the same kind of living filament is and has been the cause of all organic life:

"Would it be too bold to imagine that, in the great length of time since the earth began to exist, perhaps millions of ages before the commencement of the history of mankind would it be too bold to imagine that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament, which the great First Cause endued with animality, with the power of acquiring new parts, attended with new propensities, directed by irritations, sensations, volitions and associations, and thus possessing the faculty of continuing to improve by its own inherent activity, and of delivering down these improvements by generation to its posterity, world without end!"

Darwin's final long poem, The Temple of Nature, was published posthumously in 1803. The poem was originally titled The Origin of Society. It is considered his best poetic work. It centers on his own newly-conceived theory of evolution. The poem traces the progression of life from microorganisms to civilized society. Darwin largely anticipated most of what his grandson Charles Darwin would later propose, except for the idea of natural selection.

His poetry was admired by Coleridge and Wordsworth. It often made reference to his interests in the sciences and subjects such as botany and steam engines.

Within the display cases of the Inventions Room is an unopened bottle of beer brewed for his baptism, an early copy of Mary Shelly's 'Frankenstein' who it is said to have drawn insperation from Darwin's experiments in galvanism, Darwin's own writing case and his book upon the education of young ladies, a progressive work entitled 'A plan for the conduct of female education in boarding schools' (1797), the work probably resulted from his liaison with Mary Parker and their two illegitimate children, Susanna and Mary, for whom he established a boarding school for girls in 1782, at Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

Most fascinating of all is Darwin's Commonplace Book, in which he recorded his observations of the weather, medical matters and sketched his inventions - a reprodution on a nearby stand allows you to flick through page after page of these glorious notes, invaluabel as an insight into the tastes, interests, personality and concerns of Darwin.

Darwin did not patent any of his devices as he believed this would damage his reputation as a doctor and so he encouraged his friends to patent their own modifications of his designs. In notes dating to 1779, Darwin made a sketch of a simple liquid-fuel rocket engine, with hydrogen and oxygen tanks connected by plumbing and pumps to an elongated combustion chamber and expansion nozzle, a concept not to be seen again until one century later.

Here in the Inventions Room you can see a model of the differential turning mechanism invented by Darwin in 1766 to prevent carriages from tipping over, an idea developed by Rudolph Ackermann an still found upon vehicles to this day. He also designed a sprung wheel, for greater comfort, which he handed over to fellow Lunar Society member Richard Lovell Edgeworth to develop. Other devices and inventions include a speaking machine (1799), a canal lift for barges and a minute artificial bird. Here in the Inventions Room you can use Darwin's copying machine (1778) to reproduce his signature or create a silouette using the wonderfully named physiognotrace.

The Lunar Room - The room in which the owners of the present day museum believe the members of the Lunar Society met on the night of the full moon, making their journey home by its pale yellow glow. The Lunar Society was a dinner club and informal learned society of prominent industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 in Birmingham, England. At first called the Lunar Circle, "Lunar Society" became the formal name by 1775. The members cheerfully referred to themselves as "lunaticks", a pun on lunatics. As well as Erasmus Darwin's home in Lichfield, meetings were held at Matthew Boulton's home, Soho House, and Great Barr Hall. Amongst those who attended meetings more or less regularly were:

• Matthew Boulton, the industrialist and manufacturer.
• John Whitehurst of Derby, maker of clocks and scientific instruments, pioneer of geology.
• Josiah Wedgwood, industrialist, potter and noted abolitionist.
• Dr. William Small, man of science, formerly Professor of Natural Philosophy at the College of William and Mary, where Thomas Jefferson was an appreciative pupil.
• Richard Lovell Edgeworth, inventor, politician and writer.
• James Watt, inventor and mechanical engineer; improver of steam engine.
• James Keir, pioneer of the chemical industry.
• Thomas Day, author and abolitionist.
• Dr. William Withering, botanist, geologist, chemist, physician and the discoverer of digitalis.
• Joseph Priestly, theologian, dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works.
• Samuel Galton, a Quaker gunmaker with a taste for science.

Through the Lunar Society Darwin established a lifelong friendship with Benjamin Franklin, who shared Darwin's support for the American and French revolutions. The members of the Lunar Society, and especially Darwin, opposed the slave trade. He attacked it in The Botanic Garden (1789–1791), and in The Loves of Plants (1789) and The Economy of Vegetation (1791). The Lunar Society was instrumental as an intellectual driving force behind England's Industrial Revolution.

In addition to the Lunar Society, Erasmus Darwin helped form the influential Derby Philosophical Society (1783). The Society's founding members included - Thomas Gisborne, a priest and poet, a member of the Clapham Sect, who fought for the abolition of the slave trade in England and William Strutt, architect and President of the Society for twenty-eight years.