Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

Washington Shirley, 5th Earl Ferrers, FRS (26 May 1722 – 1 October 1778) was a British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer,

hereditary peer The hereditary peers form part of the peerage in the United Kingdom. As of April 2025, there are 800 hereditary peers: 30 dukes (including six royal dukes), 34 marquesses, 189 earls, 108 viscounts, and 439 barons (not counting subsidiary ...

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and amateur

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

Early life

Ferrers was the second son of

Hon Hon or HON may refer to: People Given name * Cho Hŏn (1544–1592), Joseon militia leader * Ho Hon (1885–1951), North Korean politician Surname * Han (surname) (Chinese: 韩/韓), also romanized Hon * Louis Hon (1924–2008), French fo ...

Laurence Shirley (fourth son of

Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers PC (20 October 1650 – 25 December 1717)—known as Sir Robert Shirley, 7th Baronet, from 1669 to 1677 and Robert Shirley, 14th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, from 1677 to 1711—was an English peer and courtier. ...

) and his wife, Anne. Two weeks after the execution of his brother

Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers Laurence Shirley, 4th Earl Ferrers (18 August 1720 – 5 May 1760) was an English nobleman, notable for being the last peerage, peer to be hanging, hanged, following his conviction for murdering his steward. Biography Shirley was the el ...

in 1760, Ferrers took his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as the 5th Earl Ferrers. In 1763,

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

granted him the family estates, previously

forfeit Forfeit or forfeiture may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Forfeit'', a 2007 thriller film starring Billy Burke * "Forfeit", a song by Chevelle from '' Wonder What's Next'' * '' Forfeit/Fortune'', a 2008 album by Crooked Fingers ...

by his brother as a

felon A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that ...

(much to the surprise of Casanova, then visiting

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) and he began to transform the family seat of

Staunton Harold Staunton Harold is a civil parish in North West Leicestershire about north of Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The parish is on the county boundary with Derbyshire and about south of Derby. The 2011 Census (including Lount) recorded the parish's populatio ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

Naval career

In about 1738 he joined the Royal Navy and rose through the ranks as a Second Lieutenant in 1741,

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a se ...

in 1746 and

Post-Captain Post-captain or post captain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy. The term "post-captain" was descriptive only; it was never used as a title in the form "Post-Captain John Smith". The term served to dis ...

soon after. He was later promoted as a

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

in 1771 and

Vice-Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of vic ...

in 1775.

Later life

Ferrers was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

on 28 August 1761. Due to persistent financial problems, he sold the estates of

Astwell Astwell is a hamlet (place), hamlet in Northamptonshire, England. With Falcutt, it is part of the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Helmdon, but formerly Astwell was split between the parishes of Syresham and Wappenham. The hamlet is ...

(including

Astwell Castle Astwell Castle is a manor house in Northamptonshire, England about south-west of Wappenham. It is a Grade II listed building and part of the parish of Helmdon, a village west. History The De Wauncys were amongst the earliest possessors of th ...

) and

Falcutt Falcutt (or Fancote) is a hamlet in the English county of Northamptonshire. With Astwell, it forms part the civil parish of Helmdon and is south of the village of that name. Historically, Falcutt and Astwell were part of the Wappenham Wapp ...

Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, KG, PC (26 September 1711 – 12 September 1779) was a British politician and peer who served as Lord Privy Seal from 1757 to 1761. He is best known for his association with his brother-in-law Willia ...

between 1774 and 1777. Ferrers was keen on astronomy and owned his own

orrery An orrery is a mechanical Solar System model, model of the Solar System that illustrates or predicts the relative positions and motions of the planets and natural satellite, moons, usually according to the heliocentric model. It may also represent ...

. In 1761 he was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

(FRS) for his work on the observations of the

transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1980 film), a 1980 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (1986 film), a Canadian short film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countrie ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

. Ferrers purchased

Joseph Wright of Derby Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution". Wr ...

's painting entitled ''"A Philosopher giving a Lecture on the Orrery in which a lamp is put in place of the Sun"''. He has been credited as being the figure on the right. Ferrers had

Peter Perez Burdett Peter Perez Burdett (c. 1734 – 9 September 1793) was an 18th-century cartographer, surveying, surveyor, artist, and technical drawing, draughtsman originally from Eastwood, Essex, Eastwood in Essex where he inherited a small estate and chose ...

(the figure on the left) as a house guest and he had attended a talk by

James Ferguson James Ferguson may refer to: Entertainment * Jim Ferguson (born 1948), American jazz and classical guitarist * Jim Ferguson, American guitarist, past member of Lotion (band), Lotion * Jim Ferguson, American movie critic, Board of Directors member ...

who had given lectures on the orrery.

Death

Lord Ferrers died in 1778 at Chartley Manor Place,

at the age of 56 and was buried at Staunton Harold. He and his wife, Anne Elliot, had no children and the earldom and estates therefore passed to his younger brother,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

.Richard Davenport-Hines, ''Shirley, Washington, fifth Earl Ferrers (1720–1760)''

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

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2004, accessed 13 November 2007

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrers, Washington Shirley, 5th Earl 1722 births 1778 deaths 18th-century British astronomers Deputy lieutenants of Staffordshire 05 Fellows of the Royal Society Articles containing image maps Royal Navy vice admirals People associated with Derby Museum and Art Gallery Grand masters of the Premier Grand Lodge of England Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England