Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham (29 July 1843 – 3 December 1919), of Merton Hall, Norfolk, was an English

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and amateur

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

Family business

Walsingham was the son of Thomas de Grey, 5th Baron Walsingham, and Augusta-Louisa, daughter of

Sir Robert Frankland-Russell, 7th Baronet Sir Robert Frankland-Russell, 7th Baronet (1784–1849) was an English politician, known also as an artist. In early life he was called Robert Frankland. Life He was the son of Sir Thomas Frankland, 6th Baronet and his wife Dorothy, daughter o ...

. He was born on Stanhope Street in

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

, the family's

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

house. He was educated at Eton and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. He sat as

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament for West Norfolk from 1865 until 1870, when he succeeded to the title and estates of his father, and entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. From 1874 to 1875 he served as a

Lord-in-waiting Lords-in-waiting (male) or baronesses-in-waiting (female) are peers who hold office in the Royal Household of the sovereign of the United Kingdom. In the official Court Circular they are styled "Lord in Waiting" or "Baroness in Waiting" (without ...

(government whip) in the second

Conservative government Conservative or Tory government may refer to: Canada In Canadian politics, a Conservative government may refer to the following governments administered by the Conservative Party of Canada or one of its historical predecessors: * 1st Canadian Min ...

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

. From 1870 on he also ran the family's estate at Merton,

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, served as trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and performed many other public functions.

Lepidoptery

Walsingham was a keen

lepidopterist Lepidopterology ()) is a branch of entomology concerning the scientific study of moths and the two superfamilies of butterflies. Someone who studies in this field is a lepidopterist or, archaically, an aurelian. Origins Post-Renaissance, the r ...

, collecting butterflies and moths from a young age, and particularly interested in

Microlepidoptera Microlepidoptera (micromoths) is an artificial (i.e., unranked and not monophyletic) grouping of moth families, commonly known as the "smaller moths" ( micro, Lepidoptera). These generally have wingspans of under 20 mm, so are harder to iden ...

. His collection was one of the most important ever made, which after his purchase of the

Zeller Zeller, meaning both prisoner and monk in German, may refer to: Places *Zeller Ache, a river of Upper Austria *Zeller Bach (Isar), a river of Bavaria, Germany, tributary of the Isar *Zeller Bach (Memminger Ach), a river of Bavaria, Germany, tributa ...

, Hofmann and

Christoph Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German variant of Christopher. Notable people with the given name Christoph * Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician * Christoph Büchel (born 1966), Swiss artist * Christoph Dientzen ...

collections contained over 260,000 specimens. He donated it to the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

, along with his library of 2,600 books. Walsingham was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1887, and was a member of the

Entomological Society of London The Royal Entomological Society is a learned society devoted to the study of insects. It aims to disseminate information about insects and to improve communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological S ...

, serving as president on two occasions. He married three times, but left no heir, and was succeeded as Baron by his half-brother. He married his third wife, Agnes Dawson, in 1914. Her daughter was Margaret Damer Dawson.

Grouse massacre

On 30 August 1888, Walsingham had a remarkable day shooting on

Blubberhouses Moor Blubberhouses is a small village and civil parish in the Washburn Valley in North Yorkshire, England. The population as at the 2011 Census was less than 100, so details were included in the civil parish of Fewston. In 2015, North Yorkshire Coun ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, when he killed 1,070

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order (biology), order Galliformes, in the family (biology), family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the Tribe (biology), tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetr ...

. The day started at 05:12 with the first of twenty drives, assisted by two teams of forty beaters, two loaders and four guns. During the sixteenth drive he shot 94 grouse in 21 minutes; a killing rate of one every 13 seconds. The last drive finished at 18:45, and he shot 14 on the walk home.

Cricket

Walsingham was a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er from 1862 to 1866. Recorded on scorecards as T de Grey, he played in 15 matches, totalling 380 runs with a highest score of 62 and holding 9 catches. He was mainly associated with

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) and

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, also representing the Gentlemen in a

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of cricket matches that began in July 1806 and was abolished in January 1963. It was a match between a team consisting of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and a team consisting of professionals (the Players ...

match in 1863, and played for

I Zingari I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the ' ...

at Sandringham on 17–18 July 1866 (at which the Prince of Wales opened for the team).''Sporting Life'', 21 July 1866, p. 4.

References

;Bibliography *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walsingham, Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron 1843 births 1919 deaths People from Mayfair People from Walsingham People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English lepidopterists Fellows of the Royal Society Grey, Thomas de Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting Grey, Thomas de Grey, Thomas de UK MPs who inherited peerages English cricketers English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 Cambridge University cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 Gentlemen of England cricketers Thomas 6 Nobility from London