Record

Authorised form of name	Darwin; Erasmus (1731 - 1802); physician, botanist and poet
Other forms of surname	Darwen
Dates	1731 - 1802
Nationality	British
Place of birth	Elston Hall, Nottinghamshire, England
Date of birth	12 December 1731
Place of death	Breadsall Priory, Derbyshire
Date of death	18 April 1802
Occupation	Physician; Poet
Research field	Medicine
	Scientific poetry
	Botany
	Technology
Activity	Education: Chesterfield School (1741-1750); St John's College, Cambridge; Edinburgh Medical School. MB (1755); MD (Edinburgh) Career: First medical practice in Nottingham, moved to Lichfield, Staffordshire; member of the Lunar Society; many inventions, including a vertical-axis windmill, used in Josiah Wedgwood's (FRS 1783) factory; moved to Radbourne Hall with his second wife, because she disliked Lichfield. Freemason, member, Lodge St David No 36, Edinburgh
Membership category	Fellow
Date of election	09/04/1761
Relationships	Fourth son of Robert, barrister. Married: 1) (1757) Mary Howard (died 1770); 2) (1781) Elizabeth Collier, widow of Col Pole of Radbourne Hall. Father (with Mary Howard) of Robert Waring Darwin (FRS 1788); grandfather of Charles Robert Darwin (FRS 1839) and Francis Galton (FRS); great grandfather of George Howard Darwin (FRS 1879), Francis Darwin (FRS 1882) and Horace Darwin (FRS 1903); 2x great grandfather of Sir Charles Galton Darwin (FRS); 3x great grandfather of Richard Darwin Keynes (FRS) and Horace Basil Barlow (FRS)
Source	Sources: Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB; Venn References: Robert E Schofield, 'The Lunar Society of Birmingham; A Bicentenary Appraisal' in NR 1966 vol 21 pp 144-161 Nora Barlow, 'Erasmus Darwin, FRS (1731-1802)' in NR 1959 vol 14 pp 85-98, plate John Thomas, 'Josiah Wedgwood's Portrait Medallions of Fellows of the Royal Society' in NR 1963 vol 18 pp 45-53, plate D G King-Hele, 'Erasmus Darwin, Man of Ideas and Inventor of Words' in NR 1988 vol 42 pp 149-180, plate D G King-Hele, 'Shelley and Science' in NR 1992 vol 46 pp 253-265 Milo Keynes, 'Portraits of Dr Erasmus Darwin, FRS, by Joseph Wright, James Rawlinson and William Coffee' in NR 1994 vol 48 pp 69-84, plate Desmond King-Hele, 'Erasmus Darwin's Life at Lichfield: Fresh Evidence' in NR 1995 vol 49 pp 231-243 Desmond King-Hele, 'The 1997 Wilkins Lecture: Erasmus Darwin, the Lunaticks and Evolution' in NR 1998 vol 52 pp 153-180, plate Gordon C Cook, 'Mary Darwin's Illness' in NR 1996 vol 50 pp 59-63 Linde Katritzky, 'Coleridge's Links with Leading Men of Science' in NR 1995 vol 49 pp 261-276 'Erratum' in NR 1998 vol 52 pp 381-382 Gordon C Cook and Desmond King-Hele, 'Doctor Erasmus Darwin's Death in 1802' in NR 1998 vol 52 pp 261-265 Milo Keynes, 'The Portland Vase: Sir William Hamilton, Josiah Wedgwood and the Darwins' in NR 1998 vol 52 pp 237-259, plate Neil Chambers, 'Letters From the President: the Correspondence of Sir Joseph Banks' in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 27-57 Paul Elliott, 'Abraham Bennet, FRS (1749-1799): A Provincial Electrician in Eighteenth-Century England' in NR 1999 vol 53 pp 59-78 Desmond King-Hele, 'Erasmus Darwin's improved design for steering carriages - and cars' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 41-62, plate L B Glyn, 'Israel Lyons: a short but starry career. The life of an eighteenth-century Jewish botanist and astronomer' in NR 2002 vol 56 pp 275-305 J Browne, 'Darwin on Darwin. Charles Darwin's The Life of Erasmus Darwin, ed D King-Hele' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 346 - 348 D King-Hele, 'Makers of the future. The Lunar Men: the friends who made the future, by J Uglow' in NR 2003 vol 57 pp 348 - 350 The Library and Museum of Freemasonry 'Freemasons and the Royal Society; Alphabetical List of Fellows of the Royal Society who were Freemasons' 2010, page 26
Code	NA6942

Archives associated with this Fellow

RefNo	Title	Date
EC/1761/01	Darwin, Erasmus: certificate of election to the Royal Society
CB/2/133	Copy of a letter from Charles Blagden to Erasmus Darwin	17 March 1788
CB/2/111	Copy of a letter from Charles Blagden to Erasmus Darwin	28 January 1788
CB/2/85	Copy of a letter from Charles Blagden to Erasmus Darwin	10 November 1787
IM/001064	Darwin, Erasmus	nd
CB/1/3/199	Letter from E[rasmus] Darwin, Derby to Charles Blagden, Gower Street, Bedofrd Square, London	17 August 1785
CB/2/34	Copy of a letter from Charles Blagden to Erasmus Darwin	14 September 1786
CB/2/128	Copy of a letter from Charles Blagden to Erasmus Darwin	8 March 1788
MM/5/8	Letter from Joseph Priestley, Birmingham, to Josiah Wedgwood	21 March 1782
IM/001063	Darwin, Erasmus	nd
NLB/7/444	Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to Dr Benjamin Ward Richardson	20 February 1893
L&P/3/421	Paper, 'An uncommon case of haemophysis' by Erasmus Darwin	17 December 1759
L&P/8/102	Letter, 'On an artificial spring of water' by Erasmus Darwin	16 July 1784
L&P/7/2	Letter, 'A new case in squinting' by Erasmus Darwin	10 March 1777
L&P/6/39	Paper, 'Some experiments on animal fluids' by Erasmus Darwin	1774
IM/005715	Darwin, Erasmus	nd
L&P/9/67	Paper, 'Frigorific experiments on the mechanical expansion of air' by Erasmus Darwin	22 November 1787

Add to My Items

Classified Papers

Classified Papers

Tweets by theRCN

The mammals of Australia

The mammals of Australia

Early Letters

Botanical paintings by Jacob van Huysum and William Sartorius

Botanical paintings by Jacob van Huysum and William Sartorius

Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions

Photographs of British algae: cyanotype impressions

Browse Collections