, 1st Earl of Derby The
Stanley family was descended from Ligulf of Aldithley, who was also the ancestor of the Audleys (see
Audley-Stanley family). One of his descendants married an heiress whose marriage portion included
Stoneley, Staffordshire – hence the name Stanley.
Sir Thomas Stanley served as
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and represented
Lancashire in the
House of Commons. In 1456 he was
summoned to the
House of Lords as
Lord Stanley. His eldest son
Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley, married
Lady Margaret Beaufort, the mother of King
Henry VII, and also Eleanor Nevill. The title of
Earl of Derby was conferred on him in 1485 by his stepson Henry VII after the
Battle of Bosworth Field where Thomas decided to betray King
Richard III. The title may derive from the family's extensive lands in the
hundred of West Derby,
Lancashire, rather than the county or city of
Derby. His eldest son and heir apparent
George Stanley,
Lord Stanley (commonly called Lord Strange), married
Joan Strange, 9th Baroness Strange and 5th
Baroness Mohun, and was summoned to the
House of Lords as Lord Strange in right of his wife. Lord Derby was succeeded by his grandson
Thomas, the eldest son of Lord Strange. He had already succeeded his mother as tenth Baron Strange and sixth Baron Mohun. He married Anne Hastings, daughter of Lord Hungerford and Hastings. The second Earl's son
Edward became the 3rd Earl. He notably served as
Lord High Steward at the coronation of
Queen Mary of England in 1553 and was
Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire and
Lancashire. Lord Derby was married four times. His second wife Dorothy Howard, daughter of
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, supplied his heir
Henry, the fourth Earl. He served as Ambassador to
France and was one of the peers at the trial of
Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1586. Lord Derby married Margaret Clifford, daughter of
Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland, and his wife Eleanor, younger daughter of
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and his wife
Mary Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII. Both Lord Derby's sons succeeded to the earldom. The eldest son
Ferdinando, the fifth Earl, was summoned to the House of Lords through a
writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Strange in 1589. He also built
Leasowe Castle, probably as an observation platform for watching horse races on the nearby sands. Lord Derby married Alice Spencer but was without male issue. He died under mysterious circumstances and some have claimed that he was poisoned to prevent him from staking a claim to the throne of England through his maternal grandmother. On his death, the baronies of Stanley, Strange and Mohun fell into
abeyance between his three daughters. as:
Yn Stanlagh Mooar (
the Great Stanley). He was succeeded in the earldom by his younger brother
William, the sixth Earl. He was Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire and Cheshire and purchased from his nieces their claims in the
Isle of Man. William married Elizabeth de Vere daughter of
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford. Their son
James succeeded to the earldom on his father's death. In 1628, during his father's lifetime, he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration as Lord Strange, as it was believed that his father held this title. When it was discovered that this was a mistake, the House of Lords decided that there were two baronies of Strange, the original 1299 creation and the new, 1628 creation. James was a staunch Royalist. In 1643 he moved to the
Isle of Man and established it as a Royalist stronghold. He was beheaded in
Bolton, Lancashire by the Parliament forces in 1651. His wife was
Charlotte de la Trémouille, daughter of
Claude de la Trémoille, Duc de Thouars, who is known as the heroine who defended
Lathom House in 1644 and the
Isle of Man in 1651. Their son
Charles became the 8th Earl. He served as Lord Lieutenant of both Cheshire and Lancashire. Lord Derby married Dorothea Helena Kirkhoven, daughter of Jehan Kirkhoven, Lord of
Heenvliet (in
South Holland) and Baron de Rupa of the Netherlands. They had two sons who both succeeded to the earldom. The 8th Earl's eldest son
William Richard George became the 9th Earl. He was also Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire and Lancashire. He married Elizabeth Butler, daughter of
Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory, and sister of
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde. He had two daughters and one son. He outlived his son and on his death in 1702, the barony of Strange fell into abeyance between his daughters. He was succeeded in the earldom by his younger brother,
James, the tenth Earl. He was a politician and served as
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and as
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. Like many of his predecessors, he was also Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire and Lancashire. In 1732 he succeeded his great-niece as 6th Baron Strange. Lord Derby was childless and on his death in 1736, the male line of the second Earl died out. He was succeeded in the barony of Strange, which could be passed on through female lines, by his first cousin once removed,
James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl. The earldom was inherited by his distant relative
Sir Edward Stanley, 5th Baronet, of Bickerstaffe, a descendant of a younger brother of the second Earl, who became the 11th Earl of Derby (see below for earlier history of the baronetcy). He had previously represented Lancashire in Parliament and after he succeeded in the earldom he served as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire. Lord Derby married Elizabeth Hesketh. His residence was
Bickerstaffe Hall near
Ormskirk,
Lancashire. The 11th Earl's younger brother was the Hon. and Rev. John Stanley, Rector of
Bury Parish Church 1743–1778. Edward's eldest son, James, Lord Stanley, was commonly called Lord Strange. Edward outlived James (who died in 1771) and was succeeded by James' son
Edward, the 12th Earl. He held political office as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and also founded
The Derby horse-race. Lord Derby married
Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, daughter of
James Hamilton, 6th Duke of Hamilton. His second marriage was to a Drury Lane actress,
Elizabeth Farren. The 12th Earl's first marriage produced his heir
Edward, the thirteenth Earl. He represented
Preston and Lancashire in the House of Commons and in 1832, two years before he succeeded his father, he was raised to the peerage in his own right as
Baron Stanley, of Bickerstaffe in the County Palatine of Lancaster. Lord Derby was also a natural historian and his zoological collections were founded
Liverpool Museum. He was also a patron of the arts, especially of the poet
Edward Lear who wrote
The Owl and the Pussycat for the Earl's children. He was married to Charlotte Hornby. In 1844, he had a church built on the Knowsley Estate, St. Mary the Virgin, where several Stanleys found their final resting place. , 14th Earl of Derby His son,
Edward, succeeded him to become the 14th Earl. He is the most famous of the Earls of Derby. Known as a great parliamentary orator, he sat as
Member of Parliament for
Stockbridge, a seat bought by his father,
Windsor and
Lancashire North. In 1844 he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's junior title of Baron Stanley. Although at first a
Whig, he later became a
Tory and served three times
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Lord Derby was married to Emma Wilbraham, daughter of
Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale. They had a daughter and two sons, both of whom succeeded to the earldom. The eldest son
Edward Henry, was a prominent politician and served under his father as
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and
Foreign Secretary. He became Foreign Secretary again under
Benjamin Disraeli. In 1880 he joined the
Liberal Party and was Colonial Secretary under
William Gladstone between 1882 and 1885. , 15th Earl of Derby His younger brother and successor,
Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, was a
Conservative politician and held office as
Secretary of State for War, as Colonial Secretary and as
President of the Board of Trade. In 1886, seven years before succeeding his brother, he was raised to the peerage in his own right as
Baron Stanley of Preston, in the County Palatine of Lancaster. He was also
Governor General of Canada between 1888 and 1893. In 1892, he purchased and donated the
Stanley Cup, to be awarded to the "championship hockey club of the Dominion of Canada" each year; it eventually became the trophy for the championship of the
National Hockey League. Lord Derby was married to Lady Constance Villiers, daughter of
George William Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon. He was succeeded by his son
Edward, the seventeenth Earl. Like many of his ancestors he was a politician and notably served as
Secretary of State for War. He was also
Ambassador to France, and during this time followed his father's lead by donating the
Lord Derby Cup, given each year to the winners of the French
rugby league knockout competition. Lord Derby married Alice Montagu daughter of
William Montagu, 7th Duke of Manchester. A pair of Memorial Gates were erected in 1958 on Knowsley Lane on the Knowsley Estate in his memory. His two sons,
Edward Stanley, Lord Stanley, and the Hon.
Oliver Stanley both became Conservative politicians and served together in the same cabinet in 1938. Lord Derby outlived his eldest son and was succeeded by his grandson
John, the eldest son of Lord Stanley, who became the 18th Earl. He was Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire and also established
Knowsley Safari Park in 1971. He married Isabel Miles-Lade but died childless. the titles are held by his nephew
Edward Richard William Stanley, 19th Earl of Derby. He is the son of Hugh Henry Montagu Stanley, younger brother of the 18th Earl. The
Stanley baronetcy, of Bickerstaffe in the County Palatine of Lancaster, was created in the
Baronetage of England in 1627 for
Edward Stanley. He was the great-grandson of the Hon. Sir James Stanley, of Cross Hall,
Lathom, younger brother of the second Earl of Derby. This branch of the family is known as the "Stanleys of Bickerstaffe". Sir Edward Stanley's great-grandson, the fourth Baronet, represented Preston in Parliament. His son, the aforementioned fifth Baronet, succeeded as eleventh Earl of Derby in 1736. For further history of the baronetcy, see above.
James Stanley, son of the first Earl, became
Bishop of Ely in 1506. He sent a small army into the
Battle of Flodden, commanded by his alleged son Sir John Stanley who later entered the
monastery of
Westminster Abbey.
Edward Stanley, a descendant of Peter Stanley, younger son of the second Baronet, sat as Member of Parliament for
Somerset West and
Bridgwater. The Earl of Derby owns
Knowsley Hall and
Greenhalgh Castle; they were the
Lords of Mann, i.e. of the
Isle of Man from 1405 until 1594. Several Earls of Derby are buried in St. Mary's Church, Knowsley. Others are buried in the Derby Chapel at
Ormskirk Parish Church. The
Barons Stanley of Alderley are members of another branch of the Stanley family. They are descended from the Hon. Sir John Stanley, third son of the first Baron Stanley. Also,
Edward Stanley, 1st Baron Monteagle, was the younger son of the first Earl of Derby. A boarding house of
Wellington College was named 'Stanley' in honour of
the 14th Earl. During his time at Wellington,
the 17th Earl was a pupil of this house. ==Earl of Derby, first creation (1138)==