Erasmus Alvey Darwin (29 December 1804 – 26 August 1881), nicknamed Eras or Ras, was the older brother of Charles Darwin, born five years earlier, and also brought up at the family home, The Mount House, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. He was the only other boy in the family, the fourth of six children of Robert and Susannah Darwin (née Wedgwood), and the grandson of Erasmus Darwin, and of Josiah Wedgwood, a family of the Unitarian church. See a...
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Erasmus Alvey Darwin (29 December 1804 – 26 August 1881), nicknamed Eras or Ras, was the older brother of Charles Darwin, born five years earlier, and also brought up at the family home, The Mount House, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. He was the only other boy in the family, the fourth of six children of Robert and Susannah Darwin (née Wedgwood), and the grandson of Erasmus Darwin, and of Josiah Wedgwood, a family of the Unitarian church. See also Darwin — Wedgwood family.
He attended Shrewsbury School 1815–1822 as a boarder, and as a frail and studious boy his interest was in books and plants rather than sports. His mother died in 1817 and he was joined at the school by his brother Charles in September 1818. Eras became bored with the classical curriculum and took an interest in chemistry, with Charles as his assistant. They had a garden shed at their home fitted out as a laboratory.
In 1822 Eras went on to a medical course at Christ's College, Cambridge. When it came to be time...
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