Display at Pershore to Celebrate Darwin Bicentenary

In recognition of the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth a display has been set-up at Pershore LRC to celebrate his life and achievements.  It focuses on two main areas: his voyage on HMS Beagle (1831 – 36) as a ‘gentleman naturalist’ and his life at Down House, Kent (1842- 82).  The significance of Darwin’s experience on the Beagle in developing his ideas of evolution by natural selection is well documented.  It was not until over two decades after the Beagle voyage, however, that the first edition of On the Origins of Species was published in 1859. What is less well known is the experimental work he conducted in the gardens and grounds at Down House.  This included trials on hybridising primroses and the pollination of orcids as well as observations on the variation in commonplace nature such as hedge parsley.  Whilst at Down House Darwin carried out an extensive corrospondence with many of the leading natural scientists of his time and such luminaries as Joseph Hooker (Director at Kew) and the geologist Charles Lyell, were frequent visitors.  Recent biographies, like Michael Boulter’s Darwin’s Garden (2008), have stressed the importance of Darwin’s work at Down to the development of mature scientific thinking.

     Darwin (paper in hand), Hooker and Lyell in the study at Down House

 

                                Conrad Martens’ painting of HMS Beagle

Posted by Peter