Childhood and Boyhood 91 



the harsh discipline of a classical school into the fascinating field of 

 scientific observation '. 



But the year was to be memorable in other ways. The house at 

 Claverdon, the country home of the Galtons, was taken in hand. In 

 June the Coronation of Queen Victoria took place. On the 26th 

 Francis Galton went up to London to stay with Darwin in his lodgings, 

 and spent most of the time with his sisters at the Howard Galtons in 

 Portman Square. It was his first long stay in London, and his friends 

 took him out each day sight-seeing. Every house had thrown out 

 balconies, and scaffolding, and galleries, covered with crimson cloth, had 

 been built for spectators. The Hudson Gurneys (see Plate XL VII) had 

 obtained a ticket for Sister Bessie in the Abbey itself. Uncle Howard 

 and Sister Emma were at the Reform Club, Darwin at a Mr Collins', 

 the Hubert Galtons in St James' Street, and Francis got a seat in Pall 

 Mall for 30s. Sister Bessie (Mrs Wheler) describes the excitement both 

 inside and outside the Abbey very vividly for us, the crowds, the 

 illuminations, the ceremony and the feelings of the day itself. 



I have frequently thought that Galton's idea of carrying, when in 

 a crowd, a block of wood or a brick in brown paper which he let down 

 by a piece of string and stood upon, as well as his "hyperscope," a simple 

 tube with two parallel mirrors at 45 degrees to its axis, were devices 

 impressed upon him by his experience at these coronation festivities ; 

 they satisfied his desire to see over the heads of a mass of people. 

 Unfortunately no letter of Francis himself, describing the events, has 

 been preserved. But the formal beginning of the new reign was the 

 formal beginning of Francis Galton's adolescence. Henceforth he was 

 no longer a boy, but an apprentice, starting his craft ; rather early, it is 

 true at sixteen years of age and rather old-fashionedly, but he was 

 strong in character, and given freedom, he could and would absorb all 

 that his active mind needed for its sustenance. 



1 There is an excellent letter, dated Leamington, December 9, 1837, from Samuel 

 Tertius to his son, announcing the medical appointment. He writes : 



"I really believe, if you turn the opportunities you will have at the Hospital to the 

 U-st. account and avail yourself of the ad vantages of explanation that my medical friends 

 there will be disposed to give you, if they find you willing to profit by them, that you 

 will begin your medical career very propitiously. You must be careful to avoid low 

 company and not be led astray by any pupils there that may not be equally well disposed 

 but I have great confidence in your wish to do what is right, and when we meet at 

 your approaching holidays, we will talk over all your plans and arrangements in good 

 earnest and particularly in reference to your masters and studies whilst at the Hospital." 



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