Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byThe 16th Earl of Derby
Succeeded byThe 18th Earl of Derby
Member of Parliament
for Westhoughton
In office
26 July 1892 – 12 January 1906
Preceded byFrank Hardcastle
Succeeded byWilliam Wilson
Personal details
Born
Edward George Villiers Stanley

(1865-04-08)8 April 1865
Edward Stanley, Lord Stanley
Hon. Oliver Stanley
Lady Victoria Bullock
Parent(s)Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby
Lady Constance Villiers
Garter-encircled Shield of Arms of Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, KG, GCB, GCVO, TD, KStJ, PC, JP

Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby,

British Ambassador to France
.

Background and education

Stanley was born at 23 St James's Square, London, the eldest son of Frederick Stanley (later the 16th Earl of Derby), by his wife Lady Constance Villiers. Frederick Stanley was the second son of Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, who was three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Villiers was the daughter of the Liberal statesman George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon. Edward Stanley was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire, where he boarded as a pupil of Stanley House, named in honour of his paternal grandfather the 14th Earl.[citation needed]

Military career

Stanley initially received a

3rd Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) (commanded by his father), on 4 May 1882, and then joined the Grenadier Guards as a lieutenant from 6 May 1885.[1] He was seconded as aide-de-camp to the Governor General of Canada, his father, between 8 August 1889[2] and 1891. He was again seconded from his regiment on 10 July 1892, to take his seat in the House of Commons.[3] He resigned his commission on 3 April 1895.[4]

On 11 January 1899, he was commissioned a lieutenant in the reserve of officers,

Lancashire and Cheshire Heavy Brigade, Royal Artillery on 26 February 1921.[11]

Political career

Derby entered Parliament for

Postmaster General, a post he held until the government fell in December 1905. He lost his seat in the 1906 general election. In 1908 he succeeded his father in the earldom and took his seat in the House of Lords.[citation needed
]

In August 1914 Lord Derby organised one of the most successful recruitment campaigns to

pals battalions were raised in Liverpool. In October 1915, as Director-General of Recruiting, he instituted the Derby Scheme, a halfway house between voluntary enlistment and conscription (which the Government was reluctant to adopt). It was not sufficiently successful in spite of the fact that the execution of Nurse Edith Cavell by the Germans on 12 October 1915 was used in recruitment rallies and conscription followed in 1916.[citation needed
]

In July 1916 Derby returned to the government when he was appointed

the King, whether or not he should resign, and then in the end not doing so, only to be removed from the War Office a few weeks later.[13]

Derby and John Joseph Woodward (who was also secretary) jointly founded the ex-servicemen's organisation, the

Lord Stanley in the 1917 Liverpool Abercromby by-election.[14] The rival groups later merged into the British Legion
formed in 1921.

In April 1918 he was made

Privy Council in 1903, KCVO in 1905[16] and a GCVO in 1908, Knight of the Garter in 1915, GCB in 1920. He was awarded the Freedom of the City of Manchester in 1934.[citation needed
]

Other public positions

Derby was

National Playing Fields Association (now renamed Fields in Trust).[17] He was also, from 1929 to 1945, the chairman of the Pilgrims Society, becoming their president, until his death in 1948. Derby served as East Lancashire Provincial Grand Master of Freemasonry from 1899 until his death.[18] He also held the post of Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire between 1928 and 1948.[citation needed
] Another contribution made to English rugby league was the match between St Helens and Wigan being named 'the derby' as the clubs reside in opposite ends of Lord Derby's estate, this is a term used globally between rival clubs from a similar location however there is only one domestic league match named 'the Derby'.

Horse racing

The Epsom Derby was named after the 12th Earl while The Oaks was named after the 12th Earl's house near Epsom. Derby followed the family tradition and was one of the most prominent owner breeders during the first half of the 20th century. Among his stables' important wins were:

  • Epsom Derby (3): 1924, 1933, 1942
  • Epsom Oaks (2): 1928, 1945
  • St. Leger Stakes
    (6): 1910, 1919, 1923, 1928, 1933, 1943
  • 1,000 Guineas
    (7): 1916, 1918, 1923, 1930, 1936, 1943, 1945
  • 2,000 Guineas
    (2): 1926, 1944

Amidst great fanfare that included making the cover of Time, in 1930 the 17th Earl visited Louisville, Kentucky, with Joseph E. Widener where he was the honoured guest of Churchill Downs president Col. Matt Winn at the 56th running of the Kentucky Derby.

His biggest achievement though was his breeding of the horse Phalaris. Phalaris was a champion sprinter and a stallion par excellence responsible for establishing the most dominant sire line in Europe and later, the United States through his four sons – Sickle, Pharamond, Pharos and Fairway.

Family

Lord Derby married

Malcolm Bullock.[citation needed
]

Lord Derby died in February 1948 at the family seat of

Edward. He is buried at St Mary's Church, Knowsley.[20] The Countess of Derby died in July 1957.[citation needed
]

Many good stories are told of Lord Derby, including the following, which is surely apocryphal not least because he was a man of utter probity. He was spotted by a steward feeding one of his horses shortly before the start of a race. When challenged, His Lordship explained the substance was sugar, and promptly ate a lump himself to show that it was innocuous. "Keep the creature on a tight rein until a furlong out, then let him have his head, He'll do the rest". His Lordship added, almost as an afterthought: "If you hear anything coming up behind you, don't worry and don't turn round, it will only be me".[citation needed]

A county directory of 1903 describes Coworth House as "an ancient building standing in a thickly wooded park". As Derby also owned Knowsley Hall in Lancashire, his principal country seat, and a London townhouse in Stratford Place, St James's, Coworth tended to be occupied only during Ascot race meetings. The Derby landholdings in 1833 consisted of some seventy thousand acres in Lancashire, Cheshire, Surrey and Kent in England and Flintshire in Wales, but not a single acre in Derbyshire. The Landholding produced a rent-roll of £163,273 p.a.[citation needed]

On 9 January 1923, the Earl sold 143 acres of land known as the Keston Lodge Estate in Kent for £6000 to the property developer Frederick Rogers who renamed it ‘Keston Park’.[21]

Coworth House continued with Lord Derby until his death in 1948. It then became the home of Lady Derby, who died there on 24 July 1957, aged ninety-four. A month later her former home was advertised for sale in The Times; and at this or a subsequent date was converted to use as a Roman Catholic convent school. The next owner is thought to have been Vivian 'White' Lloyd who died in 1972.[citation needed]

Screen portrayals

Lord Derby was portrayed by Frank Middlemass in an episode of the 1981 TV miniseries Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years.

References

  1. ^ "No. 25467". The London Gazette. 5 May 1885. p. 2041.
  2. ^ "No. 25959". The London Gazette. 30 July 1889. p. 4095.
  3. ^ "No. 26310". The London Gazette. 26 July 1892. p. 4250.
  4. ^ "No. 26612". The London Gazette. 2 April 1895. p. 1997.
  5. ^ "No. 27041". The London Gazette. 10 January 1899. p. 151.
  6. ^ "No. 27207". The London Gazette. 3 July 1900. p. 4126.
  7. ^ "No. 27282". The London Gazette. 8 February 1901. p. 845.
  8. ^ "No. 27226". The London Gazette. 4 September 1900. p. 5464.
  9. ^ "No. 27305". The London Gazette. 16 April 1901. p. 2601.
  10. ^ "No. 27508". The London Gazette. 23 December 1902. p. 8845.
  11. ^ Army List.
  12. ^ Sheffield & Bourne 2005 p372
  13. ^ Bonham-Carter 1963, p351
  14. ^ Ian Frederick William Beckett, The Great War, 1914-1918, p.572
  15. ^ "No. 27306". The London Gazette. 19 April 1901. p. 2696.
  16. ^ "No. 27818". The London Gazette. 18 July 1905. p. 4981.
  17. ^ The History of Fields in Trust
  18. ^ History of East Lancashire Provincial Grand Lodge Archived 21 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 14 November 2008
  19. ^ "Primrose-Stanley wedding". British Pathe News.
  20. ^ "Liverpool Daily Post". 5 February 1948.
  21. ^ "History". Keston Park. Retrieved 23 July 2021.

Sources

Randolph Churchill, "King of Lancashire"

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Westhoughton
1892–1906 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Financial Secretary to the War Office
1901–1903 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Postmaster General

1903–1905 		Succeeded by
New office Chairman of the Joint War Air Committee
1916 		Succeeded byas President of the Air Board
Preceded by Under-Secretary of State for War
1916 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of State for War
1916–1918 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Sir Laming Worthington-Evans, Bt
 Secretary of State for War
1922–1924 		Succeeded by
Stephen Walsh
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
British Ambassador to France

1918–1920 		Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire
1928–1948 		Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Earl of Derby
1908–1948 		Succeeded by
Edward Stanley
Professional and academic associations
Preceded by President of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire
1908–36 		Succeeded by
William Fergusson Irvine
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edward_Stanley,_17th_Earl_of_Derby&oldid=1215359418"