For some time there had been a growing wish on the part of my parents to live in the country. Their health made London undesirable in many ways and they both preferred the freedom and quiet of a country life. They decided to buy a country-house, but out of prudence resolved upon not going beyond a moderate price, and as they also wished to be near London, there was a weary search before they found anything at all suitable. In her little diary under the date July 22nd, 1842, I find the entry, “Went to Down,” and this, I think, must have been her first sight of her future home. It was bought for them by Dr Darwin for about £2,200, and the purchase was quickly completed, for they moved in on September the 14th.

Down was then ten miles from a station and the whole neighbourhood was intensely rural and quiet, though only sixteen miles from London Bridge. To the south there were miles of copse, now cultivated as fruit grounds. A charm, which would be slight in the eyes of most people, had a good deal to do with the purchase. My father was delighted with the varied hedges and many flowers of a chalk district. This, and despair at getting anything pleasanter for the money they were prepared to give, decided the matter. But we have always been sorry that a prettier bit of the south of England was not found.