Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby (21 April 1775 – 30 June 1851), styled Lord Stanley from 1776 to 1832, and Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe from 1832–4, was an English politician, peer, landowner, builder, farmer, art collector and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

. He was the patron of the writer

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...

Origins

He was the eldest child and only son and heir of

Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby Edward Smith-Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (1 September 1752 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 21 October 1834), usually styled Lord Stanley from 1771 to 1776, was a British peerage, British pe ...

(1752–1834) by his wife Elizabeth Hamilton, a daughter of

James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton James George Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton and 3rd Duke of Brandon, KT (10 July 1724 – 17 January 1758) was a Scottish peer. Early years and education Hamilton was the son of the 5th Duke of Hamilton, by his first wife, the former Lady A ...

Career

He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

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 ...

. On 10 November 1796 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire and in the same year he was elected as a Member of Parliament for Preston. He held this seat until 1812 and then represented

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

until 1832, when he was ennobled as Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe, of Bickerstaffe in the

County Palatine In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective ''palātīnus'', "relating t ...

of Lancaster.

Military career

He was commissioned Colonel of the 1st Royal Lancashire Supplementary Militia on 1 March 1797; this regiment subsequently became the 2nd Royal Lancashire Militia. He was breveted as a colonel in the regular Army with seniority from that date, retaining the rank until his regiment was disembodied, which occurred at the end of 1799. He resigned his commission as colonel on 13 April 1847.

Naturalist

In 1834 he succeeded his father as 13th

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

and withdrew from politics, instead concentrating on his

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

collection at

Knowsley Hall Knowsley Hall is a stately home near Liverpool in the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, England. It is the ancestral home of the Stanley family, the Earls of Derby. The hall is surrounded by of parkland, which contains the Knowsley S ...

, near Liverpool. He had a large collection of living animals: at his death, there were 1,272 birds and 345

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

s at Knowsley, shipped to England by explorers such as Joseph Burke. From 1828 to 1833 he was President of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

. Many of Derby's collections are now housed in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

'
World Museum
Several species were named after him, for example the Derbyan parakeet, ''Psittacula derbiana'' and an Australian species of parrot named firstly by Nicholas Vigors as ''Platycercus stanleyii'', in 1830 when he was Lord Stanley, and referred to in the vernacular as "The Earl of Derby’s Parrakeet" by the author John Gould in the sixth volume of his

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

'' Birds of Australia''. However the latter species was found to have been named previously as '' Platycercus icterotis'', and thus ''Platycercus stanleyii'' was found to have been an invalid name due to the pre-existence of a published description for the species, according to "the inviolable laws of precedence in deliberations on biological nomenclature". From the Earl of Derby's Collection, the State Library of NSW purchased six volumes of exquisite Australian natural history drawings dating from the early days of British settlement in NSW and this Library publishes talks and exhibitions of its research on this collection. He founded in 1851 with his natural history's collection a museum in Liverpool, the Derby Museum, the current

World Museum World Museum is a large museum in Liverpool, England which has extensive collections covering archaeology, ethnology and the natural and physical sciences. Special attractions include the Natural History Centre and a planetarium. Entry to the ...

, the oldest of the

National Museums Liverpool National Museums Liverpool, formerly National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, comprises several museums and art galleries in and around Liverpool in Merseyside, England. All the museums and galleries in the group have free admission. The mu ...

group.

Marriage and issue

On 30 June 1798, Smith-Stanley married his cousin Charlotte Margaret Hornby (d.1817), second daughter of Rev. Geoffrey Hornby (1750–1812), of Scale Hall, near Lancaster in Lancashire,

High Sheriff of Lancashire The High Sheriff of Lancashire is an ancient office, now largely ceremonial, granted to Lancashire, a county in North West England. High Shrievalties are the oldest secular titles under the Crown, in England and Wales. The High Sheriff of Lanca ...

in 1774 and a Deputy Lieutenant of Lancashire, Colonel of a regiment of Lancashire militia, by his wife Hon. Lucy Smith-Stanley (d.1833), the earl's aunt and a daughter of

James Smith-Stanley, Lord Strange James Smith-Stanley, Lord Strange (1716–1771) was commonly known by that title, though neither he nor his father had any claim to it. He was the eldest son of Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby, whose predecessor's heirs had used that courtesy ...

(1716–1771). Charlotte's brother was Edmund Hornby (1773–1857) of Dalton Hall, near Burton, Westmorland, a Member of Parliament for Preston, Lancashire, from 1812–1826, who married the earl's sister Lady Charlotte Stanley (d.1805). By Charlotte Hornby, he had issue: * Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (1799–1869), thrice Prime Minister (1852, 1858–9, 1866–8) * Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Smith-Stanley (11 July 1801 – 15 February 1853), married in 1823 Edward Penrhyn * Hon. Henry Thomas Smith-Stanley (1803–1875), MP for Preston (1832–7) * Hon. Emily Lucy Smith-Stanley (2 May – 15 November 1804), died in infancy * Hon. Louisa Emily Stanley (1 June 1805 – 11 December 1825), married in June 1825 Lt.-Col. Samuel Long * Lady Eleanor Mary Smith-Stanley (3 May 1807 – 11 September 1887), married in 1835 Rev. Frank George Hopwood, Rector of Winwick, Lancashire * Colonel Hon. Charles James Fox Stanley (25 April 1808 – 13 October 1884), married in 1836 Frances Augusta, daughter of Gen. Sir Henry Frederick Campbell He died on 30 June 1851 at his seat, Knowsley Hall.

References

External links

*
Stanley, Edward Smith, thirteenth earl of Derby (formerly Lord Stanley) (1775–1851), politician and naturalist
by Clemency Thorne Fisher in

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

*
The TAL & Dai-ichi Life Derby Collection
at the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establis ...