40. JOHN
41. HENRY
42. THOMAS of Elford, whence come the Stanley's of Elford, Pipe, etc.
43. RALPH
40. SIR JOHN STANLEY, his son and heir, constable of Carnarvon, Justice of Chester, and sheriff of Anglesea, married Isabel (or Elizabeth), daughter of Sir Robert Harrington, of Hornby, Lancashire, and had two daughters and three sons.
44. THOMAS,
45. RICHARD,
46. EDWARD
the last two successively archdeacons of Chester.
44. SIR THOMAS STANLEY, his son, was lord-lieutenant of Ireland, 1432, comptroller of the household and chamberlain to Henry VI, Knight of the Garter in 1456, etc. He married Joan, daughter of Sir Robert Goushill, by whom he had three daughters and four sons.
47. THOMAS,
48. WILLIAM, beheaded as a participator in the conspiracy
to place Perkin Warbeck on the throne,
49. JOHN, of Weever, from whom descended the Stanleys of
Alderly,
50. JAMES, archdeacon of Carlisle.
47. THOMAS STANLEY, first Earl of Derby. (b.c. 1435) This eminent man was summoned to parliament in the first year of Edward IV, and married Eleanor, daughter of the Earl of Salisbury and sister to the Earl of Warwick, the famous "kingmaker" by whom he had six sons. The fifth of these, named Edward, commanded the left wing of the English army at the battle of Flodden in 1513, which proved so fatal to the Scottish army. It was of him that the dying Marmion appealed in the famous lines of Scott's poem,
"Charge, Chester, charge; on, Stanley, on,
Were the last words of Marmion."
For his service on that occasion, the king bestowed upon him the title of Baron Monteagle, in allusion to the crest of the family.
The wife of Lord Thomas having died, he married for his second wife a very distinguished
lady, - no less a personage that Margaret of Lancaster, mother of Henry VII. She had already been twice married, first to the Earl
of Richmond, who died in 1456, father to Henry; and secondly to Sir Henry Stafford, the great Duke of Buckingham. Her third
marriage to Lord Stanley was anything but a match for love, and it is said it was contracted with the express stipulation that he
should never occupy her bed.
It was now near the close of the terrible wars of the Roses for the English crown, between the
rival houses of York and Lancaster. Lord Stanley had been an adherent of the White Rose at the House of York, but his present
wife's son, Henry, Earl of Richmond, was the head of the House of Lancaster, and claimant to the throne. The usurping King
Richard III, who, to secure his crown had murdered the young King Edward V., and his brother the Duke of York, and buried them
under the stairs of the Tower, sought by honors and blandishments to attach the Stanleys to his side.
At his coronation, July 6, 1473, Stanley's wife, the Countess of Richmond, bore the train of the
queen. But all was in vain. The cruelties of Richard alienated his people, and prepared them for a revolution which should place
Henry on the throne, and bring the fatal rivalry between York and Lancaster to an end by Henry's marriage with Elizabeth, Princess
of York. To this scheme Lord Stanley gave his assent, but privately.
When Henry's forces approached from the South, Stanley's men, of whom he had some five
thousand, first marched in advance of them, as if retreating, but when they reached the battlefield at Bosworth, they went over to
Henry's side. Richard, perceiving the defection, made a desperate charge upon his foes, cut his way to Henry's standard, killed
Sir William Brandon, the standard-bearer and was directing a deadly thrust at his rival, when Lord Stanley came to the rescue.
Richard's troops fled at once, and he was thrown from his horse, and dispatched with many wounds. Stanley picked up his
blood-stained and battered crown, and placed it on Henry's head, proclaiming him King of England.
For these eminent services the new monarch advanced Lord Stanley, 27 Oct., 1485, to the
dignity of the Earl of Derby, and constituted him on of the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High-Steward of England
on the day of his coronation. His lordship, in the March following, had a grant of the high office of Constable of England for life. He
had no children by his second marriage, and dying on July 29, 1504, was succeeded by his grandson,
51.. THOMAS STANLEY, second earl, who married Anne, daughter of Lord Hastings, and was succeeded at his decease in 1521, by his son,
52.. EDWARD STANLEY, third earl, K.G., Lord High-Steward at the coronation of Queen Mary, and chamberlain of Chester in the reign of Elizabeth, so celebrated for magnificence and liberality that Camden says, "that with Edward, Earl of Derby's death, the glory of hospitality seemed to fall asleep." His lordship died Oct. 24, 1574, and was succeeded by his eldest son by his first wife, Dorothy, daughter of the Duke of Norfolk,
53.. HENRY STANLEY, fourth earl, K.G., one of the peers who sat upon the trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. He married Margaret, daughter of the Earl of Cumberland, and dying in 1592, was succeeded by his eldest son,
54.. FERDINANDO STANLEY, fifth earl. He died suddenly April 16, 1594, supposed to have been poisoned by the Jesuits, having refused to join in an intrigue to obtain possession of the crown of France, by right of his grandmother, Mary, dowager queen of that kingdom. Having no sons, the earldom fell to his brother,
55.. WILLIAM STANLEY, sixth earl. This nobleman bought from his nieces, daughters of Earl Ferdinando, their right to the Isle of Man. He married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the Earl of Oxford, and had four daughters and two sons. He was succeeded by his son,
56.. JAMES STANLEY, seventh earl, born 31 Jan., 1606. He married Charlotte, daughter of Claude de la Tremouille, who became famous for her defense of Lathom House in 1644, when it was besieged by two thousand parliamentarians, and of the Isle of Man in 1651. This earl was distinguished for his attachment to the royal cause during the civil war, and falling into the parliament's hands after the battle of Worcester, was beheaded for treason Oct. 15, 1651. He was succeeded by his only son,
57.. CHARLES STANLEY, eighth earl, born 19 Jan., 1627; married the maid of honor to the Queen of Bohemia; died in 1672. His successor was,
58.. WILLIAM RICHARD GEORGE STANLEY, ninth earl, who married Elizabeth, daughter of the Earl of Ossery. Having no sons, he was succeeded by his brother,
59.. JAMES STANLEY, tenth earl, who dying without issue in 1736, the Isle of Man, the barony of Strange, created in 1627, devolved on the Duke of Atholl, and the earldom of Derby reverted to,
60.. EDWARD STANLEY, eleventh earl. He died 24 Feb., 1776, and was succeeded by his grandson,
61.. EDWARD SMITH STANLEY, twelfth earl. He was lord-lieutenant of the county of Lancaster, and died 21 Oct., 1834, and was succeeded by his son,
62.. EDWARD GEOFFREY SMITH STANLEY, thirteenth earl, K.G., L.S., etc., etc. He was created Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe in 1832, and died June 30, 1851.
80.. EDWARD STANLEY, fourteenth earl. born at Knowsley Park, Lancashire in 1799. He was educated at Eton and Christ College, was Prime Minister of Great Britain, and died in 1869.
81.. EDWARD STANLEY, 15th Earl of Derby, eldest son of the 14th Earl of Derby was born on the 21st July 1826. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge. Edward died on 21st April, 1893.
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This Web Site is dedicated to the Loving Memory of Jennie K. Stanley (1910-1997), without whose efforts and research, it
would not have been possible.
This Genealogy Page © 2002 James K. Stanley. All Rights Reserved.The information contained herein, may not be used for any commercial purpose whatsoever, and may not be uploaded to any commercial site, including, but not limited to, Family Tree Maker, without the express written consent of the author,
