Robert Shirley, 6th Earl Ferrers (20 July 1723 – 18 April 1787) was a British Hereditary peer.
| A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery | |
| Artist: | Joseph Wright of Derby |
| Medium: | Oil on canvas |
| Height Metric: | 1473 |
| Width Metric: | 2032 |
| Height Imperial: | 58 |
| Width Imperial: | 80 |
| Metric Unit: | mm |
| Imperial Unit: | in |
| Museum: | Derby Museum and Art Gallery |
| City: | Derby, England |
Ferrers was born in 1723 in St James, Westminster, the third son of Hon Laurence Shirley and grandson of Robert Shirley, 1st Earl Ferrers.
On 26 December 1754, Ferrers married Catherine Cotton (d. 26 March 1786), with whom he had three children:[1]
In 1778, Ferrers succeeded his childless elder brother, Vice-Admiral Washington Shirley, 5th Earl Ferrers, in the earldom.
On 4 July 1781, he was created a Deputy Lieutenant of Derbyshire.[2]
Lord Ferrers died in his house in London in 1787 at the age of 63 and was buried with his wife at Breedon on the Hill. He was succeeded in the earldom by his eldest son, Robert.
. Stemmata Shirleiana . Evelyn Shirley (1812–1882) . Nichols and Sons . Westminster . 1873 . 198, 201–202 .
. James William Edmund Doyle . The Official Baronage of England . 1 . London . Longmans, Green . 1886 . 741.