Stanley
also de Stanley
Earls of Derby, kingmakers at Bosworth, two Prime Ministers.
- Origin
- North West, England
- Motto
- Sans changer
- Famous bearer
- Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (1435-1504), kingmaker at Bosworth
- Register
- English family
Ranked of all time
The 15 Most Powerful English Houses of All Time
CoreHistoric reach
The seat of Stanley
Seat vacantChief
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Current mission
No shared goal set yet. Once Stanley has leadership, it sets the public focus: a restoration, a gathering, a real-world project that helps its own.
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Help rebuild the Stanley clan →Motto
Sans changer
“Without changing”
What does the Stanley name mean?
Territorial surname from Stanley in Staffordshire, originally 'stán-lēah', stone-clearing in Old English. The family emerged as Lords of Mann and gentry of Cheshire and Lancashire from the 14th century and became Earls of Derby in 1485 through their decisive intervention at the Battle of Bosworth.
The history of Stanley
The Stanley family rose through the 14th century as Lords of Mann (the Isle of Man), which they ruled as a feudal kingdom under the English crown from 1405 to 1736, and as the dominant gentry house of Cheshire and Lancashire. Their decisive intervention at the Battle of Bosworth on 22 August 1485 made Henry Tudor king of England: Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (and stepfather to Henry Tudor), held his army on the field for the morning and then committed his levies at the decisive moment, placing the crown of Richard III, by tradition picked up from a thornbush, on Henry's head. The earldom of Derby was created within the year as the reward.
Across the 16th and 17th centuries the Stanleys maintained their position as the senior peers of the north-west, with seats at Lathom House and Knowsley Hall in Lancashire and the great court at Castle Rushen on the Isle of Man. James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby (1607-1651), was the most senior Royalist commander in the north of England during the Civil War; his wife Charlotte de la Trémoille defended Lathom House through the eighteen-month siege of 1644-45 against the Parliamentary armies.
Three and a half centuries after Bosworth the family produced another top-of-government figure. Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (1799-1869), served as Conservative Prime Minister three times (1852, 1858-1859, 1866-1868), the longest-serving Conservative leader of the 19th century, and translated Homer's *Iliad* into blank verse in his spare hours. His son Edward Stanley, 15th Earl, served as Foreign Secretary under both his father and Disraeli. The 17th Earl was Secretary of State for War in the First World War cabinet.
The current 19th Earl of Derby holds Knowsley Hall in Merseyside, the family seat since the 16th century, and continues the long Stanley association with horse racing: the Derby and the Oaks, the two classic flat races at Epsom, are named after the 12th Earl of Derby, who founded them in 1779 and 1780.
Champions of the Stanley name
The bearers whose lives are inseparable from this surname. Each has its own page — biography, achievements, geography, connection to the family.
Notable bearers of the Stanley name
- Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (1435-1504), kingmaker at Bosworth
- Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (1799-1869), three-time Conservative Prime Minister
- Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby (1865-1948), Secretary of State for War
- Edward Stanley, 19th Earl of Derby (b.1962), current head of the Stanley line