Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin born in Shrewsbury

Without question Shrewsbury's most famous son and official 'Great Briton'.

Charles Darwin was the English naturalist who first established the theory of evolution in his work 'Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection'.

Charles Darwin was born in The Mount in the Frankwell area of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England on February 12th 1809 and was the grandson of Erasmus Darwin (the English scientist and poet - considered one of the foremost physicians of his day). His mother was a daughter of the famous English pottery manufacturer, Josiah Wedgwood, who died in 1817.

Darwin spent the early years of his life in Shrewsbury and he was educated at Shrewsbury School under his tutor Samuel Butler. Today the original Shrewsbury School houses the town library, outside of which is a statue of Charles Darwin who looks down benignly over his town as it develops and adapts. After all, these changes are merely further examples of evolution at work.

In 1825 he went on to Edinburgh University to prepare himself to enter the medical profession. However, he decided he was unfit to follow a medical career, in 1828 he went to Christ's College, Cambridge with the idea he would become a clergyman.

From the December of 1831 at the age of 22, to the October of 1836 Darwin made his famous journey in H.M.S. Beagle as the naturalist for the surveying expedition which visited Cape Verde and other Atlantic islands, the South American coasts and the Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia, Tasmania, Keeling Island, the Maldives, Mauritius, St Helena, Ascension and Brazil.

The voyage acted as the preparation for his life's work, his observations between the relationships of geographically separated animals (animals on the islands and contiguous mainland) and time-separated animals (those living and extinct animals).

Charles Darwin's journal for 1837 contains the following words explaining his feelings following this idea:

"In July opened first notebook on Transmutation of Species. Had been greatly struck from about the month of previous March on character of South American fossils, and species on Galapagos Archipelago. These facts (especially latter) origin of all my views."

Darwin's theory changed the way we look at the world and evolution, he was one of the foremost thinkers of his generation and the legacy of his work has withstood over a century of debate and criticism, this is why Shrewsbury celebrates Darwin as its most famous son in its annual Darwin Festival.

Charles Darwin's Quantum Leap Shrewsbury

Quantum Leap was unveiled in Mardol Quay Gardens, Shrewsbury to mark Darwin's bicentenary in 2009. The sculpture represents Darwin's ground breaking scientific ideas and his impact on the scientific world.

Visit www.discoverdarwin.co.uk to discover more about Charles Darwin.