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Professor Antje over at Fish & Chips is always good for ace photography and pearls of wisdom (most of which fly over my cranium at great speed and altitude, but anyway…).
She flagged last Wednesday as the 151st anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s “Origin of the Species”.
My copy was printed 46 years after original publication and bought by my grandfather, Vernon Ramsden, in 1906 when he was 20 years old.
The astounding aspect of this story is that in the census of 1901, he gave his profession as “office boy”, yet 5 years later had built up a library of over 100 books (these are #104 and #105 respectively – I have around 50 of them) with which he educated himself, having left school at an early age with few qualifications.
At some stage, he joined the John Waddington company (printers of “Monopoly”) in Leeds, rising to become Company Secretary.
(He resigned in the 1930s in a dispute over a woman being employed in a position of authority, but that’s another story…)
Talk about the power of books…
Mainz Daily Photo 
>Wow what a story. You can rightly be proud of your grandfather. I understand he lived in Leeds so which generation moved to NZ? Was it your father? Yourself?(I wouldn't mind hearing the other story one day too ;-))
>Beautiful story! He must have been a great man.
>JB, some day we will have to discuss what part of your character comes from your grandfather… He sounds like a very determined and interesting man.
>What a great story JB. Nice you're showing off our new iMac too! :)V