Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook

Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook, (born 20 June 1933), styled Lord Medway until 1978, is a British zoologist, biologist, naturalist, and peer. Since 1956, he has been active in the fields of ornithology, mammalogy, and zooarchaeology, and has influenced research and education in Southeast Asia. His career focus was on swiftlets and other small Southeast Asian birds, as well as on mammals, including orangutans.

He is the author of Wild Mammals of South-East Asia (1986), Wonders of nature in South-East Asia (1997) and Swiftlets of Borneo: Builders of Edible Nests (2002) and Key Environments: Malaysia (2013), which had a foreword from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Early life and career

Cranbrook was born in London, the eldest child of John Gathorne-Hardy, 4th Earl of Cranbrook, an archaeologist and also a zoologist, and his second wife, Fidelity Seebohm, daughter of Hugh Exton Seebohm and sister of Lord Seebohm. He was educated at Eton College and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He earned his PhD in 1960 from the University of Birmingham.

A tropical biologist, Cranbrook worked in Malaya, beginning his career as an assistant at Sarawak Museum, Sarawak. He was a senior lecturer in zoology between 1961 and 1970 at University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, and a Jajason Siswa Lokantara Fellow between 1960 and 1961 at Indonesia. After many years working in the far-east, he returned with his wife Caroline Cranbrook and young family to take up residence at his family seat, Glemham House, Great Glemham, near Saxmundham, Suffolk.

He succeeded as Earl of Cranbrook upon his father's death in 1978, and sat as a Conservative peer in the House of Lords. He left the Lords in November 1999 as a result of the House of Lords Act 1999; he was not a candidate to retain a place in the House as an elected hereditary peer.

Cranbrook has been awarded the Royal Geographical Founders Gold Medal and the WWF Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Award in recognition of his work in UK and Tropical Nature Conservation and Research. He was created Panglima Negara Bintang Sarawak (Knight Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak) and received the Merdeka Award recognising his outstanding contribution to the people of Malaysia.

A species of white-toothed shrew, Gathorne's shrew (Crocidura gathornei) is named in his honor.

Key events and roles

1956–1958 Technical Assistant, Sarawak Museum, Kuching, 1958–1960 Department of Anatomy, University of Birmingham (PhD 1960), 1960–1961 Post-doctoral award, Jajasan Siswa Lokantara, Indonesia, 1961–1970 Zoology Department, University of Malaya: Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, 1961–present Honorary Curator of Mammals, Sarawak Museum, 1971–1973 Nuffield Foundation Award, 1972–1988 Demonstrator, Zoology Department, University of Chelsea, London, 1973–1980 Scientific Advisor, WWF Malaysia, 1976–1983 Editor, Ibis, Journal of the British Ornithologists’ Union, 1976–1978 Elected Councillor, Suffolk Coastal District. Chairman, Museums and allied interests, 1979– Chairman, RSPCA Special Enquiry into Shooting and Angling, 1979–2018 President, Suffolk Wildlife Trust and Chairman / Patron, Suffolk Naturalists’ Society, 1980–2018 Chairman, Long Shop Project Trust and Museum, 1978-1999 Hereditary member of House of Lords (UK Parliament, Upper House). Member of EU Select Committee & Environment Subcommittee (3 sessions as chairman), and member Select Committee on Science & Technology (1 session as chairman of inquiry into tropical forests, 1981–1992 Member, Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 1982–1986 Trustee, British Museum (Natural History), 1982–1988 Member, Natural Environment Research Council, 1986–2006 Chairman, Institute for European Environmental Policy, 1987–1998 Member / Chairman, Foundation for European Environmental Policy, 1988–1999 Member, Norfolk & Suffolk Broads Authority, 1989–1990 Member, Nature Conservancy Council, 1990–1998 Chairman, English Nature (Nature Conservancy Council for England), 1994–1998 Member, UK Round Table on Sustainable Development, 1996–2002 Chairman, ENTRUST, Regulator of Environmental Bodies under Landfill Tax Regulations, 1998–2006 Chairman, Advisory Committee, NERC Centre of Ecology & Hydrology, 2001–2008 Chairman, International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature,

Awards

1995 Royal Geographical Society's Founder's Gold Medal

2005 Knight Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of Sarawak

2014 WWF Duke of Edinburgh Conservation Award,

2014 Merdeka Award Outstanding Contribution to the People of Malaysia

Marriage and issue

On 9 May 1967, he married Caroline Jarvis, daughter of Col. Ralph Jarvis and his wife Antonia née Meade, a scion of the Earl of Clanwilliam. Cranbrook and his wife have three children:

• John Jason Gathorne-Hardy, Lord Medway (born 26 October 1968), heir apparent to the earldom, born in Kuala Lumpur
• Dr. Lady Flora Gathorne-Hardy (born 10 October 1971)
• Hon. Argus Edward Gathorne-Hardy (born 28 May 1973)

References

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 5th Earl of Cranbrook