Henrietta Emma Litchfield (née Darwin; 25 September 1843 – 17 December 1927) was a daughter of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

and his wife

Emma Wedgwood Emma Darwin (; 2 May 1808 – 2 October 1896) was an English woman who was the cousin marriage, wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin. They were married on 29 January 1839 and were the parents of ten children, seven of whom survived to adulth ...

. Henrietta was born at

Down House Down House is the former home of the English Natural history, naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theory of evolution by natural selection, which he had conceived in London befor ...

Downe Downe, formerly Down (), is a village in Greater London, England, located within the London Borough of Bromley, which formed part of the historical county of Kent until 1965, and is beyond London's contiguous urban area. Charles Darwin lived ...

, Kent, in 1843. She was Darwin's third daughter and the eldest daughter to reach adulthood after the eldest, Annie, died aged 10, and a second daughter, Mary, died before she was a month old. She and her brother Frank helped their father with his work, and Henrietta helped edit ''

The Descent of Man ''The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex'' is a book by English natural history, naturalist Charles Darwin, first published in 1871, which applies evolutionary theory to human evolution, and details his theory of sexual selection, ...

''. On 31 August 1871, she married Richard Buckley Litchfield, who was born in Yarpole, near Leominster, in 1832; the couple had no children. She was widowed on 11 January 1903, when Richard died in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

; he was buried in the English Cemetery, Cannes. Henrietta edited Charles Darwin's biography of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin, '' The Life of Erasmus Darwin'', and '' The Autobiography of Charles Darwin'', removing several contentious passages. She also edited her mother's private papers ('' Emma Darwin: A Century of Family Letters'') (1904). She responded to the Lady Hope Story that her father had undergone a

deathbed conversion A deathbed conversion is the adoption of a particular religious faith shortly before dying. Making a Religious conversion, conversion on one's :wikt:deathbed, deathbed may reflect an immediate change of belief, a desire to formalize longer-ter ...

by writing an article in ''The Christian'' in 1922 saying it " adno foundation whatsoever". She died in Burrows Hill, Gomshall,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, aged 84. An obituary was in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. She is buried in St Mary the Virgin Churchyard,

, Kent.''The Times'', Saturday, 24 December 1927; p. 10; Issue 44773; col B, "Mrs. Litchfield. Darwin's Daughter And Helper". A correspondent. Obituaries.

References

* Period Piece: A Cambridge Childhood – an autobiographical work by Gwen Raverat. *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Litchfield, Henrietta 1843 births 1927 deaths Darwin–Wedgwood family People from Downe