To John St Barbe1 [before 3 July 1862]2
Dear Sir—
I wish to invest through the Union Bank about £17,000 in Railway Shares.3 if I can find shares that suit me. Under these circumstances, I trust you will not think it unreasonable in me to request, through you, from the gentleman, who acts as your Broker, some careful information.— I wish for Guaranteed or Preference shares which divide with ordinary shares, when the latter rise above the Guarantee—Lancaster & Carlisle, some of Newcastle & Carlisle. & of Grt. N. of Scotland &c are of this nature.4 Will the Brokers reflect what shares there are of this kind which can be purchased. Or whether any Railways acts likely soon to pass include such shares?5 I shd. perhaps purchase some Lancaster & Carlisle (these I now hold a good number) & shd be glad to know at what price I could purchase.—6 Secondly will the Brokers inform me what Preference or Guaranteed shares there are, with perpetual power of changing into ordinary stock; (though I shd prefer the former kind of stock) N.E. Berwick 4 per cent Prefer is said to be of this nature; & I shd. be glad to know price. But I wish to know what other shares there are of this nature.—7 I hope you will be so kind as to request the best information, which your Broker can give, & you can forward this letter to them—
Dear Sir | Yours &c
P.S. I have been told that the N. Staffordshire guarantees the G.T. Canal, with a promise of sharing profit; but I know not if this be accurate or scale of guarantee &c &c.8
P.S.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Lindsay, Jean. 1979. The Trent & Mersey Canal. Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles.
Parris, Henry. 1965. Government and the railways in nineteenth-century Britain. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Summary
Wishes to invest some money in railway shares; asks for the advice of the bank’s brokers.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-3358
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Union Bank
- Sent from
- unstated
- Source of text
- DAR 96: 5
- Physical description
- ADraftS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 3358,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-3358.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 10