Past Events › Erasmus Darwin House Events
June 2023
Lunar Lecture – ‘A short, fat little democrat’ and a pioneering doctor, scientist and poet: Thomas Beddoes and the legacy of the Lunar Society by Professor Tim Fulford
Thomas Beddoes was Erasmus Darwin's self-appointed protege: he, like Darwin welcomed revolutions ” whether the French Revolution in politics, the revolution in geology that showed the earth was millions of years old, or the revolution in chemistry that discovered oxygen. In the 1790s, he set up the world's first scientific research institute ” the Pneumatic Institution -- in Bristol. Funded by Darwin and his Lunar Society friends the Wedgwoods, the Watts and James Keir, it aimed to create a revolutionary…
Find out more »July 2023
Dorian Grey by Don’t Go into the Cellar Theatre Company – Now Sold Out
Oscar Wilde's only novel is adapted for the stage in this atmospheric one-man show. What awful secret is stored inside the attic? Only the eternally youthful and charming Dorian Gray knows. But as his appetite for sin leads to ever greater acts of wickedness, Gray will stop at nothing to make sure no one discovers the dreadful truth! Award-winning actor Jonathan Goodwin plays Oscar Wilde in a play scripted by himself and co-directed by Gary Archer. Book tickets here
Find out more »Lichfield in the English Civil War – A City Divided SOLD OUT
From the winter of 1642, to the summer of 1646, the city of Lichfield was torn apart during the English Civil War. Lichfield historian, and tour guide, Jono Oates, tells the story of the three sieges of Lichfield Cathedral, the dramatic death of Lord Greville Brooke, and the destruction of the main spire of Lichfield Cathedral by the cannon balls of Royalist commander Prince Rupert. The illustrated talk at Erasmus Darwin House describes how Lichfield became a city divided, with…
Find out more »September 2023
Heritage Open Days
To celebrate Heritage Open Days the museum will be free to enter on Sunday 17 September.
Find out more »Lunar Lecture – “I congratulate you on your being on the road to happiness”
"I congratulate you on your being on the road to happiness" Darwin writing to Beddoes in 1794 A talk on Darwin and his connections with friends of the Beddoes and Edgeworth families and Lunar Society members. For the last 40 years John Beddoes has been collecting information for a biography on Anna Beddoes (née Edgeworth), the wife of Dr Thomas Beddoes, who was a close friend and confidant of Dr Erasmus Darwin. The talk will include a review of over twenty personal letters between the two Doctors and will take a close look at Darwin's…
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