Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby
This William seems to have conceived a liking for Stonleigh, before referred to, for he gave his Manor of Talk to his cousin Adam for Stoneley and half of Balterly and made Stoneley his family residence and seat, and as the old chroniclers tell us, in honor of his wife and the great antiquity of her family--of noble Saxon descent who flourished many years before the Conquest--he assumed the surname of Stoneley or Stanley. He became the immediate founder of the Stanleys, a race associated with the most stirring events in English history and which at the present day comprehends, in addition to the baronetcy enjoyed by the elder line of Stanley, many offshoots.
The marriage of William to Joan has become one of Cheshire's legends. The story relates that Sir Phillip and his wife Lettice, were being entertained at a banquet given at Stourton in Cheshire. A marriage had been arranged for Joan (who was her father's heir) with the son of his wife (who was Joan's stepmother). She had no liking for that marriage, and while the festivities were at their height, she slipped out of the Hall to where William De Stanley was waiting with saddled horses. Together they galloped to Astbury where they were wed in the Church by William's uncle, John De Stanley, William saying: "Joan, I plight thee my troth to take and hold thee as my lawful wife until my life's end", and she replying, "I, Joan, take thee William, as my lawful husband". In 1284, on the death of his wife's father, William De Stanley acquired the hereditary office of Master Forester of Wirral together with the Manor of Stourton and the bailiwick of Wirral. In 1306 and 1307, he is mentioned as Hereditary Forester of Wirral. In the year 1316, by grant of Edward II, he assumed the Armorial Bearings, viz. 'Arg, on a bend asure, three Stags Head, cabossed, Or', in place of those previously borne by his ancestors. These arms are carried by his descendants to this day.
Constable of Carnarvon, Justice of Chester. Steward of Macclesfield; Lord of Mann. The house of Stanley came into possession of the Island in 1406, and as it appears to us essential to give a summary account of this little kingdom from the period of their accession, we shall proceed to do so in as concise a manner as the subject demands. In the year 1493, the Earl of Salisbury, then King of the Island, sold it, with his crown and title of King, to Sir William Le Scroop. rfhe deed of sale runs thus :— "Sir William Le Scroop bought of William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, the Isle of Mann, with the title of King, and the right of being crowned with a golden crown" Sir Wm. Le Scroop, afterwards Earl of Wiltshire, was found guilty of high treason and beheaded, when Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, was granted the Island by King Henry IV, and he also having been attainted, was deprived of it by act of Parliament, and the Island was ordered to be seized for the King’s use; but seven years afterwards it was granted by the King to Sir John Stanley, his heirs and successors, under the title of King.
Succeeded his father in Mann and his other estates in 1432. He had been knighted some years before his father's death. In the same year he was appointed Lieutenant of Ireland for six years, and shortly afterwards Comptroller of the King's Household. During the first year of his rule in Ireland he called together a Parliament for the redress of grievances; but, being called to England by the King's command soon afterwards, that kingdom fell into great disorder, and he was obliged to return to it in 1435, when he successfully repressed a serious revolt. In 1441 he was appointed one of the Lieutenant justices of Chester, at a salary of £40 per annum. He was one of the Commissioners who treated with the Scotch for a truce in 1448, and, when it was concluded, he became one of its conservators. He also served on a commission for the custody and defence of the town and castle of Calais from 1450 to 1455. During the year 1451 he held the office of sole Judge of Chester, and in 1452 he was commissioned to treat for a new truce with Scotland. In 1456 he was summoned to the House of Peers as Baron Stanley, being made Lord Chamberlain of the King's Household, and, in the following year, one of the Council of Edward, Prince of Wales. He was again appointed one of the Ambassadors to treat with the Scotch in 1460, "but, dying the latter end of the year, the nation was deprived of this very great and valuable person, and the King of one of his best subjects... He was brave in the field, wise in the Senate, just to his Prince, an honour to his country, and an ornament to his family". He married Joan, daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Goushill, by whom he had issue three sons, Thomas, William, and John; and three daughters.
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He was the son of Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley and Joan Goushill, daughter of Sir Robert Goushill and Elizabeth FitzAlan, daughter of Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel. After the death of his father in 1459 Stanley inherited his titles, including that of King of the Isle of Man and Baron Stanley.
Stanley was a shrewd man, who managed to remain in favour with successive kings throughout the Wars of the Roses, right up until his death in 1504. His marriage to Eleanor, sister of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, did him no harm, even after Warwick was toppled from power, and he proceeded to take as his second wife Margaret Beaufort, whose son, Henry Tudor, was the leading Lancastrian claimant to the throne.
Richard III of England unwisely continued to trust Thomas Stanley and his brother, William, even after he had briefly imprisoned Thomas in 1483 on suspicion of conspiracy. At the Battle of Bosworth Field, the Stanleys betrayed him, coming in on the side of the Lancastrians at a crucial moment. It is Thomas who is alleged to have retrieved Richard's lost crown from the battlefield and placed it on the head of his own stepson. In gratitude, he was created Earl of Derby on October 27, 1485, and never looked back. His brother, William, did not fare so well. In 1495, William made the mistake of supporting the pretender Perkin Warbeck, and was executed for treason.
Descendents of Thomas Stanley and Eleanor (or Alainor) Neville included George Stanley, Edward Stanley, and James Stanley, all of whom were also descended from the same Beauforts and John of Gaunt as the step-son who became Henry Tudor. Interestingly, he was also a maternal ancestor of John Lennon.
Second Earl of Derby and fifth King of Mann of the house of Stanley, Viscount Kynton, Lord Stanley, Lord Strange, Lord of Knokyn, Mohun, Basset, Burnal, Lacy, son of George, Lord Strange, by Joan, only daughter and heiress of John, Baron Strange of Knockin, succeeded his grand father Thomas first Earl of Derby in 1504, his father having died in 1497.
In 1505 he granted to Bishop Huan Hesketh "all churches, lands, tithes and possessions, which our ancestors, the kings and lords of Man, have given, conceded and confirmed to the Bishopric and Church of Sodor" From the Traditionary Ballad we learn that he ravaged Kirkcudbrightshire "making such havoc of houses that some of them are yet unroofed," after which be landed at Derby haven in May, 1507, land put a full end to the commotion of the public. We are not, however, told what this "commotion " was, or how it originated. The ballad gives an enthusiastic description of the magnificence of his household and the number of his retinue, mentioning as a characteristic fad that "he wore the golden crupper" In 1508 he was one of the guarantors for the performance of a treaty of marriage between Princess Mary, daughter of King Henry VII, and Carlos, Prince of Spain. He was a confidant of King Henry VIII, whom he attended in his expedition into France in 1513, when he was distinguished for his bravery at the capture of Terouenne and Touray. When the Emperor Carlos met Henry VIII at Canterbury in 1521 he rode between the two monarchs holding the sword of state. He was one of the peers who presided at the trial of the Duke of Buckingham during the same year. In the following year he died at his estate of Colham in the County of Middlesex, and was buried at Syon Abbey.
By his wife Anne, daughter of Edward, Lord Hastings and Hungerford, he had issue Edward, who succeeded him.
At the age of thirteen, Edward received the titles and estates of his father, the 2nd Earl of Derby, and King Henry VIII took responsibility for bringing him up until he was of age. His commissioners, including Cardinal Thomas Wolsey were responsible for most of his affairs.
In 1528, he accompanied Cardinal Wolsey on a mission to France, and in 1530, he was one of the peers who gave Pope Clement VII the declaration regarding Henry's divorce with Catherine of Aragon. That same year, the Duke of Norfolk decided to wed his eldest daughter, Catherine, to Edward; however, this was done without the King's permission (which was required). The King rebuked Howard but allowed the marriage to continue; unfortunately, Catherine became a victim of the plague a few weeks after the marriage. Undeterred, Howard's half-sister, Dorothy, became Edward's second wife.
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In 1532, Edward accompanied King Henry to Boulogne, where they met with King Francois I. After this meeting, Edward became a Knight of the Bath. A few years later, Edward took a major role in quelling the Pilgrimage of Grace, a large (mainly church-related) rebellion started in Lincolnshire and spread into North England. In 1542, Edward accompanied the Duke of Norfolk on a raid into Scotland.
When Edward VI ascended to the throne in 1547, Edward became a Knight of the Garter, and in 1550, he was one of the peers that was present at the peace proceedings with Scotland and France. A year later, various charges were brought upon him (with little or no evidence), mainly due to his opposition to clerical reform. However, when Queen Mary ascended to the throne, he was again in favor, and was appointed Lord High Steward and became a Privy Councillor. He was commissioner of Lady Jane Grey's trial, and was frequently present during the trials of accused heretics. He remained in favor under Queen Elizabeth I's reign, and remained on her Privy Council. She eventually appointed him chamberlain of Chester.
