History of the 13th Earl of Derby's menagerie and aviary at Knowsley Hall, Liverpool (1806–1851)

Abstract

Knowsley Hall, seat of the Earls of Derby, is situated in the borough of Knowsley, Merseyside, 10 km north-east of Liverpool. Part of the estate is now a Safari Park opened in 1971, where the public can watch freely roaming foreign animals. However, there was a collection of living animals at Knowsley much earlier in its history. Near the Hall are the remains of the Knowsley Aviaries which in the 1800s contained world-wide collections of birds and mammals, the work of the 13th Earl of Derby, Lord Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley (1775-1851). The 13th Earl obtained both living animals and museum specimens from all over the world to fulfil his passionate lifelong interest in natural history. Birds were his first love and in 1806 he purchased his first major acquisition of over 100 mounted specimens at the sale of the Leverian Museum (Largen & Fisher, 1986; Largen, 1987). Alongside this, the Earl began to develop collections of live animals; between 1806 and 1851 he built up a large aviary and menagerie on the Knowsley estate, undoubtedly one of the finest and most important collections in Europe, unrivalled for the number, rarity and beauty of the species (Fraser, 1850). Animals that died in captivity became part of his equally extensive Knowsley Museum, which was later bequeathed to the public and so founded the Liverpool Museum in 1851.