Mary (Howard) Darwin (1740 - 1770)

Born 12 Feb 1740 in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Erasmus Darwin — married 30 Dec 1757 (to 30 Jun 1770) in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England

Descendants

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Biography

Mary 'Polly' Howard was the daughter of Charles Howard, a school friend of Dr Samuel Johnson, and Proctor of the Ecclesiastical Court of Lichfield, and Penelope Foley. They lived on the Cathedral Close in Lichfield, opposite Erasmus Darwin. Darwin was attracted to the then 17 year old Polly and sent her amorous verses. By late 1757 they were engaged and were married in St Mary's Church, Lichfield at 8 a.m. on 30 December 1757, and moved into a house at the west end of the Cathedral Close (now The Erasmus Darwin Centre), where she planted wild primroses. Their first son Charles was born on 3 September 1758, followed by Erasmus in 1759.

By 1762 Polly was in poor health and her husband was prescribing opium for her. Her friend the poet Anna Seward was worried how Polly was so exhausted by childbearing. Polly gave birth to a daughter Elizabeth, who died aged 4 months in 1764, followed by a son Robert, in 1776. Polly was increasingly ill, suffering spasms of pain, probably from a biliary tract infection or gallstones. In July 1767 she gave birth to a fifth baby, William Alvey, who died at three weeks, and was buried in Lichfield Cathedral. Polly maintained a copious and humorous correspondence with her husband, friends and her children which give an intimate view of their daily life. The letters are kept in the Darwin Papers, University Library, Cambridge. By February 1769 her illness had become increasingly worse with violent pains in her head and near her liver, followed by convulsions. Darwin prescribed larger and larger doses of opium, which did not help, and Polly began supplementing it with wine, to even worse effect. She was confined to bed and was frightened, saying to Anna Seward that it was 'hard so early in life to leave her children and her husband she loved so much -pray take care of yourself and them'. Polly died on 30 June 1770 and her funeral was held two days later in the Lady Choir of Lichfield Cathedral.

Mary Howard was daughter of Charles Howard of Lichfield and his wife, Penelope Foley. ^[1]

She married Erasmus Darwin, medical doctor, poet and philosopher, son of Robert Darwin and his wife, Elizabeth Hill, on 30 December 1757. ^[2]

Mary died 30 June 1770. ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Burke's Family Record: Darwin Mary Howard married 30 December 1757 died 30 June 1770
2. ↑ Burke's Family Record: Darwin Mary Howard married 30 December 1757 died 30 June 1770
3. ↑ Burke's Family Record: Darwin Mary Howard married 30 December 1757 died 30 June 1770

Uglow, Jenny. The Lunar Men: the Friends who made the Future. London, Faber and Faber 2002. ISBN 0-571-19647-0. A history of the Lunar Society of Birmingham with biographies of the Darwin family. Above information taken from pages 41-3,80, 128-9,173-9.

• Wikipedia biography of he husband, Erasmus Darwin

• Study of the health of Charles Darwin [1]