A Yahgan for the Killing: Murder, Memory and Charles Darwin

Joseph Yannielli

doi:10.1017/S0007087411000641

A Yahgan for the Killing: Murder, Memory and Charles Darwin

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Abstract

In March 1742, British naval officer John Byron witnessed a murder on the western coast of South America. Both Charles Darwin and Robert FitzRoy seized upon Byron's story a century later, and it continues to play an important role in Darwin scholarship today. This essay investigates the veracity of the murder, its appropriation by various authors, and its false association with the Yahgan people encountered during the second voyage of the Beagle (1831–1836). Darwin's use of the story is examined in multiple contexts, focusing on his relationship with the history of European expansion and cross-cultural interaction and related assumptions about slavery and race. The continuing fascination with Byron's story highlights the key role of historical memory in the development and interpretation of evolutionary theory.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	415-443
Journal	British Journal for the History of Science
Volume	46
Issue number	3
Early online date	20 Oct 2011
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007087411000641
Publication status	Published - Sept 2013

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AB - In March 1742, British naval officer John Byron witnessed a murder on the western coast of South America. Both Charles Darwin and Robert FitzRoy seized upon Byron's story a century later, and it continues to play an important role in Darwin scholarship today. This essay investigates the veracity of the murder, its appropriation by various authors, and its false association with the Yahgan people encountered during the second voyage of the Beagle (1831–1836). Darwin's use of the story is examined in multiple contexts, focusing on his relationship with the history of European expansion and cross-cultural interaction and related assumptions about slavery and race. The continuing fascination with Byron's story highlights the key role of historical memory in the development and interpretation of evolutionary theory.

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A Yahgan for the Killing: Murder, Memory and Charles Darwin

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