Misplaced Pages

#79920

130-566: Gower Street is a two-way street in Bloomsbury , central London , running from Euston Road at the north to Montague Place in the south. The street continues as North Gower Street north of Euston Road, while to the south it becomes Bloomsbury Street. University College London (UCL) and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) are located along Gower Street as is part of University College Hospital . UCL maintains two student residences along

260-415: A Malthusian Nature selecting from variants thrown up by "chance" so that "every part of newly acquired structure is fully practical & perfected", thinking this "a beautiful part of my theory" of how species originated. His theory of how species originated had now come together in principle, but he was vividly aware of the difficulties he would face in getting it accepted by his friends and colleagues in

390-481: A Unitarian evolutionist who called for a new post-Christian synthesis and wrote that "the fretfulness of a child is an infinite evil". For three years Darwin had deliberated about the Christian meaning of mortality, opening a vision of tragically circumstantial nature. On 30 April he wrote a brief and intensely emotional memoir of Annie for himself and Emma. Darwin was on good terms with the local curate. He contributed to

520-812: A cafe and a restaurant. Since 1998, the British Library has been located in a purpose-built building just outside the northern edge of Bloomsbury, in Euston Road. Also in Bloomsbury is the Foundling Museum, close to Brunswick Square, which tells the story of the Foundling Hospital opened by Thomas Coram for unwanted children in Georgian London. The hospital, now demolished except for the Georgian colonnade ,

650-567: A close friend and ally of Thomas Huxley , an ambitious naturalist who had returned from a long survey trip but lacked the family wealth or contacts to find a career. Huxley had sent papers to Darwin which began a correspondence, and Darwin sent him a copy of the first volume of Barnacles when it was printed. Huxley called it an exemplary work, all the more remarkable for coming from a distinguished geologist rather than an anatomist. In recognition of his work on South American geology, invertebrate research and particularly his work on Barnacles, Darwin

780-735: A directly opposite conviction is that species are mutable & that allied species are co-descendants of common stocks. I know how much I open myself, to reproach, for such a conclusion, but I have at least honestly & deliberately come to it. I shall not publish on this subject for several years." In November he thanked Jenyns for sending a detailed note, and told him "With respect to my far-distant work on species, I must have expressed myself with singular inaccuracy, if I led you to suppose that I meant to say that my conclusions were inevitable. They have become so, after years of weighing puzzles, to myself alone;; but in my wildest day-dream, I never expect more than to be able to show that there are two sides to

910-671: A farmhouse and estate in Lincolnshire , where the Reverend Samuel Wilberforce advised local squires to take education in hand lest the countryfolk learn "a smattering of science" and forget their God-given duties. The publisher John Murray made an offer of payment for a revised second edition of Journal and Remarks , diverting Darwin's attention from South America . On 25 April Darwin began extensive revisions incorporating his latest information and interpretations, including several hints about his species speculation. He now saw

1040-470: A few forms, and that whilst this our planet has gone circling on according to fixed laws, and land and water, in a cycle of change, have gone on replacing each other, that from so simple an origin, through the process of gradual selection of infinitesimal changes, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been evolved. They returned on 18 July to a London seething with Chartist unrest, and Darwin copied and scribbled changes to his "Sketch" until it

1170-593: A gathering at Downe on 22 April 1856 to amiably argue Huxley and Hooker round towards accepting evolution as a process, without going into the mechanism. Darwin intended to write human beings into Natural Selection through mid-1857. But his work required a tremendous amount of evidence and facts. He left humans out in part because " mutiny in India " had stopped his correspondence with Edward Blyth in Calcutta. Had he included sexual selection , at that time it would have been only

1300-451: A gradual change of species. I shall be delighted to hear how you think that this change may have taken place, as no presently conceived opinions satisfy me on the subject." Darwin worked up his "Sketch" into a 189-page '"Essay"' and in July entrusted the manuscript to the local schoolmaster to copy. He then wrote a difficult letter to be opened by his wife in the event of his death requesting that

1430-654: A naturalist Darwin had known since his time at the University of Cambridge , had at Darwin's request contributed the volume on Fish in Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle , and was now working on a book of notes on observations of plants and animals. On 12 October Darwin wrote to tell him that "work on the species question has impressed me very forcibly with the importance of all such works, as your intended one, containing what people are pleased generally to call trifling facts. These are

SECTION 10

#1732858250080

1560-413: A new Metropolitan Borough of Holborn . The traditional boundaries of St Giles and Bloomsbury were used for wards in the new borough, though these were subject to minor rationalisations to reflect the modern street pattern rather than the historic basis of the older streets and pre-urban field boundaries. The combined civil parish continued to operate, in parallel, for a considerable time after. In 1965

1690-652: A number of other colleges and institutes of the University of London as well as its central headquarters, the New College of the Humanities , the University of Law , the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , the British Medical Association and many others. Bloomsbury is an intellectual and literary hub for London, as home of world-known Bloomsbury Publishing , publishers of the Harry Potter series, and namesake of

1820-405: A quiet location nearby, and he embarked on a course including drinking spa water and being scrubbed in cold water, walks for exercise, a strict diet and mesmerism and homoeopathic medicines. The family enjoyed the spring weather and liked Dr Gully, and it developed into a delightful holiday in the festive atmosphere around the spa . His stomach trouble was diagnosed as nervous in origin, and he

1950-462: A right to examine the question of species who has not minutely described many." However, even Richard Owen who was opposed to any mutability in species had told him it was "a very fair subject" with a mass of facts to be investigated, "& though I shall get more kicks than half-pennies, I will, life serving, attempt my work." Early in November Darwin, hinting that "geographical distrib: will be

2080-640: A rise in the demolition of historic fabric, and the construction of tall and harmful development. Between 2015 and 2020 the local authority recommended approval for a total of five major developments judged to be harmful by the BCAAC, with the Greater London Authority approving one. The BCAAC were only successful in defeating one of those developments. As a result, Victorian buildings and even some of Bloomsbury's famous Georgian terraces have been demolished in recent years. This has led to sharp criticism of

2210-544: A rough form of the phrasing and ideas which he went on to publish 17 years later in the closing paragraph of On the Origin of Species can be seen in his conclusion in this first draft: From death, famine, rapine, and the concealed war of nature we can see that the highest good, which we can conceive, the creation of the higher animals has directly come. Doubtless it at first transcends our humble powers, to conceive laws capable of creating individual organisms, each characterised by

2340-837: A school there. The building was later re-numbered 147 Gower Street; the site was occupied from 2005 by the Accident and Emergency department of University College Hospital . The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded in the Millais family house on Gower Street in the winter of 1848–49. Millicent Fawcett , a leading figure in the constitutional wing of the British women's suffrage movement, lived at No. 2 Gower Street (and died there in 1929). The Walloon ( Belgian ) poet Henri Michaux briefly resided in Gower Street in February 1931. From 1976 until 1995

2470-403: A sharp response about these "vicious circles". Darwin became a close friend of the botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker , and on 11 January 1844 wrote to with melodramatic humour that he was "almost convinced (quite contrary to opinion I started with) that species are not (it is like confessing a murder) immutable. Heaven forfend me from Lamarck nonsense of a "tendency to progression" “adaptations from

2600-666: A spirit lamp then take a cold plunge bath and get scrubbed by his butler. In September his duties as Vice-President of the British Association and interest in a paper on barnacles led him to attend their meeting at Birmingham , but he found it unpleasant and the excitement brought back the sickness. Even after a quick visit to Dr Gully and rest at home, he took weeks to recover. His investigation of barnacles now found how their segmentation related to other crustaceans, showing how they had diverged from their relatives. To Owen, such "homologies" in comparative anatomy showed "archetypes" in

2730-744: A survey voyage. Darwin overcame illness to attend the British Association for the Advancement of Science meeting at Oxford in May 1847, to discuss the "Sketch" with Hooker. Darwin attended the geological section which featured a talk by Robert Chambers on ancient beaches. An observer at the meeting reported that Chambers "pushed his conclusions to a most unwarrantable length and got roughly handled on account of it by Buckland, De la Beche, Sedgwick, Murchison, and Lyell. The last told me afterwards that he did so purposely that [Chambers] might see that reasonings in

SECTION 20

#1732858250080

2860-428: A tentative description of his ideas in a letter to Lyell , who was then touring America. Lyell, dismayed that his erstwhile ally had become a Transmutationist, noted that Darwin "denies seeing a beginning to each crop of species". Darwin's book The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs on his theory of atoll formation was published in May after more than three years of work, with Part 4: Fish of Zoology of

2990-424: A travelogue of tombs with the message that Christian beliefs in reward and punishment were founded in heathen superstitions. His illness had long baffled doctors. Reluctantly and sceptically he took friend's advice and the whole family and household set out on 8 March 1849 for Malvern so that he could try Dr James Gully 's Water Cure Establishment for a two-month cold water treatment . They rented "The Lodge" in

3120-527: A vibrant area to visit, and a profitable place in which to do business". Several London railway stations serve Bloomsbury. There are three London Underground stations in Bloomsbury: King's Cross St. Pancras station offers step-free access to all lines, whilst Euston Square offers step-free access to the westbound platform. Other stations nearby include: Euston , Warren Street , Goodge Street , Tottenham Court Road , Holborn and Chancery Lane . There

3250-744: Is a commemorative plaque in his honour. Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London , part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural , intellectual, and educational institutions . Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum , the largest museum in the United Kingdom, and several educational institutions, including University College London and

3380-781: Is a disused station in Bloomsbury on the Piccadilly line at the British Museum . There are also three National Rail stations to the north of Bloomsbury: Eurostar services to France , Brussels and the Netherlands begin in London at St Pancras. Several bus stops can be found in Bloomsbury. All buses passing through Bloomsbury call at bus stops on Russell Square , Gower Street or Tottenham Court Road . Several key London destinations can be reached from Bloomsbury directly, including: Camden Town , Greenwich , Hampstead Heath , Piccadilly Circus , Victoria , and Waterloo . Euston bus station

3510-700: Is also home to London Contemporary Dance School , Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , a branch of University of Law, Architectural Association School of Architecture , and the London campuses of several American colleges including Arcadia University , University of California , University of Delaware , Florida State University , Syracuse University , New York University , and Hult International Business School . The growing private tutoring sector in Bloomsbury includes various tutoring businesses such as Bloomsbury International (for English language), Bloomsbury Law Tutors (for law education), Skygate Tutors, and Topmark Tutors Centre. The British Museum , which first opened to

3640-626: Is home to the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (formerly the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases). Bloomsbury is also the location of University College Hospital , which re-opened in 2005 in new buildings on Euston Road, built under the government's private finance initiative (PFI). The Eastman Dental Hospital is located on Gray's Inn Road close to the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital administered by

3770-535: Is home to the federal University of London's central administrative centre and library, Senate House, as well as many of its independent members institutions including Birkbeck College, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, School of Oriental and African Studies, School of Advanced Study, Royal Veterinary College, and University College London (which has now absorbed the formerly separate School of Eastern European and Slavonic Studies, School of Pharmacy, and Institute of Education academic institutions). Bloomsbury

3900-425: Is instantly recognisable by the adjacent Speedy's cafe and sandwich shop which is also shown in most external shots in the series. The blue plaque for former resident Giuseppe Mazzini , clearly visible on Google Street View , is covered by a fake lamp for filming. From 1950 to 1984, physician and civil rights campaigner David Pitt, Baron Pitt of Hampstead , worked as a doctor at 200 North Gower Street, where there

4030-450: Is known for its numerous garden squares , including Bloomsbury Square , Russell Square and Bedford Square . Bloomsbury's built heritage is currently protected by the designation of a conservation area and a locally based conservation committee. Despite this, there is increasing concern about a trend towards larger and less sensitive development, and the associated demolition of Victorian and Georgian buildings. Bloomsbury (including

Gower Street, London - Misplaced Pages Continue

4160-402: Is located at the north end of Gower Street, at the corner of Euston Road. Gower Street is named after Lady Gertrude Leveson-Gower , daughter of John Leveson-Gower , and who in 1737 became the second wife of Bloomsbury landowner Lord John Russell . Gower Street was originally the name only of the southern part of the street, from the south end northwards to the junctions with Francis Street (on

4290-568: Is on 15-20 Phoenix Place. Bloomsbury contains several notable churches: Bloomsbury contains some of London's finest parks and buildings, and is particularly known for its formal squares. These include: Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (formerly the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital) are both located on Great Ormond Street, off Queen Square, which itself

4420-401: Is sometimes taken to be in the region of Southampton Row or further east on Grays Inn Road. The southern extent is taken to approximates to High Holborn or the thoroughfare formed by New Oxford Street , Bloomsbury Way and Theobalds Road. On the west side, the traditional and various informal definitions of the area are all based on the ancient Tottenham Court Road . The differences between

4550-578: Is to the north of Bloomsbury. One of the 13 surviving taxi drivers' shelters in London, where drivers can stop for a meal and a drink, is in Russell Square. Bloomsbury's road network links the district to several destinations across London. Key routes nearby include: Gower Street , which runs through the area on a north–south axis, has been two-way since Sunday 28 February 2021. Development of Darwin%27s theory The publication in 1839 of his Journal and Remarks (now known as The Voyage of

4680-532: Is today a playground and outdoor sports field for children, called Coram's Fields . It is also home to a small number of sheep. The nearby Lamb's Conduit Street is a pleasant thoroughfare with shops, cafes and restaurants. The Dickens Museum is in Doughty Street . The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology and the Grant Museum of Zoology are at University College London in Gower Street. The Postal Museum

4810-610: The Bloomsbury Group , a group of British intellectuals which included author Virginia Woolf , biographer Lytton Strachey , and economist John Maynard Keynes . Bloomsbury began to be developed in the 17th century under the Earls of Southampton , but it was primarily in the 19th century, under the Duke of Bedford , that the district was planned and built as an affluent Regency era residential area by famed developer James Burton . The district

4940-462: The Caribbean and get them to germinate at Kew. Investigation of variation brought him back to animal husbandry . He now began dissecting domestic animals and breeding pigeons , joining a pigeon fancier's club: very unorthodox behaviour for naturalists at that time. Huxley had obtained a position and his friends had been having an impact on the establishment. In particular Huxley had strongly dismissed

5070-569: The Dissolution of the Monasteries . The area was laid out mainly in the 18th century, largely by Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford , who built Bloomsbury Market, which opened in 1730. His younger brother, John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford , would have built a circus here but he died in 1771, leaving his wife to continue development of the area. She commissioned the construction of Bedford Square and of Gower Street . The major development of

5200-578: The Galápagos Archipelago as "a little world within itself, or rather a satellite attached to America, whence it has derived a few stray colonists," where we were "astonished at the number of their aboriginal beings, and at their confined range", and "seem to be brought somewhat near to that great fact – that mystery of mysteries – the first appearance of new beings on this earth." On 5 August Darwin began reading Lyell's Travels in North America , and

5330-669: The Great Beer Flood ) was a disaster that occurred in October 1814, when a large vat of porter at the Horse Shoe Brewery , just west of Dyott Street, burst open, releasing a 15-foot wave of beer onto the surrounding streets, killing eight people. All of the geographic area of Bloomsbury is covered by the Bloomsbury Conservation Area, an historic designation designed to limit new development, and ensure that changes to

Gower Street, London - Misplaced Pages Continue

5460-662: The Metropolis Management Act 1855 . This body managed certain infrastructure functions, while the civil parish continued with its responsibilities until the abolishment of the Poor Law in 1930; however it was not formally abolished until the creation of Greater London in 1965. In 1900 the area of the St Giles District (Metropolis) merged with Holborn District (Metropolis) (excluding those parts of Finsbury Division which had been temporarily attached to Holborn) to form

5590-515: The Metropolitan Borough of Holborn merged with St Pancras and Hampstead to form the new London Borough of Camden . The formal historic boundaries of the combined parish of St Giles in the Fields and St George Bloomsbury (as adjusted in some places to reflect the modern street pattern) include Tottenham Court Road to the west, Torrington Place (formerly known, in part, as Francis Street) to

5720-589: The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust . One of the largest building in the area is the Brutalist Brunswick Centre a residential building with a shopping centre at ground floor. Bloomsbury is in the parliamentary constituency of Holborn and St Pancras . The western half of the district comprises Bloomsbury ward , which elects three councillors to Camden Borough Council . In February 2010, businesses were balloted on an expansion of

5850-662: The Royal Society 's Philosophical Club, and he also became a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London , gaining postal access to its library. To his surprise his stomach was not troubled and he greatly enjoyed visiting London regularly and meeting with the new generation of scientists, in particular John Tyndall , Hooker and Huxley. Darwin supported them in gaining gold medals from the Society, saying that they would become "scientific giants" and he thought it only right that they should get

5980-450: The relief of the poor . In 1731 a small new independent parish of Bloomsbury was created, based on a small area round Bloomsbury Square . In 1774 these parishes recombined, for civil purposes, to form the parish of St Giles in the Fields and St George Bloomsbury – which had the same boundaries as the initial parish of St Giles . The area of the combined civil parish was used for the St Giles District (Metropolis) , established under

6110-456: The "half-learned" seduced by the "foul temptation" of speculation looking for a self-sustaining universe in a "mocking spirit of unbelief", showing a failure to understand the "modes of the Creator's acting" or to meet the responsibilities of a gentleman. Chambers denounced this as an attempt to stifle progressive opinion, but others thought he must have gone home "with the feeling of a martyr". Darwin

6240-495: The Beagle ) brought him success as an author, and in 1842 he published his first major scientific book, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs , setting out his theory of the formation of coral atolls . He wrote out a sketch setting out his basic ideas on transmutation of species , which he expanded into an "essay" in 1844, and discussed his theory with friends as well as continuing with experiments and wide investigations. In

6370-458: The Beagle) brought reviews accusing him of theorising rather than letting the facts speak for themselves. He turned his attention to expanding his investigations and theory of the formation of coral atolls as the first part of his planned book on geology. In December as Emma's first pregnancy progressed, Charles fell ill and accomplished little during the following year. He did accept a position on

6500-687: The Council of the Geographical Society in May 1840. In 1841 he became able to work for short periods a couple of days a week, and produced a paper on stones and debris being carried by ice floes, but his condition did not improve. Having consulted his father he began looking for a house in the countryside to escape a city suffering from economic depression and civil unrest. Owen was one of the few scientific friends to visit Darwin at this time, but Owen's opposition to any hint of Transmutation made Darwin keep quiet about his theories. In January 1842 Darwin sent

6630-645: The Creation idea that God appointed the social system. Darwin visited The Mount, Shrewsbury for the 82nd birthday of his father who was now seriously ill. He became desperately ill himself and returned home to be nursed by Emma who gave birth to their third son in August, then in November was devastated when his father died. Emma sustained him, and they read religious books together. In February 1849 he drew some comfort from Harriet Martineau 's new Eastern Life, Past and Present ,

SECTION 50

#1732858250080

6760-519: The Creed, sticking to her Unitarian faith. The Darwins went up to the Great Exhibition in 1851, staying with " Uncle Ras ", but while the children enjoyed their several visits, Darwin's ailments returned with the excitement. The slog of describing barnacles continued. Family life was rewarding but also brought pressures. The worst of his bugbears was a fear of inherited weaknesses. His oldest son William

6890-542: The Divine mind, but to Darwin, this was evidence of Descent, showing dramatically how organs could have changed functions to meet new conditions. Darwin was "cock-a-hoop", writing to Louis Agassiz of this odd metamorphosis and getting him and others around the world to send more barnacle specimens. His cascade of letters made Hooker tire of barnacle details, and write from the Himalayas that on reflection he really did prefer to hear

7020-637: The Gower Street house became part of the warehouse system of James Shoolbred and Company . On 13 December 1904 a London County Council blue plaque was put up, to "Charles Darwin Naturalist". The house suffered from bomb damage in 1941 during the Blitz , and was not repaired. In 1961 the site became part of the Biological Sciences building of University College London , with a new plaque. The long thin garden which backed onto Gower Mews North (later Malet Place)

7150-672: The InHolborn Business Improvement District (BID) to include the southern part of Bloomsbury. Only businesses with a rateable value in excess of £60,000 could vote as only these would pay the BID levy. This expansion of the BID into Bloomsbury was supported by Camden Council. The proposal was passed and part of Bloomsbury was brought within the InHolborn BID. Controversy was raised during this BID renewal when InHolborn proposed collecting Bloomsbury, St Giles and Holborn under

7280-517: The July Edinburgh Review a lengthy and scathing attack by Adam Sedgwick , who had taught Darwin geology at university, predicted "ruin and confusion in such a creed" which if taken up by the populace would "undermine the whole moral and social fabric" bringing "discord and deadly mischief in its train." On 8 October Darwin wrote telling Lyell that the review was "far from popular with non-scientific readers. I think some few passages savour of

7410-497: The Rev. William Agutter died here. In March 1837, Giuseppe Mazzini (Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy) moved to 187 North Gower Street (at the time, 9 George Street, and now used for the filming of Sherlock ) together with Italian poet and patriot Giovanni Ruffini , his brother Agostino Ruffini and Angelo Usiglio, living there for three years until 1840. On 29 December 1838, Charles Darwin took

7540-602: The Russell family following the marriage of William Russell, Lord Russell (1639–1683) (third son of William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford ) to Rachel Wriothesley , heiress of Bloomsbury, younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses of Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton (1607–1667). Rachel's son and heir was Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford (1680–1711), of Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, whose family also owned Covent Garden , south of Bloomsbury, acquired by them at

7670-489: The Shaws. John Shaw Sr. , and John Shaw Jr. , formed a famous 19th-century architectural partnership. Thomas Budd Shaw was a professor of English literature to the grand dukes of Russia. The painter John Everett Millais had a studio here. North Gower Street was also the birthplace and childhood home of the artist Philip Zec and his 11 other siblings, although that was when it was still called George Street. On 26 March 1835,

7800-485: The Unitarian physiologist William Carpenter called it "a very beautiful and a very interesting book", and helped Chambers with correcting later editions. Critics thanked God that the author began "in ignorance and presumption", for the revised versions "would have been much more dangerous". Vestiges paved the way for discussion, but emphasised the need for secure mastery of awkward facts. Hooker became Darwin's mainstay in

7930-426: The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle also going to print. Illness was a continuing problem, and he and Emma left London on 18 May, visiting her parents at Maer Hall before moving on to Shrewsbury on 15 June for rest and quiet. Now Darwin "first allowed myself the satisfaction of writing a very brief abstract of my theory in pencil in 35 pages", the '"Pencil Sketch"' of his theory. This discussed farmers breeding animals, gave

SECTION 60

#1732858250080

8060-529: The accolades to spur them on. Tyndall had taken the chair of natural philosophy at the Royal Institution in 1853 and was now helping Huxley run the science section of The Westminster Review . Huxley began teaching at the Royal School of Mines in November, then "sick of the dilettante middle class" began his working men's lectures a year later, and Hooker settled into his post at Kew Gardens . Biology

8190-452: The amusement of their readers. On the wall of the University College building, an elaborate wall plaque carries the legend: "Close to this place Richard Trevithick (Born 1771 - Died 1833) Pioneer of High Pressure Steam ran in the year 1808 the first steam locomotive to draw passengers." It was erected by "The Trevithick Centenary Memorial Committee". In 1823 Charles Dickens (aged 11) lived at 4 Gower Street North when his mother opened

8320-406: The analogy of overpopulation and competition leading to "Natural Selection" through the "war of nature" and the mechanism of descent . Every living thing was related in a branching pedigree, not ascending a Lamarckian ladder, and this pedigree was the proper basis for classification. He thought it "derogatory" to argue that God had made every kind of parasite and worm on an individual whim. Already,

8450-456: The area, including traffic circulation changes, and its objections carry formal planning weight through the local authority's constitution. Bloomsbury contains one of the highest proportions of listed buildings and monuments per square metre of any conservation area, including many of the UK's most iconic buildings, such as the British Museum. However its strategic location in the centre of London and associated high development pressures has seen

8580-525: The built environment preserve and enhance its special character. This conservation area is one of the oldest and most significant in the UK, having been designated in 1968, less than a year after conservation areas were promulgated in the Civic Amenities Act 1967. The Bloomsbury Conservation Area is almost unique in the UK in that it also has a conservation area advisory committee , an expert committee of architects, planners, lawyers, and other community members that also live and work in Bloomsbury. This group

8710-409: The church, helped with parish assistance and proposed a benefit society which became the Down Friendly Society with Darwin as guardian and treasurer. On Sundays, Emma took the children to church. Darwin sometimes went with them as far as the lychgate to the churchyard, and then he would go for a walk. During the service, Emma continued to face forward when the congregation turned to face the altar for

8840-409: The closely linked St Giles area) has a long association with neighbouring Holborn ; but is nearly always considered as distinct from Holborn. The area appears to have been a part of the parish of Holborn when St Giles hospital was established in the early 1100s. The earliest record of the name, Bloomsbury, is as Blemondisberi in 1281. It is named after a member of the Blemund family who held

8970-455: The countryside for information and began a Questions & Experiments notebook with ideas that would have seemed bizarrely mundane to the "philosophical" scientists of the time. He printed Questions about the Breeding of Animals and sent them out to gentlemen farmers, asking for information on animal husbandry from their nurserymen and gamekeepers on how they crossed varieties or selected offspring. Of only three who responded one simply found

9100-523: The crisis deepened. Dr Gully attended through the night thinking her unlikely to last, but at 6 a.m. she vomited and her condition stabilised. She seemed to recover slightly and a series of ups and downs followed with Darwin and Fanny Wedgwood anxiously watching and writing home, but she deteriorated and died on 23 April 1851. Darwin's faith in Christianity had already dwindled away and from around 1849 he had stopped going to church. During Annie's long illness Darwin had read books by Francis William Newman ,

9230-489: The criticism of so competent a critic." Jenyns never took up this offer to read the "Essay", but did advise Darwin on possible issues with the term "mutation". Darwin replied "it will be years before I publish, so that I shall have plenty of time to think of better words". In October 1844 Transmutation became a middle class talking point with the anonymous publication of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation by Robert Chambers presenting Lamarckian views. It brought

9360-571: The dogmatism of the pulpit, rather than of the philosophy of the Professor chair". Nevertheless, it was "a grand piece of argument against mutability of species; & I read it with fear & trembling, but was well pleased to find, that I had not overlooked any of the arguments, though I had put them to myself as feebly as milk & water." In correspondence Darwin continued to discuss his species work with Hooker, and he took it personally when Hooker remarked of another naturalist "that no one has hardly

9490-578: The early 1900s, and to the lesser known Bloomsbury Gang of Whigs formed in 1765 by John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford . The publisher Faber & Faber used to be located in Queen Square , though at the time T. S. Eliot was editor the offices were in Tavistock Square. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded in John Millais's parents' house on Gower Street in 1848. The Bloomsbury Festival

9620-531: The essay be published posthumously. He started his Geological Observations on South America , and corresponded with Hooker about this, feeding in questions related to his "Essay". The copied "Essay", now 231 pages, was returned to him for corrections in September. Then one day he brought it to Emma and asked her to read it. She went through the pages, making notes in the margins pointing out unclear passages and showing where she disagreed. The Reverend Leonard Jenyns ,

9750-636: The established faith based explanations of species . He considered these problems at first hand during the Beagle survey . On its return in 1836 his ideas developed rapidly. His collections and writings established him as an eminent geologist and collector. Darwin read Malthus's Essay on the Principle of Population in the context of his findings about species relating to localities, enquiries into animal breeding, and ideas of Natural "laws of harmony". Around late November 1838 he compared breeders selecting traits with

9880-544: The evolutionary speculation after all. Darwin responded that "this is too bad" as "your decided approval of my Barnacle work" had "led me...to defer my species-paper" in the first place. As his work progressed on to fossil barnacles, pressures brought on illness again and in June 1850 he went to Malvern for a week of treatment. Hooker was helping search for evidence, now trying to test evolutionary ideas and writing that "they have possessed me, without however converting me". While Hooker

10010-502: The facts, which make one understand the working or œconomy of nature .... namely what are the checks & what the periods of life, by which the increase of any given species is limited." He told Jenyns that he had "continued steadily reading & collecting facts on variation of domestic animals & plants & on the question of what are species; I have a grand body of facts & I think I can draw some sound conclusions. The general conclusion at which I have slowly been driven from

10140-611: The following year potato blight brought famine which impinged on the Darwins' servants and workmen, and led to overthrow of the Corn Laws . Darwin welcomed this, but as a landowner now found that it affected his income from rent and he wrote to his agent that "Although I am on principle a free-trader, of course I am not willing to make a larger reduction than necessary to retain a good tenant." Despite his own illness recurring, Darwin pressed on with South America , having to jointly subsidise it with

10270-580: The formal and more recent understandings of the area (to the north and south), seem to derive from Bloomsbury having been commonly misconceived as being coterminous with the Bedford Estate . In the early 1660s, the Earl of Southampton , who held the manors of St Giles and Bloomsbury, constructed what eventually became Bloomsbury Square . The Yorkshire Grey public house on the corner of Gray's Inn Road and Theobald's Road dates from 1676. The estate passed to

10400-530: The headquarters of MI5 was an anonymous grey office block at 140 Gower Street , adjacent to Euston Road. Since 2004 the site has been occupied by the western end of the Wellcome Trust 's Gibbs Building. Many of the Georgian houses on Gower Street have been converted into small hotels. North Gower Street, the northern continuation of Gower Street beyond Euston Road, is not accessible from Gower Street at street level for vehicles or pedestrians. For pedestrians,

10530-472: The house "Macaw Cottage" in "allusion to the gaudy colours of the walls and furniture." He moved in on 31 December, and with Emma moved in on the day of their marriage, 29 January 1839. The development of Darwin's theory of natural selection made progress in this house, and their children William Erasmus Darwin and Anne Darwin were born there. In 1842 the family moved to Down House in the Kent countryside, and

10660-539: The house kept the old spelling). After a series of alterations Darwin settled in, and in 1843 returned to writing his Volcanic Islands . In May he began a (mostly geological) country diary he called The General Aspect . In response to a request from George Robert Waterhouse for advice on classification, Darwin replied that it properly "consists in grouping beings according to their actual relationship , ie their consanguinity, or descent from common stocks". He followed this up with another letter expressing belief that "all

10790-534: The key which will unlock the mystery of species", invited Hooker to "look over a rough sketch (well copied) on this subject" while fearing this was "too impudent a request". Darwin's researches led to a meeting on 23 November with Charles James Fox Bunbury , in which he discussed the geographical distribution of plants and animals, particularly in the Galapagos islands where they strikingly showed "a South American character as it were stamped on them all, while nearly all

10920-530: The land back into the possession of the Crown and granted it to Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton . The area was part of the Ancient Parish of St Giles , served by the church of St Giles in the Fields . Some sources indicate that the parish was in place before 1222 while others suggest 1547. From 1597 onwards, English parishes were obliged to take on a civil as well as ecclesiastical role, starting with

11050-507: The leader of British science Sir John Herschel wrote recruiting Darwin to a project drawing up instructions for sailors on scientific fieldwork, at the request of the First Sea Lord . Darwin spent five weeks writing a section for the manual explaining how any gentleman could "geologize". That summer Communist revolution in France was followed by a massive Chartist demonstration in London, with

11180-482: The let of the furnished property at 12 Upper Gower Street (later 110 Gower Street), and wrote to tell his fiancée Emma Wedgwood of his delight at being the "possessor of Macaw Cottage". As their daughter Etty later recalled, "He used to laugh over the ugliness of their house in Gower St, and the furniture in the drawing-room, which he said combined all the colours of the macaw in hideous discord", and Darwin had christened

11310-595: The local authority's approach to the conservation and preservation of Bloomsbury, with national heritage groups such as the Victorian Society and Georgian Group voicing concerns along with local groups. A local campaign associated with the BCAAC, Save Bloomsbury, has written and campaigned extensively to protect Bloomsbury's heritage. As of 2021 Camden Council has not adopted any strategy to ensure Bloomsbury's conservation, and harmful development proposals continue to come forward. Neighbouring areas include St Pancras to

11440-595: The manor. There are older records relating to the family in London in 1201 and 1230. Their name, Blemund, derives from Blemont, a place in Vienne , in western France. At the end of the 14th century, Edward III acquired Blemond's manor, and passed it on to the Carthusian monks of the London Charterhouse . The area remained rural at this time. In the 16th century with the Dissolution of the Monasteries , Henry VIII took

11570-542: The many species of barnacle, and establishing his expertise as a biologist. His faith in Christianity dwindled and he stopped going to church. In 1851 his treasured daughter suffered a long illness and died. In 1854 he resumed his work on the species question which led on to the publication of Darwin's theory . Charles Darwin became a naturalist at a point in the history of evolutionary thought when theories of Transmutation were being developed to explain discrepancies in

11700-604: The most direct access is via a subway along the concourse of Euston Square station. From Euston Road, North Gower Street continues past Drummond Street and then ends, with a footpath continuing north to connect with the Hampstead Road . It is lined mostly with Georgian terraced houses now mostly converted into hotels and student accommodation or rebuilt, and council housing. The BBC crime drama Sherlock has used 187 North Gower Street, posing as 221B Baker Street , for many external shots of Sherlock Holmes 's flat. The location

11830-455: The most exquisite workmanship and widely-extended adaptations. It accords better with [our modesty] the lowness of our faculties to suppose each must require the fiat of a creator, but in the same proportion the existence of such laws should exalt our notion of the power of the omniscient Creator. There is a simple grandeur in the view of life with its powers of growth, assimilation and reproduction, being originally breathed into matter under one or

11960-426: The name of "Midtown", since it was seen as "too American". Businesses were informed about the BID proposals, but there was little consultation with residents or voluntary organisations. InHolborn produced a comprehensive business plan aimed at large businesses. Bloomsbury is now part of InMidtown BID with its 2010 to 2015 business plan and a stated aim to make the area "a quality environment in which to work and live,

12090-412: The nearby Inns of Court . The area was enclosed by gates until these were abolished under a 1893 Act of Parliament. In the 19th century, the Bloomsbury area became less fashionable, now dominated by the University of London and the British Museum as well as numerous new hospitals. Modern development has destroyed several Georgian -era buildings, but some remain. The London Beer Flood (also known as

12220-401: The north and west, Fitzrovia to the west, Covent Garden and Holborn to the south, and Clerkenwell to the east. For street name etymologies see Street names of Bloomsbury . Historically, Bloomsbury is associated with the arts, education, and medicine. The area gives its name to the Bloomsbury Group of artists, among whom was Virginia Woolf , who met in private homes in the area in

12350-516: The north, the borough boundary to the south and Marchmont Street and Southampton Row to the east. The western boundary of Tottenham Court Road is common to all and a northern limit of Euston Road is often understood, though Coram's Fields and the land to the north, consisting mainly of blocks of flats, built as both private and social housing was traditionally associated as being north Bloomsbury with Judd Street and its surrounding squares being part of St Pancras, King's Cross. The eastern boundary

12480-455: The notion of transmutation out into the public arena and was a sensation, quickly becoming a best-seller in fashionable society circles and going into new editions. Darwin read it in November, and when questioned by Hooker in January he admired its prose, but wrote that the "geology strikes me as bad, & his zoology far worse". The book was liked by many Quakers and Unitarians . Darwin's friend

12610-589: The notion that wild species are mutable or immutable". All available information was examined for "hostile facts" and discussed with Hooker, who had resisted what he called Darwin's "Elastic theory" but who was now developing an "utter disbelief of my own Genera and species". In the Spring of 1855, as the Crimean war developed, Darwin was pondering the war of nature, taking the then current analogy with an industrial economy further than others, and wondering how species spread. He

12740-524: The orders, families & genera amongst the Mammals are merely artificial terms highly useful to show the relationship of those members of the series, which have not become extinct ", before cautiously asking for the letter to be returned. Waterhouse was influenced by Owen and in a paper attacked such heresies, setting his species in the symbolic circles of the Quinarian system , not hereditary trees. Darwin sent

12870-526: The public in 1759 in Montagu House , is at the heart of Bloomsbury. At the centre of the museum the space around the former British Library Reading Room , which was filled with the concrete storage bunkers of the British Library, is today the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court , an indoor square with a glass roof designed by British architect Norman Foster . It houses displays, a cinema, a shop,

13000-740: The publisher when the Treasury grant ran out, and it was completed by October 1846. A single barnacle species was left to describe, and on 1 October 1846 Darwin began a paper on it, working on dissecting with the assistance of Hooker who was now at Kew . To compare this with other species he borrowed specimens, and soon became involved in a much needed comprehensive study of these peculiar creatures that had recently been found to be crustaceans rather than molluscs . To Hooker such an exhaustive study might dampen Darwin's tendency to speculative theorising, and to Darwin it would establish his credentials. Hooker paid frequent visits, and in January 1847 when Darwin

13130-500: The question of the immutability of species, ie whether species are directly created, or by intermediate laws, (as with the life & death of individuals)." He outlined the events that had led him to these ideas, and while cautious about "numerous immense difficulties on my notions" told him that he had "drawn up a sketch & had it copied (in 200 pages) of my conclusions; & if I thought at some future time, that you would think it worth reading, I shd. of course be most thankful to have

13260-441: The questions too overwhelming to answer. He found agreement with the visiting Swiss botanist Alphonse de Candolle whose father Augustin had used the idea of "nature's war". However, when he tried explaining his theory to Hensleigh Wedgwood , his cousin "seemed to think it absurd... that [a] tiger springing an inch further would determine his preservation". The publication in May of Darwin's Journal and Remarks (The Voyage of

13390-570: The same year the anonymous Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation brought wide public interest in evolutionary ideas, but also showed the need for sound evidence to gain scientific acceptance of evolution . In 1846 he completed his third geological book, and turned from supervising the publication of expert reports on the findings from the voyage to examining barnacle specimens himself. This grew into an eight-year study, making use of his theory to find hitherto unknown relationships between

13520-474: The scientific establishment. On 19 December 1838 as secretary of the Geological Society of London Darwin witnessed the vicious interrogation by Richard Owen and his allies of Darwin's old tutor Robert Edmund Grant in which they ridiculed Grant's Lamarckian heresy, showing establishment intolerance of materialist theories. In 1839, now married to Emma and settled in London, Darwin continued to look to

13650-563: The search to find and explain anomalous facts, though Darwin was greatly disappointed in February 1845 when Hooker was invited to teach botany at Edinburgh. Others helping included Captain Beaufort of the Admiralty who invited Darwin to list any facts he wanted checking, for investigation by ship's surgeons (naturalists) when their ship was in the appropriate part of the world. In March Darwin followed his father's investment advice and became owner of

13780-413: The slow willing of animals" &c,—but the conclusions I am led to are not widely different from his—though the means of change are wholly so— I think I have found out (here's presumption!) the simple way by which species become exquisitely adapted to various ends." Hooker's reply was cautious but friendly, saying that "There may in my opinion have been a series of productions on different spots, & also

13910-614: The species are peculiar." As Bunbury recalled, "He avowed himself to some extent a believer in the transmutation of species, though not, he said, exactly according to the doctrine either of Lamarck or of the Vestiges . But he admitted that all the leading botanists and zoologists, of this country at least, are on the other side." Darwin was familiarising the "most rising naturalists" with the idea, and on 6 December enjoyed having Hooker, Edward Forbes , Hugh Falconer , and George Robert Waterhouse visit Down for dinner and "raging discussions". In

14040-481: The squares that we see today started in about 1800 when Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford , demolished Bedford House and developed the land to the north with Russell Square as its centrepiece. Much is still owned today by the Bedford Estate in trust for the Russell family. John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford , extended development on the north and east side of the estate, this area would then be frequented by writers, painters and musicians as well as lawyers due to

14170-600: The street: the Arthur Tattersall and John Tovell Houses. Of the many UCL buildings along Gower Street, the Cruciform Building is especially notable, both for its striking red exterior and its obvious form, even when viewed from the road. Old boys of University College School are known as " Old Gowers " after the street where it was founded and co-located with UCL. SOAS, University of London and Birkbeck College are also in proximity. Euston Square Underground station

14300-498: The street: the east side now contained even-numbered houses, ending in no. 142 adjacent to Euston Road, and the west side contained odd-numbered houses, from no. 87, adjacent to Francis Street, up to no. 163 adjacent to Euston Road. Notable residents of Gower Street are listed in the Survey of London. They have included the architect George Dance the Younger , painter William De Morgan , and

14430-604: The style of the author of the Vestiges would not be tolerated among scientific men." This was a clear warning from Darwin's Cambridge friends. On the Sunday Samuel Wilberforce , now the Bishop of Oxford, used his sermon at St. Mary's Church on "the wrong way of doing science" to deliver a stinging attack obviously aimed at Chambers. The church "crowded to suffocation" with geologists, astronomers and zoologists heard jibes about

14560-519: The success of free trade and modern science in improving prosperity. There was a new appetite for liberal, progressive reforms. An alliance of thinkers began recasting nature as a competitive marketplace. The Westminster Review recently acquired by John Chapman became their focus, and an early article by Herbert Spencer set out a Malthusian view that people who multiply beyond their means take "the high road to extinction", while "the select of their generation" remained to ensure progress. Spencer became

14690-466: The transmutationist thesis of Chambers' Vestiges . He also argued vociferously against the dominant Owen who had demonstrated fossil evidence of an evolutionary sequence of horses as supporting his idea of development from archetypes in "ordained continuous becoming", and who had in 1854 given a British Association talk on the impossibility of bestial apes such as the recently discovered gorilla standing erect and being transmuted into men. Darwin tried at

14820-483: The wealthy and the Queen fleeing to safety. Darwin's friends were mustered to defend the scientific institutions against the possibility of attacks by rioters who would have welcomed his secret theory. Continuing with the barnacles he found that what seemed like minute parasites were in some cases the minute males "& half embedded in the flesh of their wives they spend their whole lives", a "wonder of nature" not flattering to

14950-475: The west side from north to south, from no. 28. Gower Street North was numbered independently, from no. 1 (on the northern corner of Grafton Way and Gower Street) to approx. no. 15 (adjacent to Euston Road). In the 1860s this confusing situation came to an end when all three streets (Gower Street, Upper Gower Street, and Gower Street North) were renumbered in one continuous sequence and called Gower Street. This re-numbering proceeded from south to north on both sides of

15080-481: The west side) and Torrington Place (on the east side). The northern part of the street was called Upper Gower Street, except for the western side north of Grafton Way, which was called Gower Street North (not to be confused with North Gower Street, which was on the other side of Euston Road). The sequence of house numbers in Upper Gower Street proceeded on the east side from south to north, up to no. 27, and then on

15210-542: Was a slow learner, and after much agonising Darwin sent him to Rugby School . While they had inherited wealth, it had to be wisely invested. A large proportion was cautiously put in railway stock, then in a boom but subject to fluctuations. He had kept records of the effects of the continuing water treatment, and finding that it was of some help with relaxation but had no significant effect he stopped it in 1852 and proceeded to try various experimental therapies without any confidence in their effects. The Great Exhibition heralded

15340-451: Was almost illegible. He returned to house hunting and found a former parsonage in the rural hamlet of Downe at a good price. A general strike led to huge demonstrations all over London, but was crushed by troops by the time Darwin moved. On 17 September 1842 the family moved into Down House (around 1850 the village changed its name to Downe to avoid confusion with County Down in Ireland, but

15470-468: Was awarded the Royal Medal of the Royal Society and received it at their meeting on 30 November 1853. The excitement brought back illness and he resumed the water treatment. This time it was successful and his health improved. He finished the second volume of Barnacles , completing almost eight years of work which had made him the world's foremost authority on the subject. In the spring of 1854 he joined

15600-615: Was becoming liberalised, even among some churchmen. The Reverend Baden Powell , a mathematics professor at the University of Oxford , applied the theological argument that God is a lawgiver, miracles break the lawful edicts issued at Creation, therefore belief in miracles is atheistic. By September 1854 his second volume of Barnacles had been printed and dispatched, and he turned his attention to Species, telling his cousin William Darwin Fox that he planned to "view all facts that I can master..to see how far they favour or are opposed to

15730-508: Was dismissive of the ideas that others had put forward of sunken continents like Atlantis , and began experimenting in his house with soaking seeds in brine then seeing if they could germinate. He reported his results in Gardeners' Chronicle and roped in his curate friends including Henslow. The consul in Norway sent seed pods which had washed ashore. Hooker was able to identify them as coming from

15860-508: Was founded in 1968 by the local authority and continues to serve Bloomsbury and the surrounding area. It is generally thought that the Bloomsbury Conservation Area Advisory Committee (BCAAC) has the most detailed knowledge of Bloomsbury's built heritage and social history due to its members having lived in the area for many decades. It is accordingly consulted with on all major and minor development proposals in

15990-422: Was horrified that it saw no harm in slavery. He added two new paragraphs to his Journal , cataloguing atrocities after stating "I thank God, I shall never again visit a slave-country", and finished his revisions on 26 August. Anglican clergymen / naturalists had been slow to respond to Vestiges , not wanting to give its vile ideas of transmutation publicity, but it sold increasing numbers to polite society. In

16120-410: Was incorporated into Foster Court car park in 1978. The etymologist and philologist Hensleigh Wedgwood , who was Charles Darwin's cousin and brother-in-law, lived at 94 Gower Street; he died there in 1891. From 1869 to 1892, 102 Gower Street was the home of the barrister William Belt who was best known for his erratic behaviour in later life which was widely reported by popular newspapapers for

16250-610: Was launched in 2006 when local resident Roma Backhouse was commissioned to mark the re-opening of the Brunswick Centre, a residential and shopping area. The free festival is a celebration of the local area, partnering with galleries, libraries and museums, and achieved charitable status at the end of 2012. As of 2013, the Duchess of Bedford is a festival patron and Festival Directors have included Cathy Maher (2013), Kate Anderson (2015–2019) and Rosemary Richards (2020–present). Bloomsbury

16380-629: Was not finding gradations of varieties, Darwin's barnacles were showing this to the extent that defining species was extremely difficult. Darwin returned from Malvern at the end of June 1850 to a reawakening of his fears that his illness might be hereditary. His bright nine-year-old daughter Anne who had become a particular favourite and comfort to him fell sick. She was miserable for weeks on end, then became feverish. Their doctor could do nothing and thought it might be inherited. She had recovered to some extent by March 1851, but then she and her father were both laid low by influenza . Darwin recovered but Annie

16510-617: Was not present, but in the following week at the Association dissociated himself from the error-ridden Vestiges in Lyell's presence, attacking the author's "poverty of intellect" and dismissing it as a "literary curiosity." For the rest of the year, Darwin suffered increasing health problems, with fiercely inflamed boils, and in November Hooker left for India . Darwin returned his attention to family life and dissecting barnacles. In February 1848

16640-558: Was particularly ill Hooker took away a copy of the "Essay". After some delays he sent a page of notes, giving the calm critical feedback that Darwin needed. He did not go along with Darwin's rejection of continuing Creation, arguing "All allusions to superintending providence unnecessary – The Creator able to make first [organisms] able also to go on directing & [it's] a matter of moonshine to [the] argument whether he does or no." Their debates continued, sometimes argumentatively, and Darwin felt devastated by Hooker's intention to set off on

16770-400: Was soon free of sickness and walking seven miles (11 km) a day. Despite his suspicions of quackery, the cure worked, and after staying 16 weeks they returned home, arriving on 30 June with Darwin eager to resume work on his barnacles. He continued a slightly relaxed version of the treatment, having a hut built with a cold water douche and getting up at seven a.m. to get heated up with

16900-439: Was still ill, and on 24 March he took her to Malvern, leaving her there for the best treatment he knew of, and returning to Downe where Emma had stayed as she was pregnant. With his first paper on barnacles printed and Hooker safely returned to Britain laden with specimens, things were looking up, but then on 15 April Annie suffered a serious relapse and Darwin had to rush to her side. An agonised Darwin stayed at Annie's bedside as

#79920