On February 12, 1809, in Shrewsbury, England, naturalist and evolutionist Charles Darwin was born. Growing up, Darwin had most of his life handed to him: with a father working as a well-paid physician and his mother with a connection to the Wedgewood family, Charles was a quite fortunate and well-off young child. He spent much of his childhood at a house called “The Mount in Shrewsbury”, in which he was raised along with five known siblings. His mother, Susannah did much of the housework, the finances, and took care of the children, while his father, Robert, immersed himself in his work as a medical doctor and was rarely home. Charles wrote he recalled very little about his mother, however, as Susanna fell ill with either a severe ulcer or stomach cancer, and died when he was merely eight years old. This abrupt death led the three eldest girls to run the household in place of their mother, and teach Darwin the necessities of school, and his father to engross himself in his practices more than ever. To …show more content…
His father, Robert, urged that Charles follow his career choice, and suggested he become a medical doctor, but this notion was quickly dismissed after the two learned he became nauseous at the sight of blood. Robert’s next suggestion was that Charles become a rector, but Charles found he had much more of an inclination towards natural science and history. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree, his botany professor and mentor, John Stevens Henslow, encouraged him to accept a five-year naturalist’s position aboard the HMS Beagle, a ship commanded by Captain Robert Fitzroy. The Beagle began its voyage on December 27, 1831, and while abroad, Charles collected many natural specimens and thus experimented and closely researched and observed geology, archaeology, and botany to his heart's content.