Wedgwood, Emma

(ENGLAND)
BORN 2 May 1808, Maer, Staffordshire: Maer Hall - DIED 2 Oct 1896, Bromley, Kent
GRAVE LOCATION Downe, Kent: St Mary the Virgin (Churchyard: east part near the fence bordering High Elms Road)

Daughter and youngest of the seven children of of Josiah Wedgwood II. She was a fine pianist and Ignaz Moscheles gave her lessons. Possibly Chopin also gave her a lesson or two. Once she played for Mrs Fitzherbert, George IV's mistress. In 1825 her father took his daughters on a grand tour of Europe.

She turned down several offers of marriage before she accepted her cousin Charles Darwin's proposal in 1838. They were married in 1839 and soon moved to Down House in the village of Down, now known as Downe. They had ten children. Seven of them survived and they raised them in a non-authoritarian manner.

Charles Darwin was often ill and after he died in 1882 she lived in Down during the summers and in a house in Cambridge during the winters. After her death in 1896 she was buried in Down.

Images

The grave of Emma Darwin at the Churchyard of St. Mary the Virgin, Downe, Kent.
Picture by Androom (16 Aug 2016)

 

The grave of Emma Darwin at the Churchyard of St. Mary the Virgin, Downe, Kent.
Picture by Androom (16 Aug 2016)

 

Sources
Emma Darwin - Wikipedia


Wegener, Paul

Published: 26 Mar 2017
Last update: 20 Apr 2022