[1] He was born at The Grange near Portadown, County Armagh to Richard and Susan Lindsay.
He was educated in Dublin at the King's Hospital School, then attended Queen's University, Belfast where he earned his BSc in 1928 and a MSc in 1929.
He then went to South Africa for a post-graduate astronomy studies, and on 20 May 1935 was married to Sylvia Mussells in Cape Town.
For example, he was responsible for persuading the Irish government and Harvard University to found a telescope at Boyden Station in South Africa for the purpose of charting the southern skies.
Derek became a professor of chemistry in New York City, and died six months before his Mother Sylvia in 1999.