From G. S. Ffinden 31 May 1879
Darwin. May 31— ’79
I am obliged to you for yr. letter I am not aware that any first measurement of the land was made, & I am at a loss to a/c for the means whereby I arrived at the erroneous measurement: 1.2.191 however, since writing to you I have consulted the parish tithe map, which is an official authority, & this makes the case, as to the quantity of the land even worse. Thus with the long meadow was included the adjoining field Jumping rail the total quantity being
a. r. p.2
6: 0: 32
2. 3: 3
(deduct Jumping rail as measured by the late Mr. Abr: Smith3 )
3: 1: 29
2: 0: 0 sold by Miss W. first—
1: 1: 29
⟨37 retained by Miss W⟩
1: 0: 32
a. r. p
1: 0: 32
a. r. p. (instead of. 1: 2: 9)
& this quantity at £80 p acre wld cost £96:0:0, & not £111:10 as paid to Miss W. The tithe map referred to can be inspected by you it is at Mr. H. Osbornes4 if Miss W. is willing to abide by its measurement, I will write to the Ecc Commrs.5 to authorize the paymt. of the money £15:10:0 but if Miss W. wld. prefer to have the land measured (wh: seems to me unnecessary) I am willing to pay one half of the expense if my share wld. not exceed £[1]: but of this I am doubtful— It is clearer than ever to me now that, too much has been paid, at the rate agreed upon of £80 p acre
Footnotes
Summary
The official parish tithe map shows that a greater error than at first thought was made in measuring Miss Wedgwood’s land. She was overpaid £15 10s.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-12074
- From
- George Sketchley Ffinden
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- unstated
- Source of text
- Bromley Historic Collections, Bromley Central Library (P/123/3/4)
- Physical description
- Draft †
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12074,” accessed on 20 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12074.xml