Sadly, this will be a very short chapter, because the third child of Charles and Emma Darwin lived only 23 days, from 23 September until 16 October 1842.
The growing family and its several servants, the crowded and polluted city, and Charles’s general ill health led to the decision to find a house in the country. Charles wanted a place far enough removed from the city so that he could avoid unnecessary socializing, but close enough so that he could get to London and back in one day. Charles and Emma first saw Down House on 22 July 1842. Located 16 miles south of London, it was a two-hour train and carriage ride from London Bridge Station. It was situated among 18 acres on Luxted Road, Downe, Orpington, Kent. Beginning in 1842 the village of Downe was spelled with an e, but the Darwins did not add an e to Down House. The population of Downe was 444 in the 1841 census (Freeman 1978). With help from Charles’s father they purchased the property for £2,020. A pregnant Emma, children Willy and Annie, and nursemaid Elizabeth “Bessy” Harding moved in on 14 September, so Emma could get settled before giving birth; Charles followed three days later (Browne 1995). Emma and Charles each had their own bedroom, probably so that when Charles felt unwell he would not disturb Emma’s rest. There was no indoor bathroom (R. Keynes 2001).
Charles employed a butler, a footman, and two gardeners, while Emma had a cook, a kitchen maid, a laundry maid, a housemaid, a nurse, and at least one nursemaid. The Darwins treated their servants very kindly, which elicited a great deal of devotion and loyalty to the family, especially the children. Most of the maids were local girls from the nearby villages (R. Keynes 2001).
Emma moved into Down House on 14 September, and Charles joined her a few days later. The Downe village surgeon delivered the small and feeble baby. Emma reckoned that she was in her thirty-sixth week of pregnancy when she delivered (R. Keynes 2001). A normal pregnancy usually lasts 40 weeks. Emma recovered rapidly in her new country surroundings. Baby Mary was baptized in the village church at nine days of age. She was buried in the churchyard on 19 October (Desmond and Moore 1991). The parents grieved, but they took solace in the fact that Mary did not seem to have suffered during her very short life. The cause of death is not known. The first few months or so were a rather depressing beginning to the Darwins’ new life at Down House. Eventually, though, they became more absorbed in making changes to the house and gardens. Emma became pregnant with Henrietta in January 1843. The premature death of Mary left a gap of two and a half years between the ages of Annie and Henrietta.