Volume Thirteen - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - Remarkable Connections - Darwin, FitzRoy, Hawkshaw & Wedgwood . . . .

By 1881, Darwin's portfolio included Penarth Harbour Dock & Railway Company, demonstrating that his financial interest in the Penarth enterprise continued well beyond the opening of the dock. This is an important distinction.

Darwin's early investment is recorded as Penarth Railway, while his later portfolio specifically records Penarth Harbour Company. The two should not simply be treated as the same investment.

Darwin's own financial records

The strongest evidence comes from Darwin himself. On 1st July 1871, Darwin made a calculation headed: Calculations of Gain & Loss on Railway & Dock Shares purchased by me.

Among the investments listed is Penarth Harbour. The document records both the original cost of his investments, including expenses, and their value at the time of the calculation. Darwin was therefore not merely associated with Penarth by reputation or family connection: he was personally tracking the financial performance of his Penarth holding.

The surviving calculation also gives us an insight into Darwin's approach to money. He compared the cost of his investments with their current value and calculated the resulting gains and losses. It was part of the practical financial management that supported his life and scientific work.

An investment in a difficult enterprise

Darwin's investment came at a time when the Penarth undertaking was still developing.

The dock had taken many years to construct. At the shareholders' meeting in March 1865, the company's engineers, Hawkshaw and Dobson, reported that the dock gates, permanent railway and hydraulic coal-drop machinery were approaching completion. The removal of the sea dam was the final major stage before the dock could open to traffic.