# Maud Darwin > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Maud_Darwin > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Maud_Darwin.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Darwin > Source revision: 1340497451 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|American socialite (1861–1947)}} {{Infobox person | name = Maud Darwin | image = Maud Darwin by Cecilia Beaux 1889.jpg | caption = ''Lady George Darwin'' by [Cecilia Beaux](/source/Cecilia_Beaux), pastel 1889. A line drawing of Beaux pastelling this pastel-painting is to be found in her daughter Gwen's book ''[Period Piece](/source/Period_Piece_(book))''. | birth_date = {{Birth date|1861|07|27}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1947|02|06|1861|07|27}} | citizenship = American | occupation = socialite | known_for = Wife of the English [Cambridge University](/source/Cambridge_University) astronomer [Sir George Darwin](/source/Sir_George_Darwin). }} '''Martha Haskins, Lady Darwin''' ({{nee}} '''du Puy'''; July 27, 1861 - 6 February 1947), known as Maud Darwin, was an American [socialite](/source/socialite) and the wife of the English [Cambridge University](/source/Cambridge_University) astronomer [Sir George Darwin](/source/Sir_George_Darwin). == Biographical notes == She was born as '''Martha Haskins du Puy''' in 1861 in [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania), the daughter of Charles Meredith du Puy (1823- 1898), author of ''A Genealogical History of the DuPuy Family''{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/genealogicalhist00dupu/genealogicalhist00dupu_djvu.txt |title=Full text of "A genealogical history of the Dupuy family" |access-date=2013-09-04}} and his wife, Ellen Maria Reynolds, daughter of John Reynolds, an English-born clergyman and his wife, Eleanor Evans. Her aunt, [Caroline Lane Reynolds](/source/Caroline_Lane_Reynolds_Slemmer_Jebb), travelled to England and married [Richard Claverhouse Jebb](/source/Richard_Claverhouse_Jebb). In turn, Maud visited her aunt in Cambridge. She twice rejected the marriage proposals of [Henry Martyn Taylor](/source/Henry_Martyn_Taylor). However, while travelling in Italy, she met up with George Darwin, son of the naturalist [Charles Darwin](/source/Charles_Darwin), who, although a member of her social circle, had commenced his travels independently. They became engaged there. She married Darwin in 1884 in [Erie, Pennsylvania](/source/Erie%2C_Pennsylvania), in an wedding lavishly described by ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)''.{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F5061FFC355F15738DDDAF0A94DF405B8484F0D3 |title=PROF. DARWIN'S MARRIAGE IN ERIE. - Article - NYTimes.com |work=New York Times |date=2012-06-10 |access-date=2013-09-04}} The Jebbs were able to join them. In 1885, the couple bought [Newnham Grange](/source/Newnham_Grange) in [Cambridge](/source/Cambridge). They had five children: * [Gwen Raverat](/source/Gwen_Raverat) (1885–1957), the artist. * [Charles Galton Darwin](/source/Charles_Galton_Darwin) (1887–1962), the physicist. * Margaret Elizabeth Darwin (1890–1974) who, like her mother, was wife of a [Cambridge don](/source/Cambridge_don), [Sir Geoffrey Keynes](/source/Sir_Geoffrey_Keynes). * William Robert Darwin (1894–1970), known as "Billy", a London stockbroker * Leonard Darwin (born and died in 1899). In Cambridge, she was elected to the [Ladies Dining Society](/source/Ladies_Dining_Society) that had been founded by [Louise Creighton](/source/Louise_Creighton) and [Kathleen Lyttleton](/source/Kathleen_Lyttelton) in 1890. Other members included the economist [Mary Paley Marshall](/source/Mary_Paley_Marshall), the classicist [Margaret Verrall](/source/Margaret_Verrall), the Irish suffragist [Mary Ward](/source/Mary_Ward_(suffragist)), former Newnham lecturer [Ellen Wordsworth Darwin](/source/Ellen_Wordsworth_Darwin), the mental health campaigner [Ida Darwin](/source/Ida_Darwin), Baroness Eliza von Hügel, and her aunt [Caroline Jebb](/source/Caroline_Jebb) (née Reynolds; then Slemmer). She became Lady Darwin on her husband's knighthood in 1905; and was widowed in 1912. She died at [Newnham Grange](/source/Newnham_Grange) in 1947 and was given an obituary in ''[The Times](/source/The_Times)'', which noted her campaigning for [women police officers](/source/Women_in_law_enforcement). She was cremated at Cambridge Crematorium on February 10, 1947; her husband is buried in Trumpington Extension Cemetery in Cambridge with their daughter Gwen (Raverat); also baby son Leonard Darwin.{{cn|date=November 2022}} Her daughter Gwen's childhood memoir ''[Period Piece](/source/Period_Piece_(book))'' contains Maud as a central maternal character, illustrated several times. It also describes her role as the wife of an [Oxbridge don](/source/Oxbridge_don). Many of her letters were included in her aunt's biography. Her other daughter, Lady Margaret Keynes, also wrote a book containing many references to Maud, this being principally a book about her home, [Newnham Grange](/source/Newnham_Grange) and its inhabitants. A chapter in [Frances Spalding](/source/Frances_Spalding)'s biography of Gwen Raverat also contains her life story. ==References== {{Cite book|url=https://www.amazon.com/Dearest-Love-All-Life-Letters/dp/B00005XZ9Z|title=With Dearest Love To All: The Life and Letters of Lady Jebb|last=Jebb|first=Caroline|date=1960-01-01|publisher=Henry Regnery|editor-last=Bobbitt|editor-first=Mary Reed|edition= 1st|language=en}} {{Cite book|title=House by the River: Newnham Grange to Darwin College|last=Keynes|first=Margaret|date=December 1976|publisher=Imprint unknown|isbn=9780950519807|location=Cambridge|language=en}} {{Cite book|url=https://www.amazon.com/Period-Piece-Cambridge-Gwen-Raverat/dp/B001030DVM|title=Period Piece: A Cambridge Childhood|last=Raverat|first=Gwen|date=1952|publisher=Faber & Faber|edition= 1st|language=en}} {{Cite book|title=Gwen Raverat : friends, family, and affections|last=Frances|first=Spalding|date=2004|publisher=Pimlico|isbn=1844134245|location=London|oclc=53390996}} The Times, Friday, Feb 07, 1947; pg. 7; Issue 50679; col D ==External links== * {{Find a Grave|102809750}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Darwin, Maud}} Category:1861 births Category:1947 deaths Category:Socialites from Philadelphia Category:American expatriates in England Maud Category:Wives of knights --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Maud Darwin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Darwin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maud_Darwin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.