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Darwin, Lady Emma Cecilia 'Ida', 1854-1946 (née Farrer)

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1854 - 1946

Biography

Lady Emma Cecilia 'Ida' Darwin (1854-1946) was the daughter of the civil servant Thomas Henry Farrer (1819-1899), 1st Baron Farrer and his first wife, Frances Erskine (1825–1870), whose father was the historian and orientalist William Erskine (1773–1852). The Farrer family lived at Bryanston Square in London and Abinger Hall in Surrey, where Ida and her father shared a love of botany. Thomas Farrer, the Board of Trade's first Permanent Secretary, was a keen amateur orchid breeder and in the early 1860s he corresponded with Charles Darwin and the two men became friends. In 1880 Ida married Sir Horace Darwin (1851-1928), civil engineer, fifth son of Charles Darwin. They had three children: Erasmus (1881-1915) who died at Ypres during the First World War, Ruth Frances [Rees-Thomas] (1883-1973), and Emma Nora [Barlow] (1885-1989).
Ida and Horace Darwin lived at ‘The Orchard’, a large house on Huntingdon Road in Cambridge. Ida joined the Ladies Dining Society, a private women’s discussion club, which championed women’s education and had a life-long association with the provision of mental health services and social work in Cambridgeshire.
Ida died on 5 July 1946. In 1962 her daughters Ruth Rees-Thomas and Nora Barlow donated their family home 'The Orchard' along with Ida’s celebrated garden, to help found Cambridge’s third women’s college, now known as Murray Edwards College.

Found in 11 Collections and/or Records:

 Fonds

Family papers and photographs of Horace and Ida Darwin

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.10403
Content Description Photograph albums and loose photographs of family and friends of Horace and Ida Darwin. An album of silhouettes of family and friends of Horace and Ida Darwin. A 'commonplace book' presented to Ida Farrer on her 19th birthday. A notebook listing wedding gifts presented to Horace and Ida Darwin. Notebook of recipes and loose recipes. Notes on the life of Erasmus Darwin (1881-1915). Handful of loose British and foreign stamps. Handful of printed cards with reproductions of paintings...
Dates: 1873 - 1945
Found in: Cambridge University Library
 Fonds

Ida Darwin: Correspondence and Papers I

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9368
Scope and Contents Comprises correspondence with family and friends, particularly Horace Darwin, her husband, Erasmus Darwin, Ruth Rees-Thomas and Nora Barlow, her children, Thomas Farrer, her father, and other extended members of the Farrer, Barlow and Darwin families. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically and chronologically; a small proportion of the letters have been calendared to provide a summary of their contents, but the vast majority of the correspondence is simply listed by date with no...
Dates: 1860-1960 (Circa)
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Found in: Cambridge University Library
 Fonds

Ida Darwin: Correspondence and Papers II

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.10286
Scope and Contents

Contains letters and papers held by Ida Darwin. The bulk of the collection are letters sent to Ida Darwin but also includes a small quantity sent to her husband Horace Darwin, a small collection of papers relating to the purchase of opals by her son Erasmus Darwin, a collection of envelopes addressed to and letters sent to Gwen Raverat, photographs of Ida's family, and a few items of ephemera.

Dates: 1862-1946
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Found in: Cambridge University Library
 Fonds

Lady Emma Cecilia Darwin: Letter to B.E. Hammond, 1890

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.4251/338
Scope and Contents From the Fonds:

Artificial collection of single item or small collection accessions. Mainly correspondence but includes other papers.

Dates: 1890
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Found in: Cambridge University Library / Miscellaneous Accessions
 File

Letters: 1903-1904, Jul 1903-1904

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9790/1/1
Scope and Contents

Contains nine letters addressed to Nora Darwin when she was a pupil at Levana, a small private school at Wimbledon Park run by Miss Alice Young, the headmistress and her two unmarried sisters. Nora's cousin, Gwendoline Mary Raverat (1885-1957) née Darwin, was a former pupil at the school. Includes a single letter from Ida Darwin to Nora dated 24 July 1903.

Dates: Jul 1903-1904
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Found in: Cambridge University Library / Ruth Darwin: correspondence and papers / Letters to (Emma) Nora Darwin
 File

Letters: 1911-1915, Apr 1911-Jul 1915

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9790/1/2
Scope and Contents Contains 13 letters addressed to Nora Barlow née Darwin beginning with letters from Ruth reflecting on Nora's wedding to Alan Barlow on 6 April 1911 and Gwen Darwin's plans for her marriage to Jacques Raverat. The letters also refer to an Italian walking holiday undertaken by Ruth in September 1912, the preparation of Erasmus's house in Saltburn, North Yorkshire to receive wounded soldiers in September 1914 and descriptions of how Ida Darwin was dealing with the death of Erasmus in April...
Dates: Apr 1911-Jul 1915
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Found in: Cambridge University Library / Ruth Darwin: correspondence and papers / Letters to (Emma) Nora Darwin
 File

Letters: 1916, Sep.-Nov. 1916

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9790/1/3
Scope and Contents

Contains 11 letters addressed to Nora Barlow née Darwin. The majority of the letters were written in September in the days following the birth of Nora's fourth child, Andrew Dalmahoy Barlow, born 16 September 1916 and include two letters from Ida Darwin and a letter from Gwen and Jacques Raverat. The letters from Ruth Darwin include descriptions of a visit to Somerset and Wales undertaken in late September with her parents.

Dates: Sep.-Nov. 1916
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Found in: Cambridge University Library / Ruth Darwin: correspondence and papers / Letters to (Emma) Nora Darwin
 File

Letters: 1917-1918, Apr. 1917-Nov. 1918

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9790/1/4
Scope and Contents Contains 11 letters addressed to Nora Barlow née Darwin. All but one of the letters were written in France where Ruth Darwin was working as a volunteer at an 'English Canteen', first at the Foyer de Avenay from July 1917 and later at a foyer established in Sainte-Menehould from October 1918. In addition to enquiries of family news, the letters include Ruth's opinions of fellow volunteers, accounts of soldiers' attitudes to the war and some description of her activities.Also includes a...
Dates: Apr. 1917-Nov. 1918
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Found in: Cambridge University Library / Ruth Darwin: correspondence and papers / Letters to (Emma) Nora Darwin
 File

Letters: 1930-1944, 1930-1944

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9790/1/7
Scope and Contents Contains 20 letters addressed to Nora Barlow née Darwin. All but two of the letters were written in the 1930s.Most of the letters are taken up with commentary on family news and include references to the ailing health of her maternal step-grandmother, Katherine Euphenia Farrer née Wedgewood (d.1931), the funeral of her uncle Leonard Darwin (1850-1943)*, and the marriage of her niece, Hilda Horatio Barlow to John Padel on 27 December 1944. The letters also include descriptions of...
Dates: 1930-1944
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Found in: Cambridge University Library / Ruth Darwin: correspondence and papers / Letters to (Emma) Nora Darwin
 File

Letters from Vernet-les-Bains, Mar.-Apr. 1914

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.9790/3
Scope and Contents On [21] March 1914 Ruth Darwin travelled with her father, Horace, and a friend, Katherine Hare, to Vernet-les-Bains. They were later joined by Ida Darwin on 1 April. Ruth and Katherine explored the area through a series of lengthy walks which often lasted 3-4 days, returning to England on 25 April. Vernet-les-Bains has a hot water spring and Horace 'took the waters' for an unspecified ailment during his stay, returning to England with Ida on 29 April.Contains 29 letters and picture...
Dates: Mar.-Apr. 1914
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Found in: Cambridge University Library / Ruth Darwin: correspondence and papers
 File

Nora Barlow Letters: 1914, 1914

 File
Reference Code: GBR/0012/MS Add.10286/1/8/15
Scope and Contents Contains 56 letters from Nora to Ida Darwin sent between 4 January and 22 December 1914. Amongst news of family and social engagements, the letters make reference to a visit to the Lake District in April and an account of preparations undertaken by the British government in the days leading up to and immediately following the declaration of war in August and of the general atmosphere.Includes a single letter from Ida to Nora dated 10 February in which Ida sets out her thoughts on...
Dates: 1914
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Found in: Cambridge University Library / Ida Darwin: Correspondence and Papers II / Correspondence: Ida and Horace Darwin / BARLOW, Emma Nora

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