DRURY, Dru II (Grimwade pp.495, 746)

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DRURY, Dru II (458)

There has been much written on Dru Drury II (Grimwade 458), indeed he wrote much himself. Below is his biography as published in: Dictionary of national biography, Volume 16 By Sir Leslie Stephen--Published in 1888.


DRURY, DRU (1725-1803), naturalist, was born 4 Feb. 1725 in Wood Street, London. Drury claimed descent from Sir Dru Drury [q. v.] His father was a silversmith, and married four times. Mary Hesketh was the mother of Dru and of seven others, who all died young. The boy was carefully educated, and assisted his father in the business. When Dru was twenty-three his father resigned it to him, and he married, 7 June 1748, Esther Pedley, a daughter of his father's first wife by her former husband, and thus became possessed of several freehold houses in London and Essex, which brought him an annual income of between 250/. and 300/. In 1771 he purchased a silversmith's stock and shop at 32 Strand. Here he made nearly 2,000/. per annum for some years, but failed, as it seems from no fault of his own, in 1777. He behaved most honourably to his creditors, and by their assistance was able to recommence business in the next year. His wife died in 1787. He had by her seventeen children, of whom all except three, who survived him, died young. In 1789 he retired from trade and gave up the business to his son. From the time when he began life on his own account he had been an eager student of entomology, inserting advertisements in foreign papers which solicited specimens either by exchange or purchase. His cabinets soon became famous. Donovan speaks of 'his noble and very magnificent collections.' Smeathman (himself distinguished by his researches among the termites or white ants) was one of his most valued collectors. Thus he expended large sums in order to enrich his cabinets with new specimens. He now spent his time between Broxbourne, where he still amused himself collecting insects, and London. He was also a lover of gardening and of angling in the Lea and New River. His favourite amusements for several years consisted in making wines from different kinds of fruit, and conducting experiments in distillation. Always of an active mind, speculations connected with obtaining gold led him to engage many travellers, especially Lewin, to join his projects. These generally turned out disappointments to all parties. At length he removed to Turnham Green, but a complication of ailments began to weigh him down. He died of stone, 15th December 1803, his love for insects continuing to the last, and was buried in the church of St. Martin's in-the-Fields, London. His daughter married Mr. Andre (a relative of Major Andre), a merchant in the city.

Entomology was such advanced by Drury's writings, but even more by the excellent figures which accompanied them, the work of Moses Harris. His descriptions often lack scientific precision; but his notices of the libellulida? and of the insects of Sierra Leone are specially valuable. Some of his papers came into Mr. Westwood's hands. Drury's collection was remarkably fine, many of the specimens being unique. It had taken thirty years in its formation. His cabinets were sold by auction at his death, and brought £614 8s. 0d., with about £300 more for the cabinets, books, and copper-plates of the illustrations. One cabinet is said to have contained eleven thousand insects. Linnaeus, Kirby,and Fabricius each held Drury in high estimation, and named insects after him. Together with Pallas, the younger Linnanis, and Haworth, they were wont to correspond with him. His ' Exotic Entomology ' was in part translated into German, and annotated by G. W. F. Panzer, 1785.

Drury was a man of the highest honour, upright and religious, active both in mind and body, and devotedly attached to entomology. His works are:

1. 'Illustrations of Natural History, exhibiting upwards of 240 figures of Exotic Insects,' 3 vols. 4to, London, 1770-82.
2. 'Illustrations of Exotic Entomology, with upwards of 650 figures and descriptions of new Insects.' This was edited with notes by J. O. Westwood, 3 vols. 4to, London, 1837, the original volumes being very rare.
3. ' Directions for Collecting Insects in Foreign Countries, about 1800, a flyleaf of three pages, which he sent all over the world, and which was translated into several languages.
4. ' Thoughts on the Precious Metals, particularly Gold, with directions to Travellers, &c, for obtaining them, and selecting other natural riches from the rough diamond down to the pebble-stone,' 1801, 8vo, London. He styles himself in this 'goldsmith to her majesty,' and was an F.L.S. Its directions are very miscellaneous, and range from clothing and diet to crystallography.

[Bibl. Zoologise, Agassiz and Strickland, ii. 266; Life by Lieutenant-colonel C. H. Smith in the Naturalists'Library, i. 17-71, from materials supplied by Drury's grandsons; Discourse on the Study of Natural History and Taxidermy and Biography, pp. 51, 171, by W. Swainson, in Lirdner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia; Gent. Mag. 1804, vol. lxxiv. pt. i. p. 86; Memoir by J. O. Westwood prefixed to Exotic Entomology.] M. G. W.








Drury's death notice that appeared in 'The Gentleman's Magazine' in 1804.

(More notes to follow).

Trev.
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Some excerpts from the 'Memoir of Dru Drury' taken from 'Introduction of Mammalia' by Charles Hamilton Smith--1843.



He carried on the business in Wood Street for many years, it would appear with considerable success at first, although it ultimately began to fall off, and he became desirous to effect some change. " When my father resigned his business to me," we find him writing to one of his correspondents, " it was sufficient for a man to live on, but not to lay up any great sum. The industry I constantly exercised enabled me to live for about eighteen years with much happiness and satisfaction, at which time, finding my trade gradually diminish, I was determined to embrace the first opportunity of engaging in some other that was more likely to reward my labour. I already Mentioned that I have had " seventeen children, besides nine miscarriages, the heavy expense of which, together with some severe blows of fortune, had prevented me acquiring that wealth I probably might otherwise have done, and therefore my resolution of pursuing some other trade every day increased. About that time Mr. Jeffreys, my predecessor, wanted to retire from business, and applying to me for a person to succeed him, I embraced the opportunity, and have the honour of being made Goldsmith to the Queen and also Cutler to the King,–a feather I would at any time resign, if no advantage arose from, it, for I have lived long enough to be able to laugh most heartily at the fools that can think happiness dependent on titles, or content flourishing amidst pomp and distinctions." The business, however, in Wood Street enabled him to realise about £ 6000, and likewise to keep a country-house at Enfield, in Middlesex, at which his family for the most part resided.

It was in February, 1771, that he purchased the stock in trade and good will of the business of Mr. Nathaniel Jeffreys, gold and silversmith and cutler, at No. 32 Strand, London, for the sum of £ 11,500, paying him partly in cash, and the balance by instalments at stated periods. The business to which he had been brought up, he himself states, was that of a working silversmith, and the change to a goldsmith, he adds, was so considerable, that it was necessary for him to devote the whole of his time to it in order to become acquainted with the details of management. He appears to have conducted the business for several years with great success, realising an income of nearly £ 2000 per annum. He made great efforts to extend his mercantile transactions, and formed extensive contracts for supplying several regiments with swords and other military accoutrements. Still, however, he had various difficulties to encounter, and a perusal of his letters about this period makes us aware that the business had not equalled his expectations, and the obligations he had contracted to obtain it threatened ultimately to become oppressive. It was in all probability this conviction that led him to enter the more readily into a speculation which promised at first to be highly advantageous, but which in the end was attended with the most disastrous consequences.

In 1777, he entered into an arrangement with certain parties* to supply them with goods, principally plate and jewellery, to a large amount. For a time he accepted of their bills, but these he was soon informed by them they were unable to pay, accompanying this intelligence with a proposal which they thought likely to satisfy Drury for the whole sum they might become due to him. One of the parties represented himself as entitled to a very considerable estate in Yorkshire, which his father then enjoyed, but which must come to him after his father's decease, it being entailed on the male heir, so that it was not in his father's power to deprive him of it. The estate was alleged to be worth between twenty and thirty thousand pounds, and to be let for about a thousand pounds per annum, and it was proposed to convey a mortgage of the reversion of the property to Drury as security. This proposal was urged with great plausibility, and Drury's desire to send a lawyer to examine the validity of the title to the estate at once acquiesced in, and every other facility offered for completing the arrangement. The attorney was absent for some time, and his report must have been such as to satisfy Mr. Drury, for the necessary deeds were afterwards duly drawn up and signed. On the belief that the transaction was managed in good faith, and the parties men of honour and integrity, Drury advanced goods at various times, till they ultimately amounted to the value of upwards of £ 10,000. It unfortunately turned out on future investigation, that the security for this large sum was of no value, the parties not having a legal right to the estate in question, and having concerted the scheme to plunder him of his property. To aggravate this evil, he had met with several severe losses in trade only a short time before, and his freehold property had previously been assigned over to Mr. Jeffreys as security for the balance of the purchase-money of the business. He thus felt himself stripped of all his property.

In these circumstances he had no alternative but to call a meeting of his creditors, and lay before them a statement of his affairs. He was thereupon declared bankrupt, and surrendered all his property under the commission.

A thorough conviction of the sterling worth of his character, distinguished, as it had always been, for integrity, honourable feeling, and great diligence in business, predisposed his creditors to treat him with the utmost lenity. By the assistance of his friends (among whom we find the names of Dr. Fothergill and Mr. Banks), he was enabled to repurchase his stock in trade, and resume his business in his former premises. He appears to have borne this reverse of fortune with great fortitude, but his constitutional sensibility led him to feel deeply on the occasion. The state of his mind in some measure appears from the following extract from a letter addressed to a reverend friend at Warnham, near Horsham. It is dated 11th December, 1777-– " There was a time when the subjects that occupied my pen in writing to my worthy friend, were very different from those which now occasion the same employ. There was a time when those subjects were all of a gay and cheerful cast; when no dark and gloomy thoughts prevailed to cloud and tarnish the happy hours of my worthy friends at Warnham Place. There was also a time when, with a bold and open brow, I feared not to look each man in the face, well knowing none could ask me for debts I was not able to pay,–a time when I was happy, pleased, and solvent. But now I am, what ? a B–! though an honest man. I repeat the word an honest man, well knowing myself to be so. God forbid that I should make the terms incompatible with each other, for it is certainly true. 'Tis not in the power of mortals to command success, but it is in the power of every one to be just and honest, and that I have been so, witness, kind Heaven! No action of my life hangs heavy on my heart, no crime to make me wretched or unhappy; but yet I drop a tear while I relate the mournful news. I beseech you do not think I rave. Men of sensibility cannot think like the common herd, and it has been my misfortune to be cursed with too great a portion of that ingredient. Cursed did I say? Forgive me Heaven! for thus arraigning the justice of thy dispensations. I hope I do not write amiss in saying so, but if I had possessed less sensibility, less credulity and fewer feelings, I had now been a wealthier man; I had now enjoyed the fortune I formerly possessed; but alas! who can tell what is reserved in store for him? The very misfortune that I now so heavily deplore, may turn out to be the happiest period of my life, and what I consider as the greatest evil, may, in the hand of Providence, be the greatest blessing. Shall I then distrust His goodness ? Shall I consider that Being whose works I have ever viewed with wonder and delight, whose infinite wisdom, goodness, and power have been so plainly manifested; shall I consider Him, I say, in such a light as to suppose He will not extend that goodness and power towards me which in thousands of instances I have experienced in my life ? Certainly not. Believe me, my dear friend, when I tell you that He is my only support, my strongest prop and stay, and the only ground on which I build my future hopes. Do not think I rant when I tell you, in the full bitterness of soul, that these thoughts are my only comfort, and it is from the interposition of His Providence that I hope to be extricated from all my present troubles. I do not think I am wrong in my judgment, if I get reinstated in my business, to say it is owing to His interference that I obtain that happiness; and although the goodness of my own character, the kindness of my friends, and the clemency of mankind, may be the medium by which that end is accomplished, yet the other is the primary and unseen Cause to whom all my thanks will be due, together with all the sacrifice of prayer and praise that a grateful heart can give."

Mr. Drury obtained from his creditors a certificate of discharge in April 1778. After recommencing business he proved most successful, his friends and former customers vying with each other in promoting his interests and testifying their respect for his character. In his letters of this date, we find many expressions of gratitude for the sympathy and support he was receiving: among others is the following: " I have got reinstated in my business, which I really think is much greater than it ever was; the civilities and kindness I have received from the public are beyond conception, and I have no doubt but a few years, if Providence allows me health, will place me in a much happier and better situation than I ever was. Would you believe it ? The Queen herself, to whom I am goldsmith, has been so very kind as to say that " She hoped I would do well again." Thus you see Providence never permits an evil to befall us but it also has some good in store, and in that light I now view my late misfortunes."



In the year 1787 Drury lost his wife, by whom he had seventeen children; all of these, however, died young, excepting three who survived him. In the spring of 1789 he retired from trade, relinquishing his share of the business to his son, who paid him a sum of money in hand, and allowed him an annuity for the rest of his life.



He then took a house at Broxbourne, in Hertfordshire, at which he went to reside, but occasionally came to London to visit his son, remaining for a few weeks at a time. While at Broxbourne he continued to collect insects as formerly, and spent much of the leisure time he now enjoyed in arranging and improving his cabinet. He became very fond of gardening; and amused himself by fishing in the river Lea, and the adjoining New River. But his favourite amusement for some years consisted of making wines from various kinds of fruits, and attempting experiments in distillation. An entire memorandum book is filled with notices of the qualities of his different wines, and some of them are not a little amusing. His taste seems to have been somewhat fastidious, a quality it probably owed to his being a member of the worshipful corporation of Goldsmiths, and not unacquainted with the festivities of Guildhall and the Mansion House.



In 1797, Drury removed from Broxbourne to Turnham Green, near Brentford, Middlesex, where he continued to reside until near the time of his death. During many of the latter years of his life, he was much afflicted with stone in the bladder, and was obliged to have recourse to the frequent use of laudanum as an anodyne. Other disorders also began to assail him, indicating that the powers of his constitution were beginning to decay. He still however, continued to make frequent visits to London, and even to take part occasionally in matters of a public nature. Thus we find the following notice in his memorandum book: " Attended Mr. Rawlins, upholsterer, and Mr. Cox, goldsmith, being the sheriffs elect, to the London Tavern, where the company breakfasted and proceeded to Guildhall, where they gave bond to serve the office, and returned to the Tavern to an elegant entertainment. On Wednesday I attended them again to Goldsmiths' Hall, where we breakfasted, and proceeded in the goldsmiths' barge to Westminster, where they were sworn into their office before one of the Barons of Exchequer, and afterwards returned in the barge to dinner at Goldsmiths' Hall." The very last entries in his pocket book, written in such an unsteady hand as to be scarcely legible, chiefly refer to what may truly be called his ruling passion, consisting of the names of vessels by which he expected consignments of what he was in the habit of calling Naturalia, of individuals to whom he had sent collecting instruments, or the addresses of his correspondents, who continued to he numerous even to the last. He died in London, in the house of his son, William Drury, in the Strand, on the 15th January, 1804, having nearly attained his seventy-ninth year. He was huried in the vault under the church of St. Martin's in the Fields, London.

*Grimwade identifies these persons as 'William Tate and John Thomas Wheate, with a shady knight Sir William Desse in the background'.

Trev.
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In addition to Trev’s detailed account Grimwade’s book at pages 495-6 points to other interesting detail on Drury’s life as a silversmith.
Drury was made free in 1746 and took over his father’s business in 1748 having previously worked for him
In 1741 his father had been in serious trouble with the Goldsmiths Company for, in his words, being inadvertently concerned in causing an impression of a stamp to be made resembling the Lion Passant.
The first recorded maker’s mark for Drury II was in 1767 as a “smallworker”. The lost registers (see the forum’s special topic line) may be the reason for the otherwise apparent delay in his having an official mark.
He is recorded in 1764 asking the silversmith Charles Kandler to pay him twenty shillings (£1) for goods supplied in 1762 which Drury had apparently omitted from his bill. In 1769 he records having bought silver from the Newcastle silversmith John Langlands and having sold knives to the Dublin silversmith John Locker.
The Parliamentary Report of 1773 records his trade as haftmaker although Heal has him as a goldsmith in 1770.
For his creditors in 1777 he drew up an account showing he had initially paid £6000 for the business in 1771, had a turnover of £70558 in the period to 1777 and a trading profit of £11986 in that time. The alleged fraud by Tate and Wheate earlier in 1777 was said to have cost him £7500.
Heal records Drury bankrupt for a second time at 32 The Strand in 1786 and in 1788 of Drury having published a catalogue of his collection with a view to sale. Unfortunately the outcome is not recorded although, as seen above, Drury left the business management to his son William in 1789.
Heal records Drury Drury & Son at 32 Strand between 1781 and 1793 and William Drury as goldsmith and jeweller at the same address in 1796.
Grimwade mentions no mark registered by Nathaniel Jeffreys or William Drury.

Mike
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With reference to Mike's note of DD I and the counterfeit punch of the Lion Passant. When the Company were made aware of the offence they shunned Drury's offer to pay the statutory penalty of £100, instead the Company insisted that Drury should be exposed to the shame of a public trial. It is thought that some of the reasoning behind this may have been revenge by the Company on Drury, as fourteen years earlier, Drury and others had taken proceedings against the Company for making illegal charges for marking small wares.

Drury's case was heard at the Guildhall before Lord Chief Justice Lee in March 1740, the jury imposed the statutory maximum penalty of £100 plus costs.

'Revenge is a dish best served cold'.

Trev.
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To view an image of one of Drury's receipts see:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/s ... _id=390315" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and the trade card of Dru Drury:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/s ... umpages=10" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and to view the trade card of Nathaniel Jefferys see:

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/s ... _id=395155" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Trev.
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Copy of a letter from Dru Drury to the Court of Assistants of the Goldsmiths' Company:


Turnham Green, February 4th, 1798

Dear Sir,

I by no means intend to avail myself of the circumstance of being the oldest Liveryman but one of the Goldsmiths' Company in order to excite the attention of the Court of Assistants, to whom I wish particularly to address this; nor do I desire to form or make any claim to its merits, if I should be so fortunate as to have it meet their approbation ; but when I reflect on that extreme distress that the present times, arising from the unhappy circumstances of the war, have imposed on every rank of men, and also the necessity (as it appears to me) that every man is under to exert himself to the very utmost of his abilities in the defence, and for the benefit, of his country, I should not think myself justifiable in withholding the present hint from their notice, whatever may happen to be its fate; and I shall have the heartfelt satisfaction, in offering this mite, of knowing that it is given with a sincere and good design, and that it likewise strikes me as being of no little importance. I do not design to be guilty of any garrulity, unless the few short observations I propose cursorily to make may be deemed so, but hasten to communicate my thoughts to the Court, which are whether the money which is annually expended by the Company in dinners for the Livery would not be considered as more honourable and properly bestowed, be more agreeable and conformable to the general sentiments of the Company, and bespeak a more affectionate and loyal attachment to Government, if given in a mass, or bulk, at such a very distressful exigence as the present is ? And I cannot pay so bad a compliment to the generality of the Livery as not to suppose but that every one would cheerfully give his consent, so long as the present distress reigns, to an action so replete with loyalty, honour, and reputation, as in the eye of Government, and the face of the whole world, this would unquestionably be considered. I do not mean here to enter into its merits, or paint to the Court the circumstance, that no person on the Livery, or indeed any other, could conceive himself the least injured by thus being- restrained from the wing of a fowl and a few glasses of wine, as not to rejoice at having an opportunity of thus testifying their wishes by such a trifle, and shewing their attachment and desires of assisting Government.

This and many more circumstances the Court can more readily conceive than I can explain ; I shall, therefore, no longer engage their and your attention, but only to observe that, if the hint should not be thought of sufficient consequence to meet their consideration, they would, as well as yourself, excuse the trouble I have given, and impute it solely to the desire I have, as far as my poor abilities will permit, of contributing (though it is secondarily) to the service of my country.

I am, Sir, with great truth,

Your and the Honourable Court's most obedient humble Servant,

D. DRURY.

Source: Memorials of the Goldsmiths' Company : Being Gleanings From Their Records Between the Years 1335 and 1815 - Sir Walter Sherburne Prideaux - 1897

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It would appear that the Drury business was to continue for many years:

Female Swindling. — The police received information, on Saturday, of a dashingly-dressed female, calling herself Mrs. Emerson, having swindled a tradesman to a considerable amount in the following artful and ingenious manner: — It appears that on Thursday last the "lady" entered upon the occupation of apartments in the house of Mrs. Midlam, 3, Spring-gardens, and immediately afterwards gave orders to Mr. Drury, a silversmith in the Strand, for a quantity of plate upon hire. The articles sent for were duly forwarded by the shopman, who was ushered into a splendidly furnished drawing-room, where he laid down on the table a variety of spoons, forks, &c, for the inspection of the lady, who suddenly recollecting that she required some silver candlesticks, desired the young man to go for them instanter. He did so, and on his return had the mortification to find that his master's fair patroness had, together with the property left, fled. The fugitive is described as being of a dark complexion, and about thirty-five years of age.

Source: The Northern Star - 24th November 1838