The first Charles Darwin (1758-78).

The paper places the first Charles Darwin in his family context: the eldest son of Dr Erasmus Darwin and Mary Howard. Mention is made of Charles's upbringing and education, with illustrative material taken from his father's writings and from Anna Seward's Memoirs of the Life of Dr Darwin (1804). The part played by Dr Andrew Duncan of the Edinburgh Medical School is established. The award to Charles in March 1778 of the first medal by the Aesculapian Society of Edinburgh is described. The involvement of Dr William Cullen and Dr Joseph Black in the treatment of Charles's fatal infection is evidenced from Erasmus' letters. Attention is given to 'An Elegy on the much-lamented death of a most ingenious young gentleman who lately died in the College at Edinburgh where he was a student' which was written jointly by Duncan and Erasmus in 1778. The Elegy's curious publishing history will be glanced at. The paper concludes with a statement of Charles's great promise as a medical student and of Erasmus' efforts to ensure that his son's achievements were memorialised.