Siblings

1. Marianne – b. 1798 d. 1858. Married Henry Parker, M.D., in 1824. They had 5 children: Robert, Henry, Francis, Charles and Mary Susan.
   
2. Caroline Sarah – b.1800 d. 1888. When her mother died in 1817, Caroline raised Charles Darwin. Caroline married Josia Wedgewood III. They had 4 children: Sophie Marianne, Sophy, Margaret, and Lucy. “Two days after Charles and Emma’s wedding, Caroline lost her six-week-old baby.”
   
3. Susan Elizabeth – b.1803 d. 1866. Susan never married and lived at the family home in Shrewsbury her whole life . She was the last member of the Darwin Family to live at The Mount.
   
4. Erasmus Alvey – b. 1804 d. 1881. Attended Shrewsbury School, 1815–22. In October, 1822, Erasmus left home to study medicine at Christ's College, Cambridge University. Later was sent to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, known as having one of the best medical schools in all of Europe. “ Erasmus came to Edinburgh in 1825 for a hospital residency after completing his course work at Christ's College in Cambridge. Charles and Erasmus stayed in a hotel at first, but quickly found a boarding house at eleven Lothian Street. At first they were both enthusiastic about learning if not about lectures, checking out more books from the library than all the other students combined. But Erasmus stayed in Edinburgh for only four months, after which he returned to Shrewsbury to assist his father, leaving Charles to face the trials of medical training alone.”

Erasmus later completed a medical degree but never practiced, instead choosing to live most of his adult life in London, from 1829 on, where he had a rich social and intellectual life. This was possible because his father gave Erasmus a generous pension.

Erasmus and Charles had a very good relationship. They shared quarters in Edinburgh while both of them were in medical school there. When Charles returned from the voyage on the Beagle, Erasmus assisted him to settle in London. Charles often visited and seems to have derived a great deal of valuable information about a wide range of topics, including philosophy and economics, from Erasmus and his friends.

Erasmus never married.

Charles Robert – b. 1809 d. 1882. Darwin was called “Bobby” during his childhood, and nicknamed “Gas” during an adolescent period of chemistry experiments.

1. Charles became the most prominent naturalist in England and the world. His scientific theory of evolution by natural selection is now supported by our knowledge of molecular genetics. The full description of his life is given in many other places.

He married Emma Wedgwood in January, 1839, and they had 10 children: William, Anne, Mary, Henrietta, George, Elizabeth, Francis, Leonard, Horace and Charles.

1. Emily “Catty” Catherine – b. 1810 d. 1866. Resided at The Mount (the family home), Shrewsbury, until she married her cousin Charles Langton in 1863. They had no children.

Further reading:

Darwin Friends

Darwin Country

Darwin, his daughter & human evolution. Randal Keynes, Riverhead Books, New York, 2001.

Childhood

Edinburgh

Writings of Charles Darwin