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After Samuel Johnson, Darwin is the most significant of
Lichfieldians. Darwin settled in Lichfield in 1756, living in the large
house by the West Gate entrance to the Close in Beacon Street.
He established a reputation as a doctor, scientist, inventor and literary man and built up a national reputation for his humane and efficient treatment
of medical problems, particularly insanity.
His scientific and technological studies contributed much to the work of the Lunar Society. This group - which also included Josiah Wedgwood, James Watt and Matthew Boulton - was one of the intellectual forces behind the Industrial Revolution. It would occasionally meet in Lichfield. Like many members of the Society, Darwin had radical political and religious views and on his few meetings with Johnson these
may have been a cause for dispute. But, like Johnson, Darwin had a vast
range of interests. At his gardens at the Abnalls and by Stowe Pool he
did much botanical research and his opinions on evolution anticipated those of his grandson, Charles.
His literary career began after he and his second wife moved to Derbyshire
in 1781. His poetry was an influence on poets like Shelley and Coleridge and is well seen in his most famous books, 'The Botanic Garden' and 'Zoonomia' which date from the last decade of his life.
His house is now a working educational memorial to the great man.
To find out more about Erasmus Darwin and the Darwin House project visit the Erasmus Darwin House Foundation site at www.erasmusdarwin.org
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