View source for Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham

{{short description|English politician and entomologist (1843–1919)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
[[File:LordWalsingham.jpg|thumb]]
[[File:Walsingham Achievement.png|thumb|Arms of Grey, Barons Walsingham: ''Barry of six argent and azure, in chief three annulets gules''; crest: ''A wyvern's head or''; supporters: ''Two wyverns regardant argent collard azure chained or and charged on the breast with three annulets gules''; motto: ''Excitari Non Herescere'' ("to be spirited not inactive")<ref>{{cite book|title=Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage |year=2000}}</ref>]]
'''Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham''' (29 July 1843 – 3 December 1919), of [[Merton Hall, Norfolk]], was an English [[politician]] and amateur [[entomologist]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Walsingham, 6th Baron (''cr.'' 1780), Thomas de Grey|magazine=Who's Who|year=1905|volume= 57|pages=1675–1676|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iEVLAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1675|last1=Addison|first1=Henry Robert|last2=Oakes|first2=Charles Henry|last3=Lawson|first3=William John|last4=Sladen|first4=Douglas Brooke Wheelton}}</ref>
==Family business==
[[File:Lord Walsingham Vanity Fair 1882-09-09.jpg|thumb|{{center|"a Naturalist"<br />Lord Walsingham as caricatured by [[Théobald Chartran|T]] in ''[[Vanity Fair (UK magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'', 9 September 1882.}}]]
Walsingham was the son of [[Thomas de Grey, 5th Baron Walsingham]], and Augusta-Louisa, daughter of [[Sir Robert Frankland-Russell, 7th Baronet]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Edmund Lodge|title=The Peerage of the British Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bO8NAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA576|year=1858|pages=576–}}</ref> He was born on Stanhope Street in [[Mayfair]], the family's [[London]] house. He was educated at [[Eton College|Eton]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{acad|id=D861T|name=De Grey, the Hon. Thomas}}</ref> He sat as [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[West Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|West Norfolk]] from 1865 until 1870, when he succeeded to the title and estates of his father, and entered the [[House of Lords]]. From 1874 to 1875 he served as a [[Lord-in-waiting]] (government whip) in the second [[Conservative Government 1874-1880|Conservative government]] of [[Benjamin Disraeli]]. From 1870 on he also ran the family's estate at Merton, [[Norfolk]], served as trustee of the [[British Museum]] and performed many other public functions.
==Lepidoptery==
Walsingham was a keen [[lepidopterist]], collecting butterflies and moths from a young age, and particularly interested in [[Microlepidoptera]].<ref>Rao, BR Subba (1998) History of entomology in India. Institution of Agricultural Technologists, Bangalore.</ref> His collection was one of the most important ever made, which after his purchase of the [[Philipp Christoph Zeller|Zeller]], [[Ottmar Hofmann|Hofmann]] and [[Hugo Theodor Christoph|Christoph]] collections contained over 260,000 specimens. He donated it to the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]], along with his library of 2,600 books.
Walsingham was elected a fellow of the [[Royal Society]] in 1887, and was a member of the [[Entomological Society of London]], serving as president on two occasions. He married three times, but left no heir, and was succeeded as Baron by his half-brother. He married his third wife, Agnes Dawson, in 1914.<ref>[http://www.mocavo.co.uk/Visitation-of-England-and-Wales-Volume-19/919837/329 Visitation of England and Wales, Volume 19, Page 329]</ref> Her daughter was [[Margaret Damer Dawson]].
==Grouse massacre==
On 30 August 1888, Walsingham had a remarkable day shooting on [[Blubberhouses Moor]], [[Yorkshire]], when he killed 1,070 [[Red grouse|grouse]]. The day started at 05:12 with the first of twenty [[Driven grouse shooting|drives]], assisted by two teams of forty beaters, two loaders and four guns. During the sixteenth drive he shot 94 grouse in 21 minutes; a killing rate of one every 13 seconds. The last drive finished at 18:45, and he shot 14 on the walk home.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Avery|first1=Mark|title=Inglorious: Conflict in the Uplands|year=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury|location=London|isbn=978-1-4729-1741-6|page=59}}</ref>
==Cricket==
Walsingham was a [[first-class cricket]]er from 1862 to 1866. Recorded on scorecards as T de Grey, he played in 15 matches, totalling 380 [[run (cricket)|runs]] with a highest score of 62 and holding 9 catches. He was mainly associated with [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC) and [[Cambridge University Cricket Club|Cambridge University]], also representing the Gentlemen in a [[Gentlemen v Players]] match in 1863,<ref name="CA29">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29010/29010.html |website=CricketArchive |title=Tommy de Grey |access-date=26 June 2013}}</ref> and played for [[I Zingari]] at Sandringham on 17–18 July 1866 (at which the Prince of Wales opened for the team).<ref>''Sporting Life'', 21 July 1866, p. 4.</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
;Bibliography
* {{cite book|first=Michael A.|last= Salmon|title=The Aurelian Legacy|year= 2000|isbn=0-946589-40-2}}
== External links ==
{{Commons category|Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | hon-thomas-de-grey | Thomas de Grey }}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080501225034/http://www.leighrayment.com/ leighrayment.com]}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080607022521/http://www.leighrayment.com/commons.htm leighrayment.com]}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Brampton Gurdon (Norfolk MP)|Brampton Gurdon]]|before2=[[George Bentinck (Norfolk MP)|George Bentinck]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=Member of Parliament for [[West Norfolk (UK Parliament constituency)|West Norfolk]]|years=1865–[[1871 West Norfolk by-election|1870]]|with=[[William Bagge|Sir William Bagge]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Bagge|Sir William Bagge]]|after2=[[George Bentinck (Norfolk MP)|George Bentinck]]}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Arthur Wrottesley, 3rd Baron Wrottesley|The Lord Wrottesley]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord-in-waiting]]|years=1874–1875}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Victor Child Villiers, 7th Earl of Jersey|The Earl of Jersey]]}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas de Grey, 5th Baron Walsingham|Thomas de Grey]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Baron Walsingham]]|years=1870–1919}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Augustus de Grey, 7th Baron Walsingham|John Augustus de Grey]]}}
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{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walsingham, Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron}}
[[Category:1843 births]]
[[Category:1919 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Mayfair]]
[[Category:People from Walsingham]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:English lepidopterists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies|Grey, Thomas de]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1865–1868|Grey, Thomas de]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1868–1874|Grey, Thomas de]]
[[Category:UK MPs who inherited peerages]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:English cricketers of 1826 to 1863]]
[[Category:19th-century English sportsmen]]
[[Category:Cambridge University cricketers]]
[[Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers]]
[[Category:Gentlemen cricketers]]
[[Category:English cricketers of 1864 to 1889]]
[[Category:Gentlemen of England cricketers]]
[[Category:Barons Walsingham|Thomas 6]]