Thomas Campbell Eyton

Who was Thomas Campbell Eyton?

Thomas Campbell Eyton JP, DL was an English naturalist whose fields were cattle, fishes and birds. He was a friend and correspondent of Charles Darwin though he opposed his theories.

Eyton was born at Eyton Hall, near Wellington, Shropshire. He studied at St John's College, Cambridge, where he was a contemporary and friend of Charles Darwin. After succeeding to the estate in 1855 Eyton built a large natural history museum at Eyton Hall.

Eyton published History of the Rarer British Birds, A Monograph on the Anatidae, Or Duck Tribe, A History of Oyster and Oyster Fisheries and Osteologia Avium. He established in about 1842 the "Herd Book of Hereford Cattle", which he edited until 1860

Eyton was married in 1835 to Eizabeth Frances Slaney, the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Robert Aglionby Slaney MP. She pre-deceased him by ten years.

He was a Justice of the Peace and a Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire. He served in the South Salopian Yeomanry Cavalry, entering as cornet in 1830, and promoted lieutenant in 1838.