Guide to the Papers of Thomas Henry Huxley (as filmed by the AJCP), 1827-1908

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Summary

Collection number:

M876-M916

Creator:

Huxley, Thomas Henry

Extent:

177 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the Imperial College of Science and Technology and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: HMS Rattlesnake Notebook, 1846-1850, Imperial College of Science and Technology (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-878210676)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

General and scientific correspondence (ca. 4500 letters), the 850 correspondents including John Tyndall, Sir Joseph Hooker, Michael Foster, Charles Darwin, Sir Charles Lyell, Alexander Agassiz, Rev. Benjamin Jowett and Herbert Spencer (arranged in alphabetical order); nearly all the letters exchanged between T.H. Huxley and his wife from 1847-1895; letters written to Mrs Huxley and to his son, Dr Leonard Huxley; notes, drawings and photographs used in the preparation of scientific papers and lectures; diaries and sketchbooks kept on the voyage of Rattlesnake; manuscripts of a number of his books and contributions to journals; engagement diaries; newspaper cuttings and other printed material.

Biographical / Historical:

{"persname":"Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)","content":"\u003cspan class='persname'\u003eThomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895)\u003c/span\u003e was born in London, the son of a schoolteacher. He was educated briefly at Ealing School, before the family moved to Coventry in 1835. In 1841 he enrolled in an anatomy school in London and in 1842 he gained a scholarship to Charing Cross Hospital. He studied medicine at London University, and won a gold medal for anatomy and physiology, but did not have the means to complete the course. In 1845 he joined the Royal Navy, in order to repay debts, and worked at the Haslar Naval Hospital at Gosport."}

In 1846 Huxley was recruited by Captain Owen Stanley to be the assistant surgeon on the surveying voyage of HMS Rattlesnake. The expedition spent three years exploring the inner passage of the Great Barrier Reef, the southern coast of New Guinea, and some of the southern coasts of Australia. Throughout the voyage he pursued his scientific studies, investigating pelagic jellyfish, sea nettles, sea anemones and other marine animals. In Sydney he discussed his ideas with the naturalist William Sharp Macleay. It was also in Sydney that he met Henrietta Heathorn. They became engaged almost immediately, but did not marry until 1855.

In 1850 Huxley returned to London and was soon acquainted with leading scientists such as Sir Charles Lyell and Richard Owen. He was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1851 and received funds to write a book on oceanic hydroza. He failed, however, to gain a chair at Sydney University and other universities. He left the Navy in 1854, became a lecturer in natural sciences and palaeontology at the School of Mines in London, gave lectures at the London Institution, and wrote articles and reviews for the Westminster Review and other journals. He became deeply interested in evolution, corresponded frequently with Charles Darwin, and after the publication of The origin of species in 1859 became the foremost publicist of evolution and its social and religious implications. Huxley was made Hunterian professor at the Royal College of Surgeons in 1862, held the Fullerian chair at the Royal Institution (1866-69), and in 1868 became the principal of a working men's college in south London. Huxley remained professor of natural history at the Royal School of Mines at South Kensington until 1881 and was then was appointed dean and professor of biology at the Normal School of Science. He was president of the Royal Society in 1883-85. A committed agnostic and rationalist, he remained a controversial figure and one of Britain's greatest public intellectuals until the end of his life.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:: Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the Imperial College London. For more information visit: College Archives, Imperial College London [https://www.imperial.ac.uk/admin-services/acru/collegearchives/].