Month: July 2012

Sir John Who-blon? Sir John Houblon. You must have heard of him: first governor of the Bank of England. He was such an important and influential chap that they chose to depict him on the back of the £50 note. What? On the highest denomination note of the realm? That's right. In 1994, the Bank… Continue reading Sir John Houblon

Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin. —Charles Darwin The Descent of Man, 1871 As is explained elsewhere, the Red Lion public house, Parkgate, Cheshire may one day go down in history as the birthplace of the Friends of Charles Darwin. Until then, we can but reflect on… Continue reading Can Red Lions Evolve?

Although the Bank of England has finally announced that Charles Darwin is to be celebrated on one of their bank notes, they weren't the first people to recognise his genius. Darwin has already been honoured in many other ways. One of the strangest was his depiction on a sachet of sugar. I came across this… Continue reading The Sweetest Honour of All?

Can you help? I'm trying to find out more about this engraving, entitled The Durham Cow. I bought it at an antiques fair in Oxfordshire last year. Only after I'd taken it home did I realise that the image had been cut out of an old book a practice I heartily disapprove of, which would certainly… Continue reading In Search of the Durham Cow

Meet Carolyn, the 100th member of the Friends of Charles Darwin. Carolyn and I go back a long way, so I promised her the highly desirable 100th position, once it finally became available. [Not that Carolyn expressed any particular desire to acquire 100th position, you understand—but, it's a great opportunity to embarrass her.] If there's… Continue reading The Hundredth Monkey