Charles Darwin's Early Life

Charles Darwin was born February 19, 1809 at the estate home on the edge of Shrewsbury of his very wealthy father. He was the fifth child out of eight. His father encouraged his son’s interest in his own hobby, botany, but made sure that he had a traditional education at a boarding school. Charles hated school because in his

Autobiography he wrote:
‘Nothing could have been worse for the development of my mind… the school as a means of education to me was simply a blank’

So Charles did as little work as possible, he spent his time watching birds and collecting insects. Large chunks of his youth were spent in his father’s gardens and land looking for interesting animals. Darwin himself reflected on his early habits in his Autobiography, he