Charles Darwin moved to Down House in 1842 to focus on his scientific work. The home provided a quiet countryside setting where Darwin could study nature and develop his theory of evolution without distractions. Over the decades, Darwin made additions to Down House as his family grew. He maintained a daily routine that balanced work, exercise, and rest in order to manage his poor health. Down House influenced Darwin's science by providing the peaceful environment and flexibility needed for his groundbreaking research.

1. Down House:
The Evolution of Darwin’s Home
Aldemaro Romero Jr., Ph.D.

2. The Man and his Home
• What can we learn about science by
studying a scientist’s habits?
• How did Down
House influence
Darwin’s science?

3. Methods
• Visits to Down House
• Study of archival material, including
Darwin’s correspondence kept at
Cambridge University, now available
on-line
• 1. Biographical background
• 2. Down House
• 3. Conclusions

4. 1. Biographical background
Darwin, 31 years of age, portrait by George Richmond, 1840

5. Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
• Born in Shrewsbury,
12 February 1809
• His father was a physician,
wealthy
• Family: high intellectuality,
professional ability,
industriousness
• Strong anti-slavery
sentiments
• Mother died when he was
eight years old

6. The Voyage of The Beagle
(1831-1836)

9. • Typically cautious, he delayed publication of his
theory
• For the next two decades, he worked on his
theory and other natural history projects
• 1839: married his first cousin,
Emma Wedgwood (1808-96)
• 1842: moved to Down House
• They had ten children,
three of whom died in infancy
• Family wealthy, never had to work for a living

10. Darwin’s Health Condition
• Malaise
• Vertigo
• Dizziness
• Muscle spasms
• Tremors
• Vomiting
• Cramps
• Headaches
• Tachycardia
• Fainting
• Dyspnea
• Colic, bloating and
nocturnal intestinal gas
• Alterations of vision
• Severe tiredness/nervous
exhaustion
• Skin blisters over the
scalp and eczema
• Crying anxiety
• Sensation of impending
death and loss of
consciousness, insomnia,
depression

11. Major Health Events
• Symptoms began early as a college
student, before the voyage of The Beagle
• Constantly sick during the voyage
• Serious fever while in Argentina
• Fell from a horse
• "an attack of the Benchuca, a
species of Reduvius, the great
black bug of the Pampas."

12. Possible Causes
• Psychosomatic
• Panic disorder
• Chagas disease
• Ménière’ disease
• Lactose intolerance
• Lupus erythematosus
• Arsenic poisoning
• Allergies
• Hypochondria
• Asperger’s

13. • 1882: His family moved to Cambridge
• Emma spent summers at Down (d. 1896)
• After, the house was leased to several tenants

14. 2. Down House
Earliest depiction of Down House (1835) before the
Darwins moved in

15. The House
• Originally a farm (ca. 1650)
• 18 acres
• 20 mi. from London (2 hrs.)
• One weekly carrier
• Cheap (money lent by his father)
• “ugly,” “oldish,” nice countryside
• Emma did not like the countryside

16. "smoky dirty London"

20. 1. Front Drive
2. Lawn and Flowerbeds
3. Wall Garden and
Orchards
4. Kitchen garden and
greenhouses
5. Great House Meadow
6. Sandwalk Copse
7. Great Pucklands
Meadows
8. Service Yards and
Enclosures

22. THE EVOLUTION OF
DOWN HOUSE
Charles Darwin’s
Home

23. PLAN OF DOWN HOUSE
Before 1842
Pantry
Meat
Store
Scullery
Back Door
Till 1845
Site of Original
Farm House c. 1650
Kitchen
Back Door
After 1845
Window Bricked in
to Avoid Window
Tax (1695-1851)

24. PLAN OF DOWN HOUSE
1842, 2 children
Pantry
Meat
Store
Scullery
Back Door
Till 1845
Site of Original
Farm House c. 1650
Kitchen
Back Door
After 1845
Window Bricked in
to Avoid Window
Tax (1695-1851)
Dining Room
(Old Drawing
Room)
c. 1778
Old Dining
Room
Old
Study
Front Door
1778

25. PLAN OF DOWN HOUSE
1843, 3 children
Pantry
Meat
Store
Scullery
Back Door
Till 1845
Site of Original
Farm House c. 1650
Kitchen
Back Door
After 1845
Window Bricked in
to Avoid Window
Tax (1695-1851)
Dining Room
(Old Drawing
Room)
c. 1778
Old Dining
Room
Old
Study
Front Door
1778
1843
Bow Window

26. PLAN OF DOWN HOUSE
1858, 7 children
Pantry
Meat
Store
Scullery
Back Door
Till 1845
Site of Original
Farm House c. 1650
Kitchen
Back Door
After 1845
Window Bricked in
to Avoid Window
Tax (1695-1851)
Dining Room
(Old Drawing
Room)
c. 1778
Old Dining
Room
Old
Study
Front Door
1778
1843
Bow Window
New Drawing Room
1858
Front Door 1858

27. PLAN OF DOWN HOUSE
1872
Pantry
Meat
Store
Scullery
Back Door
Till 1845
Site of Original
Farm House c. 1650
Kitchen
Back Door
After 1845
Window Bricked in
to Avoid Window
Tax (1695-1851)
Dining Room
(Old Drawing
Room)
c. 1778
Old Dining
Room
Old
Study
Front Door
1778
1843
Bow Window
New Drawing Room
1858
Front Door 1858
Verandah 1872

28. PLAN OF DOWN HOUSE
1877
Pantry
Meat
Store
Scullery
Back Door
Till 1845
Site of Original
Farm House c. 1650
Kitchen
Back Door
After 1845
Window Bricked in
to Avoid Window
Tax (1695-1851)
Dining Room
(Old Drawing
Room)
c. 1778
Old Dining
Room
Old
Study
Front Door
1778
1843
Bow Window
New Drawing Room
1858
Front Door 1858
Verandah 1872
New Study
1877
Front Door & Porch
1877
Hall

29. 6 maids, 1 footman, 1 coachman,
1 gardener

30. • 1927: Sir Arthur Keith,
Conservator of the
Hunterian Museum at
The Royal College of
Surgeons of England,
made a plea during
the meeting of the
British Association for
the Advancement of
Science
• Most of the furniture
was donated by the
Darwin family

31. • With a donation from a surgeon
named George Buckston Browne,
it opened to the public on 7 June
1929
• After 1945, it fell under the
responsibility of the Royal College
of surgeons for 40 years
• Maintenance was expensive, and
the property was transferred to the
Natural History Museum

32. 1927: Public opening

33. • 1996: With money from The Heritage
Lottery Fund, it was purchased by the
English Heritage and underwent a 5-year
restoration project
• Darwin made many changes and
renovations to his house, and today, the
exterior of the house resembles the way it
was when Darwin died
• Not so much the interiors

40. The Drawing Room

41. Emma’s Piano

42. The Inner Hallway

45. The Old Studio

47. The New Studio

48. The Library
• About 1,500 volumes
• Most of it donated by son
Francis
• Numerous annotations
• They have been scanned by
Cambridge University.
Available online

54. Flowerbeds seen from the
Drawing Room

58. The Dining Room

59. The Greenhouse

63. Darwin’s Daily Routine
• 7 a.m. Rose and took a short walk
• 7:45 a.m. Breakfast alone
• 8–9:30 a.m. Worked in his study: “my best working time”
• 9:30–10:30 a.m. Went to the drawing-room and read his
letters, followed by reading aloud family letters
• 10:30 a.m.–12 or 12:15 p.m. Returned to study. End of
his working day
• Noon Walk, starting with a visit to the greenhouse, then
round the sand walk, the number of times depending on
his health, usually alone or with a dog
• 12:45 p.m. Lunch with the whole family, which was his
main meal of the day. After lunch read The Times and
answered his letters

64. • 3 p.m. Rested in his bedroom on the sofa, smoked a
cigarette, listened to a novel or other literature read by Emma
• 4 p.m. Walked, usually round sand walk, sometimes farther
afield and sometimes in company
• 4:30–5:30 p.m. In the study, clearing up matters of the day
• 6 p.m. Rested in the bedroom with Emma reading aloud
• 7.30 p.m. Light high tea while the family dined. In late years
never stayed in the dining room with the men but retired to
the drawing-room with the ladies. If no guests were present,
he played two games of backgammon with Emma, usually
followed by reading to himself, then Emma played the piano,
followed by reading aloud
• 10 p.m. Left the drawing-room, in bed by 10:30, slept badly
• Even when guests present, half an hour of conversation at a
time was all he could stand. It exhausted him

65. “My life goes like
clockwork, and I am fixed
on the spot where I shall
end it”

66. “My Thinking Path”

67. • “My chief enjoyment and sole
employment throughout life has
been scientific work; and the
excitement from such work makes
me for the time forget, or drives
quite away, my daily discomfort. I
have therefore nothing to record
during the rest of my life, except
the publication of my several
books”

69. 3. Conclusions
• He was physically a reclusive but was
good at personal marketing
• Residing in the countryside without having
to earn a living allowed him to be
productive
• It helped him to concentrate; essential for
an invalid like him
• Work was a way to fight his illness
• If he were alive today, he would be an
email junkie

70. http://www.aromerojr.net/Publications/675.Darwin's%20bubble.pdf

71. Contact Information
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