Dear Sir,

Mr Wilding has sent me his check for £1177"2"8 being for interests as stated in the inclosed receipts which be pleased to sign & return to me, when I will pay the £1177"2"8 to your credit at Mess^rs Rocke’s & C^o. unless you otherwise direct.—¹

I have requested Miss Darwin² to speak to you on the mode of division of D^r Darwin’s property among his family, & more especially of the North Staffordshire Railway shares & the Shropshire Union Railway shares— There are two sorts of the latter— Also to ask whether the Lichfield Road securities, the debt of the Trust Act trustees, & other small things had not better be sold, or got in as ready money—³ With respect to the Humpfreys family, they cannot pay immediately; but their Sol^r (Mr Yearsley of Pool) says their affairs are fast arriving at a crisis, & that a forced sale must take place, & in the course of this year he hopes to effect one, so as to complete at Lady day 1850—⁴

With respect to Lord Powis’s debts, the present Earl will have to ask you to do him the favor to change his late father’s securities for his own,—to enable him to get back a considerable sum from Government in respect of the probate duty paid on the late Earl’s Will—⁵ To effect this the present Earl must give new bonds, instead of those you now hold— These new bonds will of course be for the same aggregate amount as the old ones, but they need not be for the same sums but may be for any sums that may suit you upon division of D^r Darwin’s property among his family; a separate bond being given to each member of it who takes to any part of Lord Powis’s debt for his particular share of it.— You will find this a great convenience to you in dividing.—

With respect to M^r Childe’s Mortgage, if it should be found too large for any one member of the family, I have suggested to Miss Darwin that she & Miss Catherine may jointly take it—⁶ Also I think you will find that the securities are for two distinct sums of £46,000 & £20,000 respectively; but the prior title deeds are the same for both, and therefore upon any division of this securities (except as between the Miss Darwin’s) some arrangement will be necessary as to the custody of the deeds.—

I do not of course expect to hear from you at present as to the division of the property; but Miss Darwin wished me now to write to you about it, to prevent any misapprehension on the subject.—

I am, Dear Sir, | Yours truly | (signed) Tho Salt

E. A. Darwin Esq