Charles Robert Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882), naturalist, was born on 12 February 1809, the son of Robert Darwin and his wife Susannah, daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, and the grandson of Erasmus Darwin. He was educated at Shrewsbury, Edinburgh University, and Christ's College, Cambridge. At Cambridge he came under the influence of J. S. Henslow, professor of botany, and on graduation in 1831 was recommended by him for the post of naturalist in H.M.S. Beagle, on a five-year survey voyage, chiefly along the coast of South America. Although Darwin was passionately interested in natural history, he was at this time primarily a geologist by inclination, and his predilections are reflected in his records of the voyage. Nevertheless, his observations during this period formed the nucleus from which he developed his theory of evolution by natural selection, set out in On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (London, 1859) and The Descent of Man (London, 1871).
The Beagle was anchored at Sydney from 12 to 30 January 1836. During this time Darwin journeyed to Bathurst, making superficial observations on the geology of the Blue Mountains and collecting some native fauna and flora. He was 'rather disappointed in the state of society', and made the misjudgment that 'agriculture can never succeed on an extended scale'. His interest in Van Diemen's Land, where the Beagle stayed for ten days in February, was mostly geological