See also: Drury

Thickly or Drew Drury is a Orfèvre and a British Entomologiste amateur , born the February 4th 1725 with Wood Lane with London and dead the January 15th 1804 in this same city.

He is the son of a prosperous goldsmith, Dru Drury (1688-???) and of Mary Hesketh. It begins again first of all, in 1748, the shop of his father and completely in 1789 gives up it to devote itself to its passions, mainly the Entomologie, but also Jardinage, the Angling and with the manufacture of Vin.

Its collection was rich of 11.000 S different including more than 2.000 of Great Britain. At his time, one estimated that the full number of the species was of 20.000. He spends more than 4.000 pounds sterling of his time to constitute his collection. He buys whole collections, in particular that of Margaret Cavendish, Portland cement duchess (1715-1785) (woman of the second Portland cement duke) and which was very famous.

It is to visit the collection of Drury that Johan Christian Fabricius (1745-1808) comes to London, the two entomologists bonds of friendship, Fabricius will dedicate a species of microphone-lépidoptères later to him.

Active member of the Aurelian Society, it corresponds with Carl von Linné (1707-1778) and with William Kirby (1759-1850), the two naturalists will also dedicate to Drury of the species.

Drury makes appear in 1770 the first volume of its Illustrations off Natural History devoted to the Insecte S exotics. It contains 240 illustrations including 550 coloured by Moses Harris (1730-v. 1788). The third and last volume appear in 1787.

After its death, its library and its collections are put on sale, the first auction entirely devoted to the Insecte S. the majority of its specimens are acquired by his/her friends William Kirby and Edward Donovan (1768-1837).

It is buried with St Martin-in-tea-Fields.

Source

• Michael A. Salmon, Peter Marren and Basil Harley (2000). The Aurelian Legacy. British Butterflies and their Collectors . Harley Books (Colchester): 432 p.