46 Life and Letters of Francis Galton, 



Unitarianism, or Deism. The next generation was to return to the 

 Anglican or to the Roman Catholic Confession. 



The Warrington Academy has led to this digression on Samuel 

 Galton's relations to Priestley. On leaving Warrington, Galton entered 

 when 17 years of age the counting-house of Galton and Farmer. His 

 diary reveals rapid progress in business success and continuous scientific 

 tastes. In 1775, his father transferred 10,000 to him ; in 1776, he first 

 saw Lucy Barclay 1 (see Plate XXVI), in 1777 he married her, and his 

 mother, Mary Farmer, died. In 1778 he became equal partner with his 

 father, and took a house in Five Ways, Birmingham. In 1783 he was 

 worth 35,716. In 1785 he went to live at Barr, and bought cows and 

 followed agricultural pursuits in the winters he came into Birmingham 

 again. In 1788 he was worth 43,049. In 1792 we find him interested 

 in canal development ; in 1794 he bought Warley for 7300, an estate 

 he afterwards presented to his son John Hubert Barclay Galton. After 

 the death of his father in 1799, he went to live at Dudcleston, and in 1 803 

 he was worth more than 180,000, and later than this we have repeated 

 investments in and development of landed estates. At death his 

 fortune was upwards of 300,000. Among interesting evidence of the 

 intimacy with Dr Erasmus Darwin are the fees paid to him, 10 guineas 

 in 1787, 100 guineas for a visit to Margate in 1793, when Mary Anne 

 the eldest daughter had a dangerous fever, and 40 guineas for a visit 

 to Bath at the time of the illness and death in 1799 of Samuel Galton 

 the elder. Other items of general interest are 80 guineas for four years 

 to Dr Priestley in 1798, and a further subscription in 1803. 



Of Samuel Galton's own development after he started business we 

 may say a few words. He was a member of the Lunar Society, a local 

 society the members of which dined at each others' houses at time of 

 1 There is an absurd tale in the first edition of Cassell's History of Enyland, only 

 referred to here in case anyone should ever revive it, that Lucy Barclay was a daughter 

 of George III and Hannah Lightfoot, a young Quakeress. The story is disproved by : 

 (1) the marriage certificate of Hannah Lightfoot to Isaac Axford in 1753, four years 

 before Lucy's birth; (2) the marriage certificate of Robert Barclay to the first Lucy 

 Barclay on June 3, 1756, which in I860 was in possession of Mrs Brewin ; (3) the birth 

 of Lucy Barclay at Bushill in the Quakers' records on March 22, 1757 ; (4) the death 

 of her mother, Lucy Barclay, at her birth or one day afterwards according to family 

 tradition by her bed taking tire : the Quaker records say she died on March 23 and was 

 buried at Winchmore Hill on the 29th ; (5) Lucy Barclay's visits to Ury (see Sampler, 

 Plate XXVII) ; (6) Robert Barclay's bi-annual visits to Great Barr to see his daughter 

 and her husband, whom lie ultimately made one of his executors. 



