Dru Drury (4 February 1725 – 15 January 1804) was a British collector of natural history specimens and an entomologist. He received specimens collected from across the world through a network of ship's officers and collectors including Henry Smeathman. His collections were used by many entomologists of his time to describe and name new species and he is best known for his book Illustrations of Natural History which includes the names and descriptions of many insects, published in parts from 1770 to 1782 with most of the copperplate engravings done by Moses Harris.
Life
Dru Drury was born in Wood Street, London. His father, also Dru Drury, was a citizen, goldsmith and silversmith of the City of London. Drury's great-grandfather, William, Lord of the Manor of Colne, was Sheriff of Cambridgeshire in 1676. The Drury family traced back to a Thomas Drury, of Fincham, Norfolk, who died in 1545. Descendants of Dru Drury retained the status of citizen and goldsmith of the City of London until at least 1969.
Drury apprenticed to his father in the Goldsmith's Company in 1739 and became a liveryman in 1751. In 1748 he married Esther, the daughter of his father's fourth wife from an earlier marriage to soapmaker John Pedley of London. Drury then inherited his father's business and became the owner of several freehold houses in London and Essex. By 1771 he was earning nearly £2000 a year and had amassed enough wealth to buy the entire stock of a fellow silversmith, Nathaniel Jeffreys. Despite his wealth, he was forced into bankruptcy in 1777 after he was cheated by two Yorkshire cutlers, William Tate and John Wheate. Assisted by Joseph Banks, John Fothergill, and other friends, he resumed business but retired in 1789 to devote all his time to entomology. Drury and his wife had three children, Mary, born 1749; William (who became a silversmith) born 1752; and Dru, born 1767. He spent his retirement between London and Broxbourne, Hertfordshire where he collected insect specimens. Around 1797 the family moved to Turnham Green but Drury began to face ill health starting with stones in his bladder. Other complications followed and he died in the home of his son in the Strand on 15 January 1804. He was buried at St. Martin-in-the-Fields on 21 January.
Natural history career
Drury was keenly interested in entomology even before retiring as a silversmith and was the president of the Society of Entomologists of London from 1780 to 1782. He was also a member of the Linnean Society. Beginning in 1770, Drury corresponded with a number of entomologists from all over the world from India to Jamaica and America. He offered 6 dimes for any insect of any size from officers of merchant ships travelling afar. He also had a three-page pamphlet on instructions for collecting. It is through these connections that Drury received much of his collection.
One of Drury's special hunts was for a specimen of the Goliath beetle. A specimen had been obtained by William Hunter and was lent to Emanuel Mendes da Costa. Da Costa had drawings of the beetle made by Moses Harris but before it could be published he was embroiled in an embezzlement scandal in the Royal Society which led to a prison term. The drawing however was bought by Drury and it went into Drury's book with Westwood's name of Goliathus druryi. Hunter was understandably angry with what he saw as "theft" and Drury subsequently made a special search for another specimen of the beetle. A specimen was sent by Henry Smeathman but Drury misidentified it. Drury was also interested in rocks and minerals and took a special interest in the distribution of gold around the world. He also took an interest in gardening, angling in the River Lea, and in making his own wines. Unfortunately, Drury's collections, while large, lacked substantial location and other data (as it was not customary at the time). Thus, it is difficult, if not impossible, for any sound scientific data to be formed in regards to the history of its specimens.
<gallery caption="Plates from Illustrations of Exotic Entomology" mode="packed">
Image:DruryIlusi.jpeg|Hercules beetle
Image:Goliathus giganteusDruryV1P031A.jpg|Goliath beetle
Image:DruryV1P041AA.jpg|Longhorn beetles
Image:DruryV1P001AA.jpg|Charaxes and other butterflies
Image:DruryV1P004AA.jpg|Cethosia species
Image:DruryV1P011AA.jpg|Pipevine swallowtail and black swallowtail
Image:DruryV1P049AA.jpg|Locusts
Image:DruryV1P003AA.jpg|Black witch and salt marsh moths
Image:DruryV1P050AA.jpg|Mantids and walkingstick
Image:DruryV1P046AA.jpg|Neuroptera
Image:DruryV1P048AA.jpg|Odonata
</gallery>
Drury's illustrations, mostly by Moses Harris, were published in three volumes (1770, 1773, 1782), and the original paintings, inherited through his descendants, were sold at auction in London in March 1964. They are now in the Oak Spring Garden Library, Upperville, Virginia USA.