John Brodie Innes

The Reverend John Brodie Innes (26 December 1815 – 19 October 1894), John Innes before 1862, was a clergyman who became a close friend of Charles Darwin at Downe in Kent, and remained a friendly correspondent for the rest of Darwin's life.

Born John Innes, he inherited the family estate near Forres in Scotland, and moved there in 1862, becoming John Brodie Innes of Milton Brodie.

John Innes was born in 1815, the son of Colonel John Innes (1763–1836) of Ipstone (or Ibstone) House and Mary Leslie (died 1857) of Burdsbank. Ipstone House is located in the parish of Ipstone (Ibstone), which lies mostly in the county of Oxfordshire but also partly in the county of Buckinghamshire, England. The boundary line of these two counties passes straight through the parlor of Ipstone House. John Brodie-Innes married Eliza Mary Laidlaw (31 July 31, 1817–6 March 6, 1909) in 1847.

John Innes became Curate of Farnborough in Kent in 1842, and made the acquaintance of Darwin who moved to Down House in the nearby village of Downe in that year. Innes became perpetual curate of Downe in 1846, and hence vicar in 1868–1869. Darwin became involved with local charitable organisations including the Coal and Clothing Fund, a savings club to which he made honorary contributions and which he later ran from 1848 to 1869, taking over from Innes.

Darwin also co-founded a Friendly Club with Innes, to which local people subscribed for assurance of assistance in times of financial need, and served as its treasurer for over 30 years, even hosting the Friendly Club’s annual meeting on the lawn of Down House, the Darwin family's home.

Brodie Innes continued to correspond with Darwin after 1862 when Innes moved to take up an inherited estate at Milton Brodie, Forres in Scotland, and as required by the entail on the estate, changed his name to reflect his position as chief of the Brodies of the Milton branch of Clan Brodie.

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