History

The college was named after the family of one of Cambridge’s most influential and well known alumni, Charles Dawrin, who studied at Christ college between 1927 – 1831. Although he initially trained to become a priest, Charles Darwin became a member of a 5 year exploration upon the HMS Beagle, where he began to develop his theory of evolution,which was later published in his groundbreaking book, ‘The Origin Of Species’ in 1858.

The name of the college was chosen due to the land upon which the college sits, which was formerly owned by Charles Darwin’s second son, George Darwin. Following the death of George Darwin’s son in 1962, the land was donated to the university along with the family home, from which the original college buildings were built. 

The college was founded through a joint effort between 3 of the older colleges – Gonville & Caius, St. John’s and Trinity – following the growing number of graduate students after WW2.