His father was Robert Dering and his mother Leititia was the daughter of Sir George Shee, 1st Baronet (1754–1825).
Further use was made in experiments by European Telegraph company between London and Dover, and on Great Northern Railway.
[2] He was interested in a range of scientific and technical subjects, obtaining some twenty patents relating to telegraphy, chemistry, iron- and brick-making.
His principal interest was electricity: he had a standing order with booksellers for books on the subject and amassed a huge collection, subsequently bought by Theodore Newton Vail and presented to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
[5] He accumulated so many books that thousands of volumes were still in unopened shipping cartons when Dering died.