Sir Norman Moore was Charles Darwin’s doctor and friend for many years. Charlotte Moore, his great-granddaughter, reveals the intimate recollections in his private correspondence
I live in the house my family have occupied since 1888. My great-grandfather, a tremendous letter-writer and note-taker, never threw anything away. Sorting through barrowloads of his correspondence, I built up an intimate picture of Darwin family life, as well as finding many accounts of the great man’s experiments and conversation.
My great-grandfather’s was a remarkable Victorian success story. Aged 14, he was sweeping floors at a cotton warehouse in Manchester, but a combination of natural ability, night school and sympathetic mentors eventually took him to Cambridge, then to a career at St Bartholomew’s Hospital; he was made a baronet, and was president of the Royal College of Physicians. He also had a great gift for friendship.
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