Edward Hussey Delaval (born 1729; died 14 August 1814 in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

) was a British scholar and natural philosopher.

Life

He was the third son of Francis Blake Delaval and his wife Rhoda Apreece. He was educated at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, admitted in 1747; he graduated B.A. in 1750, M.A. in 1754, and became a Fellow there in 1755. There also he knew the poet

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classics, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his ''Elegy Written in a Country ...

. Delaval inherited both

Seaton Delaval Hall Seaton Delaval Hall is a Grade I listed country house in Northumberland, England, near the coast just north of Newcastle upon Tyne. Located between Seaton Sluice and Seaton Delaval, it was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1718 for Admiral Geo ...

in Northumberland and Doddington Hall in Lincolnshire, but preferred to live in London. He died at the age of 85 and was buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

Works

Delaval shared the 1766

Copley Medal The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society, for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science". It alternates between the physical sciences or mathematics and the biological sciences. Given every year, the medal is t ...

where he was cited for his research on metals and glass. His interest in glass included its use in music. His performances on musical glasses became well-known, and may have inspired

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

glass harmonica The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, glass harmonium, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica or harmonica (derived from , ''harmonia'', the Greek word for harmony), is a type of musical instrument that uses a ...

Family

Delaval married Sarah Scott (1751–1829), daughter of George Scott of Methley; they had a daughter Sarah Hussey Gunman née Delaval (c1780–1825). Seaton Delaval was inherited by his nephew

Sir Jacob Astley, 5th Baronet Lieutenant-colonel Sir Jacob Henry Astley, 5th Baronet (12 September 1756 – 28 April 1817) was an English landowner and Member of Parliament. Life He was the third son of Sir Edward Astley, 4th Baronet of Melton Constable and Rhoda Delaval, ...

, whose mother Rhoda Astley, wife of Sir Edward Astley, 4th Baronet, was Delaval's sister. Doddington Hall was left to Sarah.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delaval, Edward 1729 births 1814 deaths Recipients of the Copley Medal 18th-century British people 19th-century British people Fellows of the Royal Society