From Salt & Sons 17 July 1867
Shrewsbury
17th. July 1867
Dear Sir
You will have been anxious to know we doubt not how the Mount house & Gardener’s cottage stand as to prospect of sale & the present arrangements.—1 The house is at present let temporarily terminable by a month’s notice to Mrs. G. B. Watton with a view to keep it aired &c at the rate of £11 a month you paying the taxes. Wynne the gardener has been allowed to retain the cottage rent free but he is quite incapacitated for work. His wife and sons have had charge of the house until Mrs. Watton occupied it & have kept that and the grounds in order. They ask for some allowance as they cannot live in the house earning nothing and it seems reasonable something should be allowed them for work done if not for the future though of course they do not expect gardener’s wages but desire to leave the matter in your hands. Their wages were £5.10/— a month.2 Mr F & Mr. C. Parker3 have been here to day & it is proposed to advertise the property for immediate sale offering the house first in one Lot, & if not sold then the whole property in four Lots. Lot 1 the gardener’s cottage, Lot 2 the House, (described as being capable of being made into 2 good Dwellings) but excluding the kitchen garden which would be severed for a separate building lot and excluding the Hill Head Bank field above the house.
Lot 3 the Kitchen garden with an approah by St. George’s Church.
Lot 4 the Hill Head Bank field
Lots 1, 3, & 4 we should be sanguine of selling & the mode proposed would we think be the most likely way of selling lot 2 and would be more within the compass of an ordinary buyer.4
As regards Wynne Mr F Parker suggests that if the property is sold something should be given to Wynne in one sum as finally settling with him. If not all sold you would know what is likely to be wanted from him for the future but he desires that you should express your wishes on the subject.
Both Mr F. & Mr. C. Parker would attend the sale for which a separate valuation would be forwarded to you & we should suggest a discretionary power as to the price of the lots should be left with them. A duplicate of this letter will be sent to each branch of the family & we shall be obliged if you will express any views that occur to you
We are Dear Sir | With Great Respect | Your obliged & faithful Servants | Salt & Sons
C R Darwin Esq
Footnotes
Bibliography
Freeman, Richard Broke. 1978. Charles Darwin: a companion. Folkestone, Kent: William Dawson & Sons. Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, Shoe String Press.
Harris, Donald F. 2004. Notes on the real-estate and financial affairs of Dr. Robert Waring Darwin of Shrewsbury. Typescript deposited at Cambridge University Library.
Summary
Discusses proposed sale of house and provision for Wynne, the gardener, and his wife.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5583
- From
- Salt & Sons
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Shrewsbury
- Source of text
- DAR 177: 10
- Physical description
- LS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5583,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5583.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 15