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Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. He was the son of Robert Waring Darwin and his wife Susannah; and the grandson of the scientist Erasmus Darwin, and of the potter Josiah Wedgwood. His mother died when he was eight years old, and he was brought up by his sister. He was taught classics at Shrewsbury, then sent to Edinburgh to study medicine, which he hated, and a final attempt at educating him was made by …

…in spite of continuous ill-health: it was not realized until after his death that he had suffered from Chagas's diasease, which he had contracted from an insect bite while in South America. At Down House he addressed himself to the great work of his life- the problem of the origin of species. After five years of collecting the evidence, he began to speculate on the subject. In 1842 he drew up his observations in some short