The late Desmond King-Hele’s final biography of Erasmus Darwin bequeathed an intriguing puzzle. In 1864 Charles Darwin wrote to his friend Joseph Hooker that he suspected the widow of their former colleague Dr Francis Boott (Vice-President of the Linnean Society) was an illegitimate granddaughter of Erasmus’. Hooker confirmed he had heard there had been a close association and helped to fuel the suspicion by describing the old lady’s features in quasi-Darwinian terms. Desmond was intrigued but judiciously unconvinced, bequeathing the question to his readers. Others, less cautious, have claimed that Francis Boott’s mother-in-law, Lucy Hardcastle (née Swift), was indeed an illegitimate daughter of Erasmus Darwin, conceived after his supposed seduction of the young wife of William Swift, a weaver in the mid-Derbyshire town of Shirland.

Recent research undertaken by Jonathan and Anne Powers has demonstrated this is completely wrong, but the story about the genuine Lucy Hardcastle which emerges is interesting in its own right.

Join us for this fascinating lecture to learn about Lucy Hardcastle and her links with Erasmus.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS LECTURE WILL BE DELIVERED ON ZOOM ONLY.

book tickets here

The book:

Jonathan Powers with Anne M. Powers, The rediscovery of Lucy Hardcastle, Botanist and Breadwinner, Quandary Books (2022).

is available at Erasmus Darwin House or Derby Museum.