Chris Darwin

Last updated

Christopher William Darwin (born 16 March 1961 [1] in London) is an environmentalist and nature conservationist who lives in Australia and works on his goal of halting the global mass extinction of species. He is the ambassador of the charity Bush Heritage Australia. He is the great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin. [2]

Contents

Biography

Darwin was born in 1961 in London. He is the son of George Erasmus Darwin, a metallurgist, known as "Erasmus", and his wife Shuna (née Service). He has an older brother Robert George Darwin and a younger sister, Sarah Darwin Vogel, an evolutionary biologist. He is descended from Charles Darwin via Charles's son George Howard Darwin (1845-1912) an astronomer, his son William Robert Darwin (1894-1970), a stockbroker and brother of the physicist Charles Galton Darwin, and his wife Sarah Monica (née Slingsby) were the parents of George Erasmus Darwin (1927-2017). [3]

Ironically, given his famous ancestor, Darwin struggled with biology in his school years, failing the biology A-level. He later graduated from Oxford Polytechnic (latterly Oxford Brookes University) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Geography. In 1983 he started London’s first bicycle rickshaw taxi service, and in 1984 was official photographer and assistant organiser for the first Round Britain Windsurf Expedition. The book Round Britain Windsurf by Tim Batstone, features Darwin's photographs. [4] He worked in advertising and television commercial production in the United Kingdom before emigrating to Australia in 1986. [2]

In 1991, he co-authored (with John Amy) the book The Social Climbers. In 1995, he co-edited (also with John Amy), The Ultimate Australian Adventure Guide. [5] Darwin is married to Jacqui and has three children, Ali, Erasmus (Ras), and Monty. [6] They live in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, New South Wales, where Chris works in nature conservation.[ citation needed ]

Charitable work

Darwin co-authored (with John Amy) the book The Social Climbers. [7] Written about a 1989 event in which Darwin and a group of seven other friends held a dinner party on top of Mount Huascaran in Peru, the book raised money for the National Heart Foundation. The dinner party itself set a world record for the "highest formal dinner party on Earth." [8] [9]

In 2003, Darwin made a donation to the Bush Heritage Australia charity to help purchase the Charles Darwin Reserve in Western Australia. [10] [11] The 65,000 hectare reserve is intended to preserve plant species.

In 2009 he became an ambassador for Bush Heritage Australia. [12]

Public appearances and opinions

In 2005 Chris, along with other descendants of Charles Darwin, including his father, sister, and various cousins, were involved in counting the flowers at Down House. [13] He was also the guest of honour at a dinner celebrating the Darwin bicentenary at Melbourne Museum. [14]

Darwin believes that teaching children creationism is acceptable, despite his own lack of religious faith. He believes that it is "important that children think through what is told to them and come to their own conclusions." [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darwinism</span> Theory of biological evolution

Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) and others, stating that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. Also called Darwinian theory, it originally included the broad concepts of transmutation of species or of evolution which gained general scientific acceptance after Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859, including concepts which predated Darwin's theories. English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley coined the term Darwinism in April 1860.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erasmus Darwin</span> English physician (1731-1802)

Erasmus Robert Darwin was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave-trade abolitionist, inventor, and poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Spencer</span> English philosopher and political theorist (1820–1903)

Herbert Spencer was an English polymath active as a philosopher, psychologist, biologist, sociologist, and anthropologist. Spencer originated the expression "survival of the fittest", which he coined in Principles of Biology (1864) after reading Charles Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of Species. The term strongly suggests natural selection, yet Spencer saw evolution as extending into realms of sociology and ethics, so he also supported Lamarckism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Brown</span> Former Australian Greens politician, medical doctor, environmentalist

Robert James Brown is an Australian former politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasmanian Greens ticket, joining with sitting Greens Western Australia senator Dee Margetts to form the first group of Australian Greens senators following the 1996 federal election. He was re-elected in 2001 and in 2007. He was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia and the first openly gay leader of an Australian political party.

Compassionate conservatism is an American political philosophy that stresses using conservative techniques and concepts in order to improve the general welfare of society. The philosophy supports the implementation of policies designed to help the disadvantaged and alleviate poverty through the free market, envisaging a triangular relationship between government, charities and faith-based organizations. The term entered mainstream parlance between 2001 and 2009, during the administration of US President George W. Bush. He used the term often to describe his personal views and embody some parts of his administration's agenda and policy approach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in Australia</span> Overview of the role of the Catholic Church in Australia

The Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual and administrative leadership of the Holy See. From origins as a suppressed, mainly Irish minority in early colonial times, the church has grown to be the largest Christian denomination in Australia, with a culturally diverse membership of around 5,075,907 people, representing about 20% of the overall population of Australia according to the 2021 ABS Census data.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Batman</span> Australian settler and explorer

John Batman was an Australian grazier, entrepreneur and explorer. He is best known for his role in the founding of Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darwin–Wedgwood family</span> Two interrelated English families descending from Erasmus Darwin and Josiah Wedgwood

The Darwin–Wedgwood family are members of two connected families, each noted for particular prominent 18th-century figures: Erasmus Darwin, a physician and natural philosopher, and Josiah Wedgwood, a noted potter and founder of the eponymous Wedgwood and Sons pottery company. The Darwin and Wedgwood families were on friendly terms for much of their history and members intermarried, notably Charles Darwin, who married Emma Wedgwood.

Transmutation of species and transformism are unproven 18th and 19th-century evolutionary ideas about the change of one species into another that preceded Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. The French Transformisme was a term used by Jean Baptiste Lamarck in 1809 for his theory, and other 18th and 19th century proponents of pre-Darwinian evolutionary ideas included Denis Diderot, Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Erasmus Darwin, Robert Grant, and Robert Chambers, the anonymous author of the book Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. Opposition in the scientific community to these early theories of evolution, led by influential scientists like the anatomists Georges Cuvier and Richard Owen, and the geologist Charles Lyell, was intense. The debate over them was an important stage in the history of evolutionary thought and influenced the subsequent reaction to Darwin's theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerard Krefft</span> Australian zoologist, palaeontologist, and museum curator

Johann Ludwig (Louis) Gerard Krefft, was an Australian artist, draughtsman, scientist, and natural historian who served as the curator of the Australian Museum for 13 years (1861–1874). He was one of Australia's first and most influential zoologists and palaeontologists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Baldwin Spencer</span> British-Australian biologist (1860–1929)

Sir Walter Baldwin Spencer, commonly referred to as Baldwin Spencer, was a British-Australian evolutionary biologist, anthropologist and ethnologist. He is known for his fieldwork with Aboriginal peoples in Central Australia, contributions to the study of ethnography, and academic collaborations with Frank Gillen. Spencer introduced the study of zoology at the University of Melbourne and held the title of Emeritus Professor until his death in 1929. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1900 and knighted in 1916.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Aboriginal cricket team in England in 1868</span>

In 1868, a cricket team composed of Aboriginal Australians toured England between May and October of that year, thus becoming the first organised group of Australian sportspeople to travel overseas. It would be another ten years before an Australian cricket team classed as representative would leave the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erasmus Alvey Darwin</span>

Erasmus Alvey Darwin, nicknamed Eras or Ras, was the older brother of Charles Darwin, born five years earlier. They were brought up at the family home, The Mount House, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. He was the only other son besides Charles, the fourth of six children of Susannah and Robert Darwin, and the grandson of Erasmus Darwin and of Josiah Wedgwood, a family of the Unitarian church. He was a member of the semi-secretive Cambridge Apostles society, a debating club largely reserved for the brightest students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erasmus Darwin House</span>

Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield, Staffordshire is the former home of the English poet and physician Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of naturalist Charles Darwin. The house is a Grade I listed building, and is now a writer's house museum commemorating Erasmus Darwin's life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Darwin</span> English naturalist and biologist (1809–1882)

Charles Robert Darwin was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended from a common ancestor is now generally accepted and considered a fundamental concept in science. In a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace, he introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding. Darwin has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history and was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.

We of the Never Never is an autobiographical novel by Jeannie Gunn first published in 1908. Although published as a novel, it is an account of the author's experiences in 1902 at Elsey Station near Mataranka, Northern Territory in which she changed the names of people to obscure their identities. She published the book under the name Mrs Aeneas Gunn, using her husband's first and last name. Over the years, newspapers and magazine articles chronicled the fortunes of the Elsey characters. Jeannie outlived all but Bett-Bett.

Augustus Frederick Oldfield (1821–1887) was an English botanist and zoologist who made large collections of plant specimens in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Darwin</span> English botanist

Sarah Catherine Darwin FLS is a British botanist.

Dr. Glenn Singleman is an Australian physician, professional adventurer, wingsuit pilot and BASE jumper. He is also a documentary filmmaker, and practicing medical doctor specializing in remote and rural medicine. His film BASEclimb, about a world record setting BASE jump from The Great Trango Towers in Pakistan, won 21 International awards.

Piers Maxwell Dudley-Bateman was an Australian landscape painter. He was a member of The Antipodeans, a group of Melbourne painters that also included Arthur Boyd, David Boyd, Charles Blackman, John Brack, Robert Dickerson, John Perceval and Clifton Pugh. He taught as a Professor for painting at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art under Fudan University in Shanghai, China.

References

  1. Burke's Landed Gentry: Darwin, formerly of Downe
  2. 1 2 Darwin descendant drops in for talks
  3. "The Genographic project -- Global Participants Help Revitalise Indigenous and Traditional Cultural Projects". Archived from the original on 2012-03-10. Retrieved 2013-08-31.
  4. "Royal Institution of Australia | People in Science – Presenters". Archived from the original on 2011-10-17. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  5. C Darwin and J Amy,1995, The Ultimate Australian Adventure Guide, Pan Macmillan, Sydney, ISBN   0-330-35609-7
  6. "natural selection: regret turns to blooming marvel for Darwin".[ dead link ]
  7. C Darwin and J Amy, 1991.The Social Climbers, Pan Macmillan, Sydney, ISBN   0-7251-0680-8
  8. Monge-Nájera, Julián (1995). ABC de la evolución. EUNED. p. 58. ISBN   9977-64-822-0.
  9. "Mouth-watering challenge". Epping Forest Guardian. 21 September 2007. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
  10. "Fulfilling Darwin's last wish: the preservation of the species". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  11. Charles Darwin – Bush Heritage Australia
  12. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-04-02. Retrieved 2011-05-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. "Darwin family repeat flower count". BBC News. 7 June 2005.
  14. "Melbourne Museum to eat its words". The Age. Melbourne. 12 February 2009.
  15. "What you need to know". The Sunday Mail (Qld). 4 July 2010.