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From J. P. Thom   14 January 1863

Home News Office | 124 Bishopgate st | London, E.C.

14th Jan. ’63.

My dear Mr Darwin,

Dr Lane told me last night that you had sent to him a few days ago for me a cheque on your banker for £20.1 This I consider to be an act of such true and genuine kindness on your part that I do not expect to be able to find phrases which will express forcibly enough my sincere appreciation of it. I will therefore only say that I thank you with all my heart. This generous gift is one which, coming from you, I will freely tell you I regard as as one of the most flattering testimonials I have ever received in my life. I will only add that it will also be of the greatest possible service to me at present.

Before I leave England (which I expect to do early in March) I hope to write to you again and tell you something in reference to my plans which will, I believe, tend to show that they are feasible.2

Meanwhile believe me, my dear Mr Darwin, | Ever yours truly & gratefully | J. P. Thom

Charles Darwin, Esq

Footnotes

1
The physician Edward Wickstead Lane was the proprietor of a hydropathic establishment at Sudbrook Park, Petersham, Surrey. CD and Thom became acquainted in 1857 or 1858 at Lane’s previous establishment at Moor Park, near Farnham, Surrey (see Correspondence vol. 6, Appendix II, and Correspondence vol. 7, letter to W. D. Fox, 24 June [1858]). There is an entry in CD’s Account book–banking accounts (Down House MS) for 1 January 1863, recording the payment of £20 to Thom.
2
Thom was planning to emigrate to Queensland, Australia; a fellow patient at Sudbrook Park, Mary Butler, had asked CD if he could recommend an appointment for Thom (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter from Mary Butler, [before 25 December 1862]). No further correspondence on this matter has been found.

Bibliography

Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.

Summary

Thanks for a gift of £20.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-3916
From
John Pringle Thom
To
Charles Robert Darwin
Sent from
Home News , London, Bishopgate St, 124
Source of text
DAR 178: 107
Physical description
ALS 3pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3916,” accessed on 19 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3916.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 11

letter

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