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Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby

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Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby
Born(1689-09-27)27 September 1689
Died2 January 1776(1776-01-02) (aged 86)
SpouseElizabeth Hesketh
ChildrenJames Smith-Stanley, Lord Strange
FatherSir Thomas Stanley, 4th Baronet
FamilyStanley
Arms of Stanley: Argent, on a bend azure three buck's heads cabossed or

Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby (27 September 1689 – 22 February 1776), known as Sir Edward Stanley, 5th Baronet, from 1714 to 1736, was a British nobleman, peer, and politician.

Derby was the son of Sir Thomas Stanley, 4th Baronet, and Elizabeth Patten of Preston, and succeeded his father in the baronetcy in 1714. This branch of the Stanley family, known as the "Stanleys of Bickerstaffe", were descended from Sir James Stanley, younger brother of Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby.[1]

He was appointed High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1723. He was elected to the House of Commons for Lancashire in 1727, a seat he held until 1736, when he succeeded his distant relative James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby, as eleventh Earl of Derby, and took his seat in the House of Lords. He later served as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire from 1741 to 1757 and again from 1771 to 1776.

As Lord Lieutenant, Derby was ordered to embody the Lancashire Militia in September 1745 after the government's forces had been defeated by the Jacobite rebels at the Battle of Prestonpans. The regiments had not been called out for training for 30 years, and Derby and his deputy lieutenants scrambled to raise money and find officers who could train the raw troops. Derby was appointed Colonel on 25 October and by 5 November he had assembled one regiment of eight companies. The regiment guarded Liverpool while the Jacobites marched through Lancashire to Derby, and one of its detached companies harried the Jacobites during their subsequent retreat. The regiment was disembodied in January 1746 when the crisis had passed.[2]

Lord Derby married Elizabeth Hesketh, daughter of Robert Hesketh, in 1714. He died in February 1776, aged 86, and was succeeded in the earldom by his grandson Edward, his son James Smith-Stanley, Lord Strange, having predeceased him. His daughter, Lady Charlotte Stanley, married General John Burgoyne. His great-great-grandson Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, was three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.[1]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Burke's, 'Derby'.
  2. ^ Williamson & Whalley, pp. 31–84.

References

[edit]
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Lancashire
1727–1736
With: Richard Shuttleworth
Succeeded by
Honorary titles
Vacant
Title last held by
The 10th Earl of Derby
Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire
1742–1757
Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire
1771–1776
Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Preceded by Earl of Derby
1736–1776
Succeeded by
Baronetage of England
Preceded by Baronet
(of Bickerstaffe)
1714–1776
Succeeded by