Naturalist Charles Darwin lived the life of a "19th century gentleman" while at university and liked extra vegetables with meals, newly-discovered records show.
Naturalist Charles Darwin lived the life of a "19th century gentleman" while at university and liked extra vegetables with meals, newly-discovered records show.
Historians at Cambridge University, where Darwin studied between 1828 and 1831, said they had unearthed financial record books which reveal details about the scientist's day-to-day college life.
University officials said the six record books, found at Christ's College, are being published online to give students access.
"Together, they fill many gaps in our knowledge of Darwin's student days," said a university spokesman.
"The time he spent at Cambridge from 1828 to 1831 was one of the most significant periods of his life, but also one for which there is a comparative shortage of information.
"Thanks to the discovery, historians now have the exact date of Darwin's arrival at the university - January 26th, 1828 - as well as a huge assortment of details which will enable them to reconstruct his undergraduate life as never before.
"The books show how Darwin enjoyed all the trappings one would expect of a 19th century gentleman, paying service-people to carry out tasks such as stoking his fire and polishing his shoes.
"They even reveal that he was a stickler for his five-a-day - paying extra for vegetables at college meals."
He said records showed that Darwin's college bills amounted to £636.0.91/2 over three years, not including £14 he paid for his BA degree in 1831 and £12 he spent collecting an MA in 1836.
"The books appear to have been overlooked as dull administrative records of little historical importance until they were spotted by Professor Geoffrey Thorndike Martin in a pile of other old college papers and documents," added the spokesman.
"In fact, they provide a detailed record of Darwin's movements and how he spent his money.
"Students of the day did not pay cash for many services, instead paying local tradesmen by account. The individual bills would have been reported to the college, which then charged Darwin and his fellow-students on a quarterly basis."
The spokesman said Darwin said his years in Cambridge were "the most joyful of my happy life" as he lived the life of a "a well-to-do young gentleman".
"He clearly enjoyed a privileged existence," added the spokesman. "The accounts reveal that he paid a bed-maker, a shoe-black to polish his footwear, and even someone to bring in the coal that kept his fire going.
"The newly-uncovered record books also contain accounts for the barber, grocer, tailor, chimney-sweep, apothecary, porter, brazier, scullion, glazier, hatter, smith, laundress, linen-draper and painter, among others.
"His rooms at Christ's, recently restored and opened to the public, appear to have been some of the best or, at least, the most expensive available to undergraduates of his rank at the time.
"Predictably, there are very few entries which suggest he bought many books, or anything else to aid his studies.
"Darwin famously spent little of his time at Cambridge studying or in lectures, preferring to shoot, ride and collect beetles."
