For much of his adult life, Charles Darwin's health was repeatedly compromised by an uncommon combination of symptoms, leaving him severely debilitated for long periods of time. However, in some ways, this may have helped his work, as Darwin himself wrote: "Even ill-health, though it has annihilated several years of my life, has saved me from the distractions of society and amusement."

Emma Darwin was an English woman who was the wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin. They were married on 29 January 1839 and were the parents of ten children, seven of whom survived to adulthood.