Erasmus Darwin in Lichfield, Staffordshire

'THE RESIDENCE OF
ERASMUS DARWIN M.D. F.R.S.
BORN 1731.     (FROM 1756 TO 1781.)      DIED 1802.
AUTHOR OF "THE BOTANIC GARDEN" & C.'

Darwin was the grandfather of Charles Darwin and a physician, scientist, inventor, poet and botanist. The above date of Darwin's arrival at the house in Lichfield, Staffordshire, is slightly incorrect: he in fact moved here in 1758, less than a year after marrying Polly Howard, by whom he had three sons. Polly died in 1770.

A model of Darwin looks out onto Beacon Street.

After the death of his wife, Darwin had two daughters by Mary Parker, a young woman employed to help with the children.

The third edition of The Botanic Garden, dated 1791.

Interpretation panels mention the influence of Darwin's writings on other writers. One states that he influenced 'nearly all' the early Romantic poets, and draws attention to Darwin's The Loves of the Plants influencing Blake's The Book of Thel. Also mentioned is Darwin's influence on the young (although not the older) Wordsworth and Coleridge in, for example, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798), and also the later published 'Kubla Khan' (1816). Also briefly mentioned are Keats and Shelley, with a note giving what is almost certainly the writer's only source of reference: Desmond King-Hele's Erasmus Darwin and the Romantic Poets (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1986).

The Temple of Nature; or, the Origin of Society: A Poem, with Philosophical Notes (London: J. Johnson, 1803): a posthumous publication. There have been many editions of this book, some of them published relatively recently.

An example of Darwin the inventor: a sketch of his effective speaking machine, built in 1771.

A reconstruction of Darwin's study, with Joseph Wright's portrait of him above the mantelpiece and, by the model's head: 

Darwin's friend Anna Seward, painted by T. Kettle in 1762. I briefly mentioned her earlier when I showed photos of her memorial in Lichfield Cathedral. The link is at the bottom of this post.

Also in Erasmus Darwin House is the portrait of the Reverend Chancellor Thomas James Law, described by an unnamed source as a 'one man civic society'. Law gave the town the statue of Samuel Johnson in the Market Square in Lichfield (also shown, in several images, in a link below), the country's second free library (in Beacon Street), and the fountain in the museum gardens.

Law was buried in St Michael's churchyard in Lichfield. There is a local tale that the tomb (built for his wife) is elaborate because it is in defiance of the council, which wouldn't allow him to erect a Gothic canopy over Johnson's statue like the statue of Sir Walter Scott in Edinburgh.

'The home of

Erasmus

Darwin

from 1758

until 1781'

In 1775 Darwin met Elizabeth Pole, a married woman from Radbourne Hall in Derbyshire whom he married in 1781, the year after her husband's death. Erasmus moved with his wife to Radbourne Hall, and then to Full Street, Derby, in 1783; in 1802 he died, just a few weeks after moving to Breadsall Priory and just four months before the death of his much younger wife (by whom he had seven more children).

A back view of the house.

Only a few yards from Darwin's house, and still on Beacon Street:

'ON THIS SITE STOOD

THE HOME OF DAVID GARRICK,

BORN 1716. [Actually 1717.]      DIED 1779.

     PULLED DOWN IN 1856.

 ––––––––––––

EDUCATED AT LICHFIELD GRAMMAR SCHOOL.

   BURIED AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY.'

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Noel Jackson: 'Rhyme and Reason: Erasmus Darwin's Romanticism'

Anna Seward (1747-1809), Lichfield, Staffordshire

Dr Samuel Johnson and Lichfield, Staffordshire

The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum, Lichfield, Staffordshire, and a Letter Opener

After reading my blog post on Dr Samuel Johnson, Deanna from Australia sends me these two fascinating images of a brass letter opener (or letter knife) that she has, the head of which is a representation of Dr Johnson's birthplace - now a museum remembering his life and work - in Lichfield, south-east Staffordshire, England.

Deanna has tried the obvious places for information regarding the date it was made, etc, but no one seems to know anything about it. She writes that 'the inscriptions "DR JOHNSON'S HOUSE LICHFIELD" [are] on the front, and on the back, "R[egistered] D[esign] APPLIED FOR 15757."'

Can anyone help?

The Hospital of St John the Baptist without the Barrs, Lichfield, Staffordshire

There may be no literary significance to these almshouses, the history of which dates back to the medieval era, but, it spite of their impressive eight chimneys, they are surprisingly unknown even to people who live in the area.

The oldest, and most interesting part, of the building is the chapel.

The remarkable east window is recent, and is by John Piper, who designed 'The Christ in Glory' in 1984.

Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84) and Lichfield, Staffordshire

Dr Samuel Johnson sits in pensive pose in the Market Place in the center of Lichfield, Staffordshire, where he was born.

On the pedestal to the east side, an inscription reads: 'This statue was presented to the citizens of Lichfield by James Thos. Law Chancellor of the diocese August 1838.' It was sculpted by Richard Cockle Lucas.

Three panels, influenced by Donatello Schiacciato's relief, represent a part of Johnson's life. In 'Listening to Dr. Sacherevel preaching', on the south side, Johnson is shown as a young boy.

'Thus he was borne from school', on the west side. An example of the deference shown by his schoolfriends.

The inscription 'His penance in Uttoxeter market', on the north side, relates to an incident that happened many years before the scene depicted. Johnson had refused to help his father in his bookstall in Uttoxter market, and decided to pay penance for it 50 years later by standing in the square in Uttoxeter all day in the rain.

An old watercolor of the Johnson birthplace.

And several photos of the exterior of the birthplace as it is now.


Michael Johnson, Samuel's father, ran a rather unsuccessful bookselling business on the ground floor of Samuel's birthplace, of which this is a reconstruction.

Lichfield Grammar School, by Paul Braddon, c 1890, which Johnson attended, but of which he retained bad memories.

Johnson married Elizabeth 'Tetty' Porter in 1735, a woman twenty years his senior, and much loved by him.

Johnson had attended Pembroke College, Oxford, for only a brief time due to very poor financial circumstances, and it was difficult for him to find a teaching post without a degree. He and his wife established the private Edial School near Lichfield, which was not a success and had only three pupils, one of whom was David Garrick, with whom he left Lichfield for London in 1737. Tetty followed later.

Johnson published An Account of the Life of Richard Savage in 1744. He had met Savage, who claimed to be the bastard son of Lady Macclesfield, when they had both worked on the Gentleman's Magazine. They used to walk around London together talking about politics, and Johnson only knew him for a year as he had to escape debtors and fled to Wales. He died in Bristol Gaol.

Johnson's famous A Dictionary of the English Language was not the first, but certainly the first of its kind in that Johnson - who spent almost ten years on the task - painstakingly gave examples of the words from works of literature.

Irene: A Tragedy was written at Edial in 1736 and was Johnson's only play, and not performed until 1747, when his friend David Garrick became co-manager of the Drury Lane Theatre. It was published in 1749 and is the story of an enslaved Greek woman who was executed by the Sultan.

'Samuel Johnson Reading the Manuscript of Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield'. Goldsmith met Johnson in 1761, and his success in getting the book published freed Goldsmith from debt. The painting is by Edward Ward and shows Johnson at Goldsmith's house, where he has been urgently called to read the manuscript. With him is Goldsmith's landlady, who had summoned the bailiffs because of her tenant's large debt.

17 Gough Street, London, where Johnson lived from 1748-59. Hetty was not to see the publicaton of the Dictionary, as she died in 1952.

8 Bolt Court, London, where Johnson lived from 1776 until his death in 1784.

Bust of Johnson made in 1777 by Joseph Nollekins.

James Boswell (1740-95) published The Life of Samuel Johnson LlD in 1791. The biography was innovative in that it included complete quotations.The Boswell statue stands on the opposite (east) side of the Market Square, and is by Percy Fitzgerald, Boswell's biographer and also the editor of Boswell's Johnson. Boswell's face is from a Sir Joshua Reyolds portrait, the rest from a sketch by his friend Langton.

Five other friends of Boswell's are represented in medallions on the top of the pedestal: Edmund Burke, David Garrick, Oliver Goldsmith, Hester Thrale, and Sir Joshua Reynolds. Three of these appear on the north side of the pedestal: Goldsmith, Garrick, and Burke.

A close-up of the Sir Joshua Reynolds medallion on the east side.

A close-up of the Mrs Hester Thrale medallion on the west side.

Below the medallions are three scenes from episodes in Boswell and Johnson's companionship, the first here on the south side being from their visit to the Hebrides.

This scene shows Boswell introducing Johnson to the Literary Club of London, England.

And the final scene on the west side takes place at The Three Crowns, Lichfield, with the pair perhaps a little worse for wear.

At the bottom of the pedestal on the east side is Boswell's coat of arms - a hawk, with the motto 'Vraie Foy', or 'True Faith'.

Below is are links to two posts I've made on Johnson.

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Dr Johnson's House: London #22
Dr Johnson, The Strand: London #31