Thomas Campbell Eyton JP, DL (10 September 1809 – 25 October 1880) was an English naturalist whose fields were cattle, fishes and birds. He was a friend and correspondent of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

though he opposed his theories. Eyton was born at Eyton Hall, near

Wellington, Shropshire Wellington is a market town in Telford and Wrekin, Shropshire, England. It is situated 4 miles (6 km) northwest of central Telford and 12 miles (19 km) east of Shrewsbury. The summit of The Wrekin lies 3 miles southwest of the town. The ...

. He studied at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, where he was a contemporary and friend of

. After succeeding to the estate in 1855 Eyton built a large natural history museum at Eyton Hall that included a range of bird skins and skeletons, described as "one of the finest in Europe". Besides Darwin, Eyton enjoyed a correspondence with other naturalists including

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...

Asa Gray Asa Gray (November 18, 1810 – January 30, 1888) is considered the most important American botanist of the 19th century. His ''Darwiniana'' was considered an important explanation of how religion and science were not necessarily mutually excl ...

and

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural se ...

. Eyton published ''History of the Rarer British Birds'' (1836), ''A Monograph on the Anatidae, Or Duck Tribe'' (1838), ''A History of Oyster and Oyster Fisheries'' (1858) and ''Osteologia Avium'' (1871–78). He established in about 1842 the ''Herd Book of Hereford Cattle'', which he edited until 1860 Eyton was married in 1835 to Elizabeth Frances Slaney, the eldest daughter and co-heiress of

Robert Aglionby Slaney Robert Aglionby Slaney (9 June 1791 – 19 May 1862) was a British barrister and Whig politician from Shropshire. He sat in the House of Commons as a Member of Parliament for the borough of Shrewsbury for most of the period from 1826 until his ...

MP. She pre-deceased him by ten years. He was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

(JP) and a Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire. He served in the South Salopian Yeomanry Cavalry, entering as cornet in 1830, and promoted lieutenant in 1838. He also played county level cricket for

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

between 1844 and 1854.

References

*Mullens and Swann - ''A Bibliography of British Ornithology'' 1809 births 1880 deaths English ornithologists Fellows of the Zoological Society of London People from Wellington, Shropshire Shropshire Yeomanry officers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Deputy Lieutenants of Shropshire English naturalists {{UK-ornithologist-stub

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