Wednesday 9 July 2014

Honouring the woman

Emma Darwin Hall

Emma Darwin was the wife of Charles Darwin, not to mention his cousin (that sort of stuff was okay in the nineteenth century...).   Emma was a Staffordshire girl, and lived at Maer Hall in west Staffordshire, where Charles was a frequent visitor. The pair married in Maer Church.

Emma is fascinating for lots of reasons.  She brought to the marriage all the intelligence and creativity of the Wedgwood family (she was the grand-daughter of Josiah I), so she was no slouch in understanding and commenting on Charles' work.

So I think it's terrific that Shrewsbury School has named one of their halls after her, despite her not being known for her own work. 
(Why Shrewsbury?  Because Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, she is honoured in Shrewsbury by association, so to speak).

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