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Darwin Correspondence Project

To Josiah Wedgwood III   14 August [1847]1

Aug 14th

My dear Jos.

Many thanks for your letter. I enclose my note for Stokes, which will you kindly take the trouble to read & his previous note to me.—2 The briefest note from you to him, authorising the purchase & explaining the payment & giving your address will suffice.— There is, however, one point will you be so good as to decide.— Very stupidly I have quite forgot, what was the sum you have advanced for me in paying the calls &c.—but I judge from the sum you mention you have to pay to Elizabeth,3 that the money now in hand will nearly cover that & that there is an additional 400£ to be received presently: in this latter case, that money will do for the 5£ calls, (which if I understand Stokes) note will amount to 200£ on the 15th of October.— Will you be so kind as to decide this point for me, which I hope won’t much trouble you.—

The 50£ interest is delightful.4

Remember sometime you have to repay me 15£.5 I wonder whether we cd pay off all the London & N Western calls.—6 I long, almost as much as you can, to have done with all this eternal trouble about calls.— You must, I imagine just mention to Stokes, whether he must deduct or whether you will pay the Brokerage: I have no idea what that is per 1000£.—

Do not execrate me much for this trouble.— | Yours affectionately | C. Darwin

If you do not approve for any reason of my note to Stokes, do not send it, but write yourself without enclosing mine & I would write independently to thank him.—

Footnotes

The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to Josiah Wedgwood III, [20? August 1847] (Correspondence vol. 4).
CD refers to Charles Stokes, his long-time friend and stockbroker. Neither the letter from Josiah Wedgwood III, nor any letter to Stokes, has been found. CD wanted him to buy Leeds & Bradford railway shares for Emma’s trust fund (Correspondence vol. 4, letter to Josiah Wedgwood III, [22 June – 10 August 1847], and letter to Josiah Wedgwood III, [20? August 1847] and n. 3).
CD recorded a £50 payment on 14 August 1847 for interest on Maer, the former home of Josiah Wedgwood II (CD’s Classed account books (Down House MS)).
CD had advanced £15 to Emma’s trust fund on 17 June 1847 and was repaid 31 August 1847 (see Correspondence vol. 4, letter to Josiah Wedgwood III, [22 June – 17 August 1847] and n. 4).
Shares in the London and North West Railway were purchased with money from Emma Darwin’s trust property on 30 June 1846 (CD’s Investment book (Down House MS)).

Summary

Sends a letter for JW to forward to Charles Stokes concerning the purchase of Leeds and Bradford railway shares for Emma Darwin’s trust fund.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-1108F
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
Josiah Wedgwood, III
Source of text
Alan Wedgwood (private collection)

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 1108F,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-1108F.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 18 (Supplement)

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