1804-24 RICHARD OWEN GOES TO SCHOOL 5 



the bank, as you may now call there for what 

 you want with more confidence.' 



The loss which this transaction entailed on 

 Richard Owen evidently preyed upon his mind. 

 Two years afterwards he died. 



In 1808, a year before his death, he wrote 

 again to his wife from St. Kitt's. In this letter 

 he refers to his losses, but, what is more impor- 

 tant, he adds : ' I am glad to know James l and 

 Richard come on so well with their studies and 

 are so attentive.' In October 1809 Richard 

 Owen died at the age of fifty-four, according to 

 an entry in a little old note-book, tied up with a 

 faded pink ribbon, and headed ' Kitty Parrin's 

 Memorandum-book.' 



The next entry in this little note-book is that 

 of the death of Mrs. Owen's eldest son : — 



'April 22, 1827. — My eldest boy, James 

 Hawkins Owen, died at Demerara of yellow 

 fever, and was buried there.' 



Long before that date Mrs. Owen was living 

 with her six children in a house in Thurn- 

 ham Street, at the corner of Dalton Square, 

 Lancaster, and this old house is still in existence. 

 After some preparatory instruction from an old 

 Quaker lady, Richard Owen, at the mature age of 

 six, was sent to the Lancaster Grammar School 

 to join his elder brother, James, by the advice 

 of his godfather, the Rev. Joseph Rowley, 



1 Professor Owen's elder brother. 



