Darwin–Wedgwood family


The Darwin–Wedgwood family are persons descended from both of two particular prominent 18th-century men; Erasmus Darwin and Josiah Wedgwood, founder of the eponymous Wedgwood and Sons pottery company.
The most notable among them was Charles Darwin, a grandson to each. The family also included at least ten Fellows of the Royal Society, and several artists and poets. Presented below are brief biographical descriptions and genealogical information, and mentions of some notable descendants. The relationship to Francis Galton, and to his immediate ancestors, is also given.
Darwin–Wedgwood–Galton family tree

Notes:

The first generation

Josiah Wedgwood

Josiah Wedgwood was a noted pottery businessman and a friend of Erasmus Darwin. During 1780, on the death of his long-time business partner Thomas Bentley, Josiah asked Darwin for help in managing the business. As a result of the close association that grew up between the Wedgwood and Darwin families, one of Josiah's daughters later married Erasmus's son Robert. One of the children of that marriage, Charles Darwin, also married a Wedgwood – Emma, Josiah's granddaughter. Robert's inheritance of Josiah's money enabled him to fund Charles Darwin's chosen vocation in natural history that resulted in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution. Subsequently, Emma's inheritance made the Darwins a wealthy family.
Josiah Wedgwood married Sarah Wedgwood, and they had seven children, including:
Erasmus Darwin was a physician, botanist and poet from Lichfield, whose lengthy botanical poems gave insights into medicine and natural history, and described an evolutionist theory that anticipated both Jean-Baptiste Lamarck and his grandson Charles. He married twice, first during 1757 to Mary Howard, who died from alcohol-induced liver failure aged 31. She gave birth to:
He then had an extra-marital affair with a Miss Parker, producing two daughters:
He then became smitten with Elizabeth Collier Sacheveral-Pole, who was married to Colonel Sacheveral-Pole and was the natural daughter of the Charles Colyear, 2nd Earl of Portmore. Sacheveral-Pole died soon afterwards, and Erasmus married Elizabeth and they bore an additional seven children:
Samuel "John" Galton FRS was an arms manufacturer from Birmingham. He married Lucy Barclay, daughter of Robert Barclay Allardice, MP, 5th of Urie. They had the eight children:

Robert Darwin

The son of Erasmus Darwin, Robert Darwin was a noted physician from Shrewsbury, whose own income as a physician, together with astute investment of his inherited wealth, enabled him to fund his son Charles Darwin's place on the Voyage of the Beagle and then gave him the private income needed to support Charles' chosen vocation in natural history that led to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution. He married Susannah Wedgwood, daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, and they had the following children.
was the son of the first Josiah Wedgwood, and Member of Parliament for Stoke-on-Trent. He married Elizabeth Allen and they had nine children:
.
. Pioneer in developing photography. Son of Josiah Wedgwood.

Samuel Tertius Galton

married Frances Anne Violetta Darwin, daughter of Erasmus Darwin, [|see above]. They had three sons and four daughters including:
Sir Francis Sacheverel Darwin was the son of Erasmus Darwin and Elizabeth, daughter of Charles Colyear, 2nd Earl of Portmore. Francis was an accomplished travel writer, explorer and naturalist and bravely studied the ravages of the plague on Smyrna at great personal risk. He was the only one to return of his friends who went to the East. A physician to George III, he was knighted by George IV.
On 16 December 1815 he married Jane Harriet Ryle at St. George, Hanover Square London. They had many children including:

Charles Darwin

The most prominent member of the family, Charles Darwin, proposed the first coherent theory of evolution by means of natural and sexual selection.
Charles Robert Darwin was a son of Robert Waring Darwin and Susannah Wedgwood. He married Emma Wedgwood, a daughter of Josiah Wedgwood II and Elizabeth Allen. Charles's mother, Susannah, was a sister to Emma's father, Josiah II. Thus, Charles and Emma were first cousins.
The Darwins had ten children, three of whom died before reaching maturity.

Other notables from the same period

William Darwin Fox

The Rev. William Darwin Fox was a second cousin of Charles Darwin and an amateur entomologist, naturalist and palaeontologist. Fox became a lifelong friend of Charles Darwin after their first meeting at Christ's College, Cambridge. He married Harriet Fletcher, who gave him five children, and after her death married Ellen Sophia Woodd, who provided the remainder of his 17 children.
After his graduation from Cambridge during 1829, Fox was appointed as the Vicar of Osmaston and during 1838 became the Rector of Delamere, a living he retained until his retirement during 1873.

The fourth generation

George Howard Darwin

George Howard Darwin was an astronomer and mathematician. He married Martha du Puy of Philadelphia. They had five children:
was the botanist son of Charles Darwin and Emma Darwin. Francis Darwin married Amy Ruck during 1874, who died during 1876 after the birth of their son Bernard Darwin, an author on golf – see below. Francis married Ellen Crofts during September 1883 and they had a daughter Frances Crofts, who married and became known as the poet Frances Cornford. During 1913 he married his third wife Florence Henrietta Darwin ; there were no children of this marriage, but he became step-father to Fredegond Shove née Maitland and Ermengard Maitland.
He is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge, where he is interred in the same grave as his daughter Frances Cornford. His third wife and his brother Sir Horace Darwin and his wife Lady 'Ida' are interred in the same graveyard, as well as his step-daughter Fredegond Shove but not her sister Ermengard Maitland.

Leonard Darwin

Leonard Darwin was variously an army officer, Member of Parliament and eugenicist who corresponded with Ronald Fisher, thus being the link between the two great evolutionary biologists.

Horace Darwin

Horace Darwin and Ida Darwin had the following children:
He is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge, with his wife. His brother Sir Francis Darwin is interred in the same graveyard.

The fifth generation

Charles Galton Darwin

1887–1962 was the son of George Howard Darwin and was a noted physicist of the age, and Director of the National Physics Laboratory. His son George Pember Darwin married Angela Huxley, great granddaughter of Thomas Huxley.

Gwen Raverat (née Darwin)

was the daughter of George Howard Darwin and was an artist. She married the French artist Jacques Raverat during 1911 and had daughters Elizabeth Hambro and Sophie Pryor, later Gurney. Her childhood memoir, Period Piece, contains illustrations of and anecdotes about many of the Darwin—Wedgwood clan.

Margaret Keynes (née Darwin)

Margaret Keynes was the daughter of George Howard Darwin,. She married Geoffrey Keynes, brother of the economist John Maynard Keynes and had sons Richard Keynes, Quentin Keynes, Milo Keynes and Stephen Keynes, and a daughter Harriet Frances.
Date of birth 22 March 1890.
She was the third child, her other siblings are:
1. Gwendolen Mary 27 Aug 1885.
2. Charles Galton 9 Dec 1887.
3. William Robert 22 August 1894.

Bernard Darwin

was a golf writer. He married Elinor Monsell during 1906, and they had a son Robert Vere Darwin, and daughters Ursula Mommens, and Nicola Mary Elizabeth Darwin, later Hughes.

Frances Cornford (née Darwin)

Poet, daughter of Francis Darwin, see above, known to the family as 'FCC'; she was married to Francis Cornford, known to the family as 'FMC'. She is buried at the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground in Cambridge, where she is in the same grave as her father Sir Francis Darwin. Her late husband, Francis, was cremated at Cambridge Crematorium on 6 January 1943, and his ashes are presumed to be interred in the same grave.

Ralph Vaughan Williams

, British composer. His maternal grandmother, Caroline Sarah Darwin, was Charles Darwin's older sister, and his maternal grandfather, Josiah Wedgwood III, was the older brother of Darwin's wife Emma.

Nora Barlow (née Darwin)

Nora Darwin, the daughter of Horace Darwin, married Sir Alan Barlow. She also edited the Autobiography of Charles Darwin and ). They had the following six children:
, great-great-grandson of Josiah Wedgwood I, was a Liberal and Labour MP, and served in the military during the Second Boer War and the First World War. He was granted a peerage during 1942.

Charles Tindal-Carill-Worsley

Capt Charles Tindal-Carill-Worsley, RN, a great grandson of Sir Francis Sacheverel Darwin, served on the Royal Yacht HMY Victoria and Albert during the reign of King Edward VII, before a successful career in the First World War, where he was commander of HMS Prince George during the Gallipoli Campaign of 1915 He was appointed Chevalier of the Legion of Honour by the President of France during 1918.

Ralph Tindal-Carill-Worsley

Cmdr Ralph Tindal-Carill-Worsley, RN,, brother of Charles, naval officer and bon viveur, served on the Royal Yacht with his brother, before serving in the Battle of Jutland in World War I. He retired from the Royal Navy after the First World War but was recalled during World War II, when he was . He married Kathleen, daughter of Simon Mangan of Dunboyne Castle, Lord Lieutenant of Meath and a first cousin of Brig. General Paul Kenna, VC, and had three children.

Sir Ralph Wedgwood, 1st Baronet

Sir Ralph L. Wedgwood, 1st Baronet CB CMG, railway executive, son of Clement Wedgwood.

The sixth generation

Erasmus Darwin Barlow

was a psychiatrist, physiologist and businessman. Son of Nora Barlow.

Horace Barlow

was Professor of Physiological Optics and Physiology, Berkeley, California, US ; Royal Society Research Professor, Physiological Laboratory, Cambridge.

John Cornford

, was a poet and member of the International Brigades died during the Spanish Civil War. Son of Francis and Frances Cornford, see above.

Christopher Cornford

, was an artist and writer. Son of Francis and Frances Cornford, see above.

Henry Galton Darwin

was a lawyer and diplomat. Son of Charles Galton Darwin.

Robin Darwin

was an artist. He is the son of Bernard Darwin, see above.

Quentin Keynes

was a bibliophile and explorer. Son of Margaret Keynes, née Darwin, see above.

Richard Keynes

Professor Richard Darwin Keynes FRS was a British physiologist. Son of Margaret Keynes, née Darwin, see above.

Ursula Mommens

was a well-known potter. Daughter of Bernard Darwin, see above. Her son by Julian Trevelyan is the movie-maker Philip Trevelyan.

Geoffrey Tindal-Carill-Worsley

Air Commodore Geoffrey Tindal-Carill-Worsley was a Royal Air Force officer during the Second World War. Nephew of Charles and Ralph Tindal-Carill-Worsley.

Nicolas Tindal-Carill-Worsley

Group Captain Nicolas Tindal-Carill-Worsley was a RAF bomber pilot during the Second World War. Son of Ralph Tindal-Carill-Worsley.

Camilla Wedgwood

, anthropologist, was the daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood.

Cicely Veronica (CV) Wedgwood

, historian. Daughter of Ralph Wedgwood

The seventh generation

Martin Thomas Barlow

is a mathematician; son of Andrew Dalmahoy Barlow.

Phyllida Barlow

is a sculptor and art academic; daughter of Erasmus Darwin Barlow.

Matthew Chapman

, screenwriter, author, grandson of Frances Cornford, see above.

Adam Cornford

, is a poet and essayist. Son of Christopher Cornford, see above.

Chris Darwin

, conservationist and adventurer, son of George Erasmus Darwin, see above, and brother of Sarah Darwin and Robert Darwin, see below.

Emma Darwin

, novelist, granddaughter of Charles Galton Darwin, see above.

Sarah Darwin

, botanist, daughter of George Erasmus Darwin, see above, and sister of Chris Darwin and Robert Darwin, see above.

Randal Keynes

, conservationist and author, son of Richard Keynes, see above.

Simon Keynes

, Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic at Cambridge University, son of Richard Keynes, see above, and brother of Randal Keynes, see above.

Hugh Massingberd

was an obituaries editor for the Daily Telegraph, a journalist and the author of many books on genealogy and architectural history. He was the great grandson of Emily Langton Massingberd, and the great great grandson of Charlotte Langton, sister of Emma Darwin and granddaughter of Josiah Wedgwood I.

Ruth Padel

, poet, granddaughter of Sir Alan and Lady Barlow, see above.

R. Sebastian 'Bas' Pease

, physicist, Director of Culham Laboratory for Plasma Physics and Nuclear Fusion, manager of the British chapter of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, grandson of the fourth Josiah Wedgwood. His sister, Jocelyn Richenda 'Chenda' Gammell Pease, married Andrew Huxley.

Lucy Rawlinson

, painter, granddaughter of Gwen Raverat, see above.

Anthony Tindal

Managing director of Tindal wine merchant and youngest son of Nicolas Tindal-Carill-Worsley. Father of Harriet, William and Henry Tindal. Lives in Wicklow Ireland.

The eighth generation

Skandar Keynes

, political advisor and former actor, played Edmund in The Chronicles of Narnia, son of Randal Keynes.

Ralph Wedgwood

, philosopher, great-grandson of Ralph L. Wedgwood.

Intermarriage

There was a notable history of intermarriage within the family. During the period being discussed, Josiah Wedgwood married his third cousin Sarah Wedgwood; Charles Darwin married his first cousin Emma Wedgwood; his sister, Caroline Darwin, married Emma's brother, Josiah Wedgwood III. There were other instances of cousin marriage as well. Cousin marriage was not uncommon in Britain during the 19th century though why is debated: poorer communications, keeping wealth within the family, more opportunity of evaluating a relative of the opposite sex as a suitable marriage partner, more security for the woman as she would not be leaving her family.

Coat of arms

These arms were granted to Reginald Darwin, of Fern, Derbyshire, for himself and certain descendants of his father, Sir Francis Sacheverel Darwin, and his uncle Robert Waring Darwin, on 6 March 1890. As Charles Darwin was part of the destination, they have been used in association with him, despite being granted after his death. Something similar is used by Darwin College, Cambridge.
A variant without mullets was being used by the Darwin family long before 1890. Erasmus Darwin used it with the motto E conchis omnia, reflecting his belief that all life descended from one simple form. Charles' father Robert adopted the same motto, displaying it on his bookplate. Stephen Glover described in 1829 the older variant quartered with the Waring coat of arms.