Thomas Littleton Powys, 4th Baron Lilford (18 March 1833 – 17 June 1896), was a British

aristocrat The aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Ro ...

and

ornithologist Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...

Life

Lilford was the eldest son of

Thomas Powys, 3rd Baron Lilford Thomas Atherton Powys, 3rd Baron Lilford (2 December 1801 – 15 March 1861), was a British peer and Whig politician. Lilford was the son of Thomas Powys, 2nd Baron Lilford, and Henrietta Maria Atherton of Atherton Hall. He succeeded his fath ...

, and Mary Elizabeth Fox, daughter of

Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland of Holland, and 3rd Baron Holland of Foxley PC (21 November 1773 – 22 October 1840), was an English politician and a major figure in Whig politics in the early 19th century. A grandson of Henry F ...

. He was born in Stanhope Street, Mayfair, London, on 18 March 1833. He succeeded his father as fourth baron in 1861. Lilford was one of the eight founders of the

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds ("ornithology") and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry ...

in 1858 and its president from 1867 until his death. He was also the first President of the Northamptonshire Natural History Society. Lilford travelled widely, especially around the Mediterranean and his extensive collection of birds was maintained in the grounds of

Lilford Hall Lilford Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean stately home in Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom. The 100-room house is located in the eastern part of the county, south of Oundle and north of Thrapston. History It was started in 1495 as a Tudor ...

, his second residence was

Bank Hall Bank Hall is a Jacobean mansion in Bretherton, Lancashire, England. It is a Grade II* listed building and is at the centre of a private estate, surrounded by parkland. The hall was built on the site of an older house in 1608 by the Banastres ...

Bretherton Bretherton is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, situated to the south west of Leyland and east of Tarleton. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 669. Its name suggests pre-con ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, which he inherited from his father (3rd Baron Lilford), who inherited it from

George Anthony Legh Keck Colonel George Anthony Legh-Keck (1774–1860) was a British MP in the Georgian era who owned landed estates in Leicestershire and Lancashire. Early life Legh-Keck was born at Stoughton Grange, Leicestershire, the only surviving son of Anthon ...

.J Howard (2011) "Bank Hall Timeline", He inherited the Holland Estates from his mother's family. Until 1891, his aviaries featured birds from around the globe, including

rheas The rheas ( ), also known as ñandus ( ) or South American ostriches, are large ratites (flightless birds without a keel on their sternum bone) in the order Rheiformes, native to South America, distantly related to the ostrich and emu. Most tax ...

, kiwis,

pink-headed duck The pink-headed duck (''Rhodonessa caryophyllacea'') is a large diving duck that was once found in parts of the Gangetic plains of India, parts of Maharashtra, Bangladesh and in the riverine swamps of Myanmar but feared extinct since the 1950s. ...

s and a pair of free-flying

bearded vulture The bearded vulture (''Gypaetus barbatus''), also known as the lammergeier and ossifrage, is a very large bird of prey and the only member of the genus ''Gypaetus''. Traditionally considered an Old World vulture, it actually forms a separate mi ...

s. He was responsible for the introduction of the

little owl The little owl (''Athene noctua''), also known as the owl of Athena or owl of Minerva, is a bird that inhabits much of the temperate and warmer parts of Europe, the Palearctic east to Korea, and North Africa. It was introduced into Britain at ...

into England in the 1880s. He wrote about birds including ''Notes on the Birds of Northamptonshire and Neighbourhood'' (1895) and ''Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Islands'', which was completed by

Osbert Salvin Osbert Salvin FRS (25 February 1835 – 1 June 1898) was an English naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist best known for co-authoring ''Biologia Centrali-Americana'' (1879–1915) with Frederick DuCane Godman. This was a 52 volume encyc ...

after his death. A

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of European lizard, ''

Podarcis lilfordi Lilford's wall lizard (''Podarcis lilfordi'' ) is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to the Balearic Islands, Spain. Its natural habitats are temperate Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, rocky areas, and r ...

'', is named in his honour.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Lilford", p. 158).

Family

Lord Lilford married, firstly, Emma Elizabeth Brandling, daughter of Robert William Brandling, in 1859. After her death in 1884 he married, secondly, Clementina Georgina, daughter of Ker Baillie-Hamilton, in 1885. He died in June 1896, aged 63, and was succeeded in the barony by his eldest son from his first marriage, John. Lady Lilford died in 1929. A metal plaque commemorating a " Cedar of Atlantica" planted by Lady Lilford in 1897, was found in 2005 and is displayed in the visitor centre at Bank Hall.

Bibliography

* (in 7 volumes, 1885–1897)

Notes

References

Sources

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lilford, Thomas Littleton Powys, 4th Baron 1833 births 1896 deaths British ornithologists Fellows of the Zoological Society of London Thomas 4 Presidents of the British Ornithologists' Union