The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences The Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences

The Darwin Collection

Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin is best known as the man who provided the foundation for our understanding of evolution in his Origin of Species, perhaps one of the most contentious publications of all time. But long before this book was published, Darwin was a geologist.

Aboard HMS Beagle in the 1830's, he made observations and collected rock samples that have influenced the way we have interpreted the story of the Earth.

When Darwin died in 1882, his field notebooks and several thousand rock specimens from this voyage were presented to the Sedgwick Museum. Some of these can now be seen on display in the gallery.

Artist's impression of HMS Beagle of Terra del Fuego

Following a brief lesson in field geology with Adam Sedgwick in August 1831, Darwin joined Captain Fitzroy aboard the HMS Beagle as ship's geologist and naturalist. After months of preparation and several false starts, the Beagle set sail from Plymouth on 27 December 1831, on a course through some of the most treacherous waters on the planet.

Left: HMS Beagle off Terra del Fuego.
From an original by Raymond A. Massey


Bivouac at Port Desire

During the 5 year expedition, Darwin explored remote islands and coastlines, collecting specimens of the rocks and fossils he found there, and making careful notes.

Right: Bivouac at Port Desire, 29 December 1833
From a watercolour by the ship's artist, Conrad Martens.

"... the red porphyry rock rises from the water in perpendicular cliffs, or forms spires and pinnacles ..."

On his return, Darwin spent 3 months in Cambridge, and with the help of Adam Sedgwick and Hugh Miller, he revised and edited his geological notebooks from the voyage. Between 1842 and 1846 his 3 part Geological Observations of South America was published.

Exhibit Update

The Darwin Collection

Due to the preparation of two new exhibitions on Charles Darwin, the Museum currently has no Darwin material on display.

The exhibition Charles Darwin - Becoming a Geologist is planned to open in April 2008 and will focus on Darwin's early life, including his time as an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge.

A second exhibition, Darwin the Geologist is scheduled to open in the summer of 2009.

More information about these exhibitions can be found on our News pages.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

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