Sir Philip de Malpas Grey-Egerton signature

Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton, 10th Baronet FRS (13 November 1806 – 5 April 1881) was an English

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

and

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

politician from the

Egerton family The Egerton family (pronunciation: "''edge-er-ton''") is a British aristocratic family. Over time, several members of the Egerton family were made Dukes, Earls, knights, baronets and peers. Hereditary titles held by the Egerton family include t ...

. He sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

variously between 1830 and his death in 1881.

Early life

Egerton was the son of Sir Philip Grey Egerton, 9th Baronet and his wife Rebecca Du Pre, daughter of Josias Du Pre of Wilton Park, Beaconsfield. He was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated BA in 1828. While at college his interest in

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

was aroused by the lectures of

William Buckland William Buckland DD, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist. Buckland wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named ' ...

, and by his acquaintance with William D. Conybeare. He inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1829. He was elected 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 1831, and was a trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. When it was first established in 1834 he became a trustee of the Senate of the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

Geological work

While travelling in Switzerland with Lord Cole (later to be 3rd

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 a ...

) they were introduced to Prof. L Agassiz at Neufchâtel, and determined to make a special study of

fossil fish The evolution of fish began about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. It was during this time that the early chordates developed the skull and the vertebral column, leading to the first craniates and vertebrates. The first fis ...

. During the course of fifty years they gradually gathered together two of the largest and finest of private collections—that of Sir Philip Grey Egerton being at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection al ...

Tarporley Tarporley is a large village and civil parish in Cheshire, England. The civil parish also contains the village of Rhuddall Heath. Tarporley is bypassed by the A49 and A51 roads. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,614. History Tarporle ...

, Cheshire. Egerton described the structure and affinities of numerous

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 ...

in the publications of the

Geological Society of London The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

, the ''Geological Magazine'' and the ''Decades of the Geological Survey''; and in recognition of his services the

Wollaston medal The Wollaston Medal is a scientific award for geology, the highest award granted by the Geological Society of London. The medal is named after William Hyde Wollaston, and was first awarded in 1831. It was originally made of gold (1831–1845), ...

was awarded to him in 1873 by the Geological Society. He was elected FRS in 1831, and was a trustee of the

. He was also a member of Grillion's Club, and compiled a history of the club's first fifty years in a book: 'Grillion's Club: From Its Origin in 1812 To Its Fiftieth Anniversary', published in 1880.

Political life

Egerton was a prominent local dignitary, as Deputy Lieutenant of Cheshire and J.P. for the county. He held the post in the militia as Lieutenant Colonel in the

Cheshire Yeomanry The Cheshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment that can trace its history back to 1797 when Sir John Leicester of Tabley raised a county regiment of light cavalry in response to the growing fears of invasion from Napoleonic France. Its lineag ...

. He was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the city of Chester in 1830 but lost the seat in 1831. He stood unsuccessfully at Cheshire South in 1832 but was elected in 1835 and held the seat until 1868. He was elected MP for West Cheshire from 1868 until his death in London on 5 April 1881.

Legacy

Egerton's collection of fossil fishes is now in the Natural History Museum, London. He is commemorated in the scientific names of the Rusty-fronted barwing (''Actinodura egertoni'' Gould, 1836) and

Early Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-J ...

brittle star fossil, '' Palaeocoma egertoni'' ( Broderip, 1840), although the latter is now considered a junior synonym of the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

, '' Palaeocoma milleri'' ( Phillips, 1829).Phillips J. (1829). Illustrations of the Geology of Yorkshire; or a description of the strata and organic remains of the Yorkshire Coast. Part 1. 192 pp. York. The Egerton

Bascule Bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

and Egerton Dock, located at

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to ...

, England are also named in honour of Sir Philip de Malpas Grey Egerton.

Family

He married on 8 March 1832, Anna Elizabeth, third daughter of George John Legh and had issue: * Sir Philip le Belward Grey-Egerton, 11th Baronet (1833–1891), married Henrietta, daughter of Albert Denison, 1st Baron Londesborough * Lt-Col Rowland Grey-Egerton (1838–1923), died unmarried * Anna Mary Elizabeth Grey-Egerton ( -1927), married Henry Reginald Corbet * Cecily Louisa Grey-Egerton ( -1920), married

Dunbar Douglas, 6th Earl of Selkirk Dunbar James Douglas, 6th Earl of Selkirk FRS (22 April 1809 – 11 April 1885) was a Scottish peer. Biography The son of Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk and Joan Wedderburn-Colville, was born on 22 April 1809 in London, styled as The Lo ...

References

;Bibliography * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Egerton, Philip De Malpas Grey 1806 births 1881 deaths English geologists English palaeontologists Fellows of the Royal Society Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Grey-Egerton, Philip de Malpas, 10th Baronet People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford UK MPs 1830–1831 Tory MPs (pre-1834) UK MPs 1835–1837 UK MPs 1837–1841 UK MPs 1841–1847 UK MPs 1847–1852 UK MPs 1852–1857 UK MPs 1857–1859 UK MPs 1859–1865 UK MPs 1865–1868 UK MPs 1868–1874 UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 Wollaston Medal winners