SEPTEMBER - Events sorted by day of the month:

September 01 1831
Darwin woke up early for the first day of bird hunting season and while he was out he received word that his uncle Josiah wanted the two of them to return to Shrewsbury at once. Upon arriving at The Mount Darwin found that his uncle's letter had done the trick, and his father allowed him to go on the voyage, and would support him in any way necessary.

September 05 1831
Hoping that the position had not yet been filled, Darwin arrived in London and to went to the Whitehall Admiralty building to speak with Robert FitzRoy in Captain Beaufort's office. FitzRoy told Darwin that the other person he had offered the job to had just turn it down and he wanted to know if Darwin was still interested in the position. He enthusiastically accepted the offer and FitzRoy outlined the details of the voyage. Darwin learned that the sail date had been postponed until 10 October. Later in the afternoon Darwin took up residence at 17 Spring Gardens, just around the corner from Whitehall. The next few days were spent shopping in London and discussing the details of the voyage with FitzRoy.

September 05 1857
Darwin sent an outline of his theory of natural selection to Asa Gray, professor of natural history at Harvard University.

September 07 1835
H.M.S. Beagle set sail from Callao, Peru, to the Galapagos Archipelago.

September 07 1876
The first grandson of Emma and Darwin, Bernard Darwin, was born. He was the first son of Francis Darwin and Amy Ruck, she having died a few days later on 11 September due to a fever.

September 07 1881
Darwin completed his final will.

September 10 1830
Upon returning home at Shrewsbury he received a letter from Fanny that she was engaged to be married. This upset Darwin a great deal.

September 13 1864
Darwin's 118 page treatise: "The Movement and Habits of Climbing Plants" was published by the Linnean Society.

September 14 1842
Darwin, Emma, and the children, move to Down House amid labor riots in the streets of London.

September 15 1835
In the afternoon a tiny point of land was seen on the horizon. This was the first sighting of the Galapagos Archipelago, and it turned out to be Mount Pitt, a large hill on the north-east end of Chatham Island.

September 16 1835
H.M.S. Beagle reached Hood Island today. Early in the morning Edward Chaffers (master) and Arthur Mellersh (midshipman) set out on a boat to examine the island's shoreline. By noon another boat was launched to survey the central islands of the archipelago. Later in the afternoon H.M.S. Beagle reached Chatham Island. Darwin was intrigued by the black lava rocky shore, and raw hostile environment of the island.

September 18 1835
They sailed to the north-east end of Chatham. Capt. FitzRoy and others went on a short inland excursion. Darwin and John Stokes (assistant surveyor) were also put on shore and explored on their own. Darwin examined the huge tortoises here, but collected just ten plants, most of which he thought were unimpressive little things. Eighteen tortoises were brought on board as food.

September 20 1837
Darwin was experiencing heart problems which may have been caused by the stress brought on by his heretical transmutation research. He stopped work for a short time and went home to Shrewsbury, stopping along the way to visit the Wedgwood estate. During this visit he paid particular attention to his first cousin, Emma Wedgwood.

September 21 1838
Darwin had a dream of being executed by hanging.

September 23 1842
Mary Eleanor Darwin was born, but died on 18 October.

September 25 1843
Darwin's health was finally starting to improve. Another daughter, Henrietta Darwin, was born, and more good news, the Zoology of the Beagle Voyage was completed! The five volumes of the Zoology were - Part 1: Fossils. Part 2: Mammals. Part 3: Birds. Part 4: Fish. Part 5: Reptiles.

September 27 1834
Darwin arrived back at Valparaiso from an inland excursion but had been very sick for the past few weeks. He stayed at Corfield's house with a bad fever and did not recover until late October. During this time he wrote a letter to his sisters back home describing his adventures and also told of how ill he had been (an act he would later regret).

Events some time during this month:

September (late) 1844
The edited copy of the transmutation sketch was sent back to Darwin and it had grown to 231 pages. For the very first time he showed the sketch to Emma, expecting the worst. Surprisingly, her response to it was not as bad as he thought it would be. She expressed concern about various assumptions he was making, suggested a few corrections here and there, but for the most part her reaction appeared to have been quite reserved.

September (late) 1872
Darwin spent a three week holiday at nearby Sevenoaks.

September (mid) 1867
Asa Gray and his wife came to England to visit Darwin at Down House.

September 1818
Darwin joined his brother, Erasmus, at Shrewsbury Grammar School, run by the Revd. Samuel Butler. The focus of study was Greek and Roman reading and grammar. He developed a great fondness of Shakespeare and Byron during this time. As an aside, Darwin was referred to as "Bobby" by his family during his childhood.

September 1846
"Geological Observations on South America" was now complete.

September 1854
The second edition of Barnacles was now in print.

September 1861
Darwin made arrangements with John Murray to publish his orchid book next year. By this time, German, Dutch and French translations of Origin of Species were in the works. As the work on orchids piled up, Darwin became much more ill and his research ground to a near halt. Huxley continued his lecture circuit, and during this time he was heading for that stronghold of the church, Edinburugh, Scotland. He gave a speech there on the evolution of mankind from a species of ancestral ape. Much to his surprise, his lecture was met with great enthusiasm; some people in the audience even cheered! When Darwin heard the news he was overcome with joy.

September 1863
While reading Lyell's book, "Antiquity of Man," Darwin's health became much worse. At the behest of his wife, Emma, he returned to Malvern Spa for the water cure. Darwin could not bring himself to visit Annie's grave, but Emma went for a look - the spot being overgrown with bushes.