From J. D. Hooker 2 May 1865
Kew
May 2/65.
My dear Darwin
We feel very much the shock that poor Fitzroys death must be to you.1 My old friend Davis writes to me that he had been very excited for some time, & fancied that many had ill-treated him.2 also that Sir Rodk had decidedly snubbed him at the Geographical.3 He had taken a house at Norwood, for a few weeks— his daughters went to knock at his door on Sunday mg. & receiving no answer the door was forced & he found dead with his throat cut.4 Poor old Fitzroy— I am very sorry—for though I did not know him much I always regarded him in joint association with you, & I did admire his -Scientific pluck, as a Meteorologist,5 & his wonderfull kindness & goodness.
I hope to heavens that they will not appoint Glaisher to the post, or Maury, or any of those cattle, who seem to live on self glorification.6
My Father is considerably better, but not fit for work & will I hope soon go to the West.7
As soon as I get any notice of Caspary on Cytisus I will send it—8 I have seen none yet.
Lyell & Lady9 were out last night both very well & bright.—
I do not at all like Ramsays answer to Lyell— the note on p 1. is carping & uncalled for,10 & the whole thing far from clear— I am still of opinion that they are fighting for a shadow, in the present state of the question, & that a Rock basin is a Geological desideratum apart from Volcanic action.— The idea of a series of lakes, like the alpine ones, being formed by faults is in my notion preposterous—11
Masters I suppose reported for G. C. from Amsterdam the Hort Soc. sent him.12
Ever yr affec | J D Hooker
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Anderson, Katherine. 1999. The weather prophets: science and reputation in Victorian meteorology. History of Science 37: 179–216.
Burke’s peerage: A genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage of the United Kingdom. Burke’s peerage and baronetage. 1st– edition. London: Henry Colburn [and others]. 1826–.
Burton, James. 1986. Robert FitzRoy and the early history of the Meteorological Office. British Journal for the History of Science 19: 147–76.
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
DAB: Dictionary of American biography. Under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies. 20 vols., index, and 10 supplements. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons; Simon & Schuster Macmillan. London: Oxford University Press; Humphrey Milford. 1928–95.
DNB: Dictionary of national biography. Edited by Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee. 63 vols. and 2 supplements (6 vols.). London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1912. Dictionary of national biography 1912–90. Edited by H. W. C. Davis et al. 9 vols. London: Oxford University Press. 1927–96.
FitzRoy, Robert. 1863. The weather book. A manual of practical meteorology. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts and Green.
Lyell, Charles. 1865. Elements of geology, or the ancient changes of the earth and its inhabitants as illustrated by geological monuments. 6th edition, revised. London: John Murray.
Mellersh, Harold Edward Leslie. 1968. FitzRoy of the Beagle. London: Rupert Hart-Davis.
Modern English biography: Modern English biography, containing many thousand concise memoirs of persons who have died since the year 1850. By Frederick Boase. 3 vols. and supplement (3 vols.). Truro, Cornwall: the author. 1892–1921.
Navy list: The navy list. London: John Murray; Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. 1815–1900.
Post Office London directory: Post-Office annual directory. … A list of the principal merchants, traders of eminence, &c. in the cities of London and Westminster, the borough of Southwark, and parts adjacent … general and special information relating to the Post Office. Post Office London directory. London: His Majesty’s Postmaster-General [and others]. 1802–1967.
Ramsay, Andrew Crombie. 1865. Sir Charles Lyell and the glacial theory of lake-basins. London: n.p. [Extracted from Philosophical Magazine 29 (1865): 285–98.]
Stafford, Robert A. 1989. Scientist of empire. Sir Roderick Murchison, scientific exploration and Victorian imperialism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tucker, Jennifer. 1996. Voyages of discovery on oceans of air: scientific observation and the image of science in an age of ‘balloonacy’. In Science in the field, edited by Henrika Kuklick and Robert E. Kohler. (Osiris 2d ser. 11: 144–76.)
Summary
On FitzRoy’s suicide.
The Lyell–Ramsay disagreement [on formation of lakes?].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-4826
- From
- Joseph Dalton Hooker
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Kew
- Source of text
- DAR 102: 20–1
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 4826,” accessed on 17 August 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-4826.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 13