Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby

British politician (1826–1893)

The Right Honourable

The Earl of Derby

KG PC FRS

The 15th Earl of Derby, c. 1891

Secretary of State for the Colonies
In office
16 December 1882 – 9 June 1885
Monarch| Victoria
Prime Minister| William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by| The Earl of Kimberley
Succeeded by| Frederick Stanley
In office
26 February 1858 – 5 June 1858
Monarch| Victoria
Prime Minister| The Earl of Derby
Preceded by| Henry Labouchere
Succeeded by| Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
21 February 1874 – 2 April 1878
Monarch| Victoria
Prime Minister| Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by| The Earl Granville
Succeeded by| The Marquess of Salisbury
In office
6 July 1866 – 9 December 1868
Monarch| Victoria
Prime Minister| The Earl of Derby
Benjamin Disraeli
Preceded by| The Earl of Clarendon
Succeeded by| The Earl of Clarendon
Secretary of State for India
In office
2 August 1858 – 11 June 1859
Preceded by| Office established
(himself as the President of the Board of Control)
Succeeded by| The Viscount of Halifax
President of the Board of Control
In office
5 June 1858 – 2 August 1858
Preceded by| The Earl of Ellenborough
Succeeded by| Office abolished
(himself as the Secretary of State for India)
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
In office
18 May 1852 – 28 December 1852
Monarch| Victoria
Prime Minister| The Earl of Derby
Preceded by| Austen Henry Layard
Succeeded by| The Lord Wodehouse
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
24 October 1869 – 21 April 1893
Hereditary Peerage
Preceded by| The 14th Earl of Derby
Succeeded by| The 16th Earl of Derby
Member of Parliament
for King's Lynn
In office
1848 – 1869
Serving with Robert Jocelyn, John Henry Gurney Sr. and Sir Fowell Buxton, 3rd Baronet
Preceded by| Lord George Bentinck
Succeeded by| Lord Claud Hamilton
Personal details
Born| (1826-07-21)21 July 1826
Died| 21 April 1893(1893-04-21) (aged 66)
Nationality| British
Political party| Conservative (1848–1880)
Liberal (1880–1886)
Liberal (1886–1893)
Spouse(s)| Lady Mary Sackville-West
(m. 1870; his death 1893)
Parent(s)| Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Emma Caroline Bootle-Wilbraham
Alma mater| Trinity College, Cambridge

Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby (21 July 1826 – 21 April 1893; known as Lord Stanley from 1851 to 1869) was a British statesman. He served as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs twice, from 1866 to 1868 and from 1874 to 1878, and also twice as Colonial Secretary in 1858 and from 1882 to 1885.

## Background and education

[edit]

He was born to Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, who led the Conservative Party from 1846 to 1868 and served as Prime Minister three times, and Emma Caroline Bootle-Wilbraham, daughter of Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale, and was the older brother of Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, for whom the NHL's Stanley Cup is named.[1] The Stanleys were one of the richest landowning families in England. Lord Stanley, as he was styled before acceding to the earldom, was educated at Eton, Rugby and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took a first in classics and became a member of the society known as the Cambridge Apostles.[2]

## Political career

[edit]

In March 1848 he unsuccessfully contested the borough of Lancaster, and then made a long tour in the West Indies, Canada and the United States. During his absence, he was elected member for King's Lynn, which he represented till October 1869, when he succeeded to the peerage. He took his place, as a matter of course, among the Conservatives, and delivered his maiden speech in May 1850 on the sugar duties. Just before, he had made a very brief tour in Jamaica and South America. In 1852 he went to India, and while travelling in that country, he was appointed under-secretary for foreign affairs in his father's first administration.[3] On 11 March 1853, he was commissioned as a captain in the 3rd Royal Lancashire Militia.[4]

From the outset of his career, he was known to be more politically sympathetic to the Liberals rather than the Conservatives, and in 1855 Lord Palmerston offered him the post of Secretary of State for the Colonies. He was much tempted by the proposal, and hurried down to Knowsley to consult his father, who called out when he entered the room, "Halo, Stanley! what brings you here?—Has Dizzy cut his throat, or are you going to be married?" When the object of his sudden appearance had been explained, the Conservative chief received the courteous suggestion of the prime minister with anything but favour, and the offer was declined. On 13 May 1856, he was appointed to the Royal Commission on the purchase of commissions in the British army.[5] In his father's second administration Lord Stanley held, at first, the office of Secretary of State for the Colonies (1858), but became President of the Board of Control on the resignation of Lord Ellenborough. He had the charge of the India Bill of 1858 in the House of Commons, became the first Secretary of State for India, and left behind him in the India Office an excellent reputation as a man of business.[3]

After the revolution in Greece and the flight of King Otto, Queen Victoria's second son, Prince Alfred, was the Greek people's choice as their next king. After he declined, the idea arose of electing a great and wealthy English nobleman, in the open hope that although they might have to offer him a Civil List, he would decline to receive it. Lord Stanley was the favourite candidate.[3] However, despite reports to the contrary, he was, in fact, never formally offered the crown.

The Earl of Derby.

### Foreign minister 1866-68

[edit]

After the fall of the Russell government in 1866 he became Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in his father's third administration. He compared his conduct in that great post to that of a man floating down a river and fending off from his vessel, as well as he could, the various obstacles it encountered.[3] He enunciated the policy of Splendid isolation in 1866:

it is the duty of the Government of this country, placed as it is with regard to geographical position, to keep itself upon terms of goodwill with all surrounding nations, but not to entangle itself with any single or monopolizing alliance with any one of them; above all to endeavour not to interfere needlessly and vexatiously with the internal affairs of any foreign country."[6][7]
Passport for a railway engineer dated 1876 containing Lord Stanley's full title and his signature.

He arranged the collective guarantee of the neutrality of Luxembourg in 1867, likely to be a theatre of war with the conflict between France and Prussia growing ever more likely. He also negotiated a convention with the USA about the CSS Alabama, which, however, was not ratified, and refused to take any part in the troubles in Crete.[3]

### Foreign Minister 1874-78

[edit]

In 1874 he again became Foreign Secretary in Disraeli's government.[3] In 1875 came the purchase of the controlling shares in the Suez Canal Company. By negotiations, Russia gave up substantial gains in the Balkans and a foothold in the Mediterranean. Britain gained control of Cyprus from the Ottomans as a naval base covering the Eastern Mediterranean. In exchange, Britain guaranteed the Asiatic territories of the Ottoman Empire. Britain did not do well in conflicts in Afghanistan and South Africa.[8]

Derby acquiesced in Disraeli's purchase of the Suez Canal shares, a measure then considered dangerous by many people, but ultimately most successful. He accepted the Andrassy Note, but declined to accede to the Berlin Memorandum.[3] Derby's conduct during the Eastern Crisis was mysterious to many of his contemporaries and for some time thereafter. Derby's hope for peace with Russia led him (and his wife) to share Cabinet secrets with the Russian ambassador, Pyotr Shuvalov, in hopes of averting war with Russia.[9] Robert Blake commented that "Derby surely must be the only Foreign Secretary in British history to reveal the innermost secrets of the Cabinet to the ambassador of a foreign power in order to frustrate the presumed intentions of his own Prime Minister." Derby resigned in January 1878 when the Cabinet resolved to send the British fleet through the Dardanelles, but when that action soon proved unnecessary, Derby was allowed to withdraw his resignation. However, he resigned again and finally in the same year when the Cabinet agreed to call up the reserve.

By October 1879, it was clear enough that he had thrown in his lot with the Liberal Party, but it was not till March 1880 that he publicly announced this change of allegiance. He did not at first take office in the second Gladstone government, but became Colonial Secretary in December 1882, holding this position till the fall of that government in the summer of 1885. In 1886 the Liberal party split; Lord Derby became a Liberal Unionist, and took an active part in the general management of that party, leading it in the House of Lords till 1891, when Lord Hartington became Duke of Devonshire. In 1892 he presided over the Labour Commission.[3]

He succeeded his father as Honorary Colonel of the 1st Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps (1st Volunteer Battalion, King's (Liverpool Regiment) from 1888), being appointed on 21 September 1870. After his death he was succeeded by his son in turn.[10]

He served as President of the first day of the 1881 Co-operative Congress.[11]

## Personal life

[edit]

Lord Derby married Lady Mary, daughter of George Sackville-West, 5th Earl De La Warr and widow of James Gascoyne-Cecil, 2nd Marquess of Salisbury, in 1870. They had no children. Derby's health never recovered from an attack of influenza which he had in 1891, and he died at Knowsley on 21 April 1893, aged 66.[3] He was succeeded in the earldom by his younger brother, Frederick. Lady Derby died in December 1900.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ "Lord Stanley's Cup". NHL.com. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
2. ^ "Stanley, Edward Henry (STNY844EH)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Duff, Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant (1911). "Derby, Earls of s.v. Edward Henry Stanley". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 68.
4. ^ "No. 21421". The London Gazette. 15 March 1853. p. 784.
5. ^ "No. 21883". The London Gazette. 13 May 1856. p. 1756.
6. ^ harmley, "Introduction"
7. ^ Great Britain. Parliament (1866). The Parliamentary Debates. Wyman. p. 736.
8. ^ R. C. K. Ensor, England, 1870–1914 (1936), pp. 37–65. online
9. ^ Blake, Robert (1966). Disraeli. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 623\. ISBN 0-19-832903-2. OCLC 8047.
10. ^ Army List.
11. ^ "Congress Presidents 1869–2002" (PDF). February 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2008.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Saintsbury, George. The earl of Derby (1892) online
* Wilson, Keith M., ed. British foreign secretaries and foreign policy: from Crimean War to First World War (Routledge Kegan & Paul, 1987)

### Primary sources

[edit]

* Derby, Edward Henry Stanley. Disraeli, Derby, and the Conservative Party: Journals and Memoirs of Edward Henry, Lord Stanley, 1849–1869 (Harvester Press, 1978)

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby.

English Wikisource has original works by or about:

Edward Henry Stanley

* Hamilton, John Andrew (1898). "Stanley, Edward Henry" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 54\. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
* Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Earl of Derby

Parliament of the United Kingdom

Preceded by

Lord George Bentinck
Viscount Jocelyn

|  Member of Parliament for King's Lynn
1848–1869
With:  Viscount Jocelyn 1848–1854
John Henry Gurney 1854–1865
Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, Bt 1865–1868
Robert Bourke 1868–1869  | Succeeded by

Lord Claud Hamilton
Robert Bourke

Political offices
Preceded by

Austen Henry Layard

|  Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
1852  | Succeeded by

The Lord Wodehouse

Preceded by

Henry Labouchere

|  Secretary of State for the Colonies
1858–1859  | Succeeded by

Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Bt

Preceded by

The Earl of Ellenborough

|  President of the Board of Control
1858  | Succeeded by

Himself

as Secretary of State for India
Preceded by

Himself

as President of the Board of Control |  Secretary of State for India
1858–1859  | Succeeded by

Sir Charles Wood, Bt

Preceded by

The Earl of Clarendon

|  Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
1866–1868  | Succeeded by

The Earl of Clarendon

Preceded by

The Earl Granville

|  Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
1874–1878  | Succeeded by

The Marquess of Salisbury

Preceded by

The Earl of Kimberley

|  Secretary of State for the Colonies
1882–1885  | Succeeded by

Frederick Stanley

Academic offices
Preceded by

The Lord Glencorse

|  Rector of the University of Glasgow
1868–1871  | Succeeded by

Benjamin Disraeli

Preceded by

Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, Bt

|  Rector of the University of Edinburgh
1874–1877  | Succeeded by

Marquess of Hartington

Preceded by

The Earl Granville

|  Chancellor of the University of London
1891–1893  | Succeeded by

The Lord Herschell

Peerage of England
Preceded by

Edward Smith-Stanley

|  Earl of Derby
1869–1893  | Succeeded by

Frederick Arthur Stanley

* v
* t
* e

Foreign secretaries of the United Kingdom

Foreign affairs|

* Fox
* Grantham
* Fox
* Temple
* Leeds
* Grenville
* Hawkesbury
* Harrowby
* Mulgrave
* Fox
* Howick
* Canning
* Bathurst
* Wellesley
* Castlereagh
* Canning
* Dudley
* Aberdeen
* Palmerston
* Wellington
* Palmerston
* Aberdeen
* Palmerston
* Granville
* Malmesbury
* Russell
* Clarendon
* Malmesbury
* Russell
* Clarendon
* Stanley
* Clarendon
* Granville
* Derby
* Salisbury
* Granville
* Salisbury
* Rosebery
* Iddesleigh
* Salisbury
* Rosebery
* Kimberley
* Salisbury
* Lansdowne
* Grey
* Balfour
* Curzon
* MacDonald
* Chamberlain
* Henderson
* Reading
* Simon
* Hoare
* Eden
* Halifax
* Eden
* Bevin
* Morrison
* Eden
* Macmillan
* Lloyd
* Douglas-Home
* Butler
* Gordon Walker
* Stewart
* Brown
* Stewart

Foreign and
commonwealth affairs|

* Stewart
* Douglas-Home
* Callaghan
* Crosland
* Owen
* Carrington
* Pym
* Howe
* Major
* Hurd
* Rifkind
* Cook
* Straw
* Beckett
* Miliband
* Hague
* Hammond
* Johnson
* Hunt
* Raab

Foreign, commonwealth and
development affairs|

* Raab
* Truss
* Cleverly
* Cameron
* Lammy

* Category:British secretaries of state
* Portal:United Kingdom

* v
* t
* e

Presidents of the Royal Statistical Society

19th century|

* 1834–1836 The Marquess of Lansdowne
* 1836–1838 Sir Charles Lemon, Bt
* 1838–1840 The Earl FitzWilliam
* 1840–1842 Viscount Sandon
* 1842–1843 The Marquess of Lansdowne
* 1843–1845 Lord Ashley
* 1845–1847 The Lord Monteagle of Brandon
* 1847–1849 The Earl FitzWilliam
* 1849–1851 The Earl of Harrowby
* 1851–1853 The Lord Overstone
* 1853–1855 The Earl FitzWilliam
* 1855–1857 The Earl of Harrowby
* 1857–1859 Lord Stanley
* 1859–1861 Lord John Russell
* 1861–1863 Sir John Pakington, Bt
* 1863–1865 William Henry Sykes
* 1865–1867 The Lord Houghton
* 1867–1869 William Ewart Gladstone
* 1869–1871 William Newmarch
* 1871–1873 William Farr
* 1873–1875 William Guy
* 1875–1877 James Heywood
* 1877–1879 George Shaw-Lefevre
* 1879–1880 Thomas Brassey
* 1880–1882 James Caird
* 1882–1884 Robert Giffen
* 1884–1886 Rawson W. Rawson
* 1886–1888 George Goschen
* 1888–1890 Thomas Graham Balfour
* 1890–1892 Frederic J. Mouat
* 1892–1894 Charles Booth
* 1894–1896 The Lord Farrer
* 1896–1897 John Biddulph Martin
* 1897 Alfred Edmund Bateman
* 1897–1899 Leonard Courtney
* 1899–1900 Henry Fowler
* 1900–1902 The Lord Avebury

20th century|

* 1902–1904 Patrick George Craigie
* 1904–1905 Sir Francis Powell, Bt
* 1905–1906 The Earl of Onslow
* 1906–1907 Richard Martin
* 1907–1909 Sir Charles Dilke, Bt
* 1909–1910 Jervoise Athelstane Baines
* 1910–1912 Lord George Hamilton
* 1912–1914 Francis Ysidro Edgeworth
* 1914–1915 The Lord Welby
* 1915–1916 Lord George Hamilton
* 1916–1918 Bernard Mallet, Registrar General
* 1918–1920 Herbert Samuel
* 1920–1922 R. Henry Rew
* 1922–1924 The Lord Emmott
* 1924–1926 Udny Yule
* 1926–1928 The Viscount D'Abernon
* 1928–1930 A. William Flux
* 1930–1932 Sir Josiah Stamp
* 1932–1934 The Lord Meston
* 1934–1936 Major Greenwood
* 1936–1938 The Lord Kennet
* 1938–1940 Arthur Lyon Bowley
* 1940–1941 Henry William Macrosty
* 1941 Hector Leak
* 1941–1943 William Beveridge
* 1943–1945 Ernest Charles Snow
* 1945–1947 The Lord Woolton
* 1947–1949 David Heron
* 1949–1950 Sir Geoffrey Heyworth
* 1950–1952 Austin Bradford Hill
* 1952–1954 Ronald Fisher
* 1954–1955 The Lord Piercy
* 1955–1957 Egon Pearson
* 1957–1959 Harry Campion
* 1959–1960 Hugh Beaver
* 1960–1962 Maurice Kendall
* 1962–1964 Joseph Oscar Irwin
* 1964–1965 Sir Paul Chambers
* 1965–1966 L. H. C. Tippett
* 1966–1967 M. S. Bartlett
* 1967–1968 Frank Yates
* 1968–1969 Arthur Cockfield
* 1969–1970 R. G. D. Allen
* 1970–1971 Bernard Benjamin
* 1971–1972 George Alfred Barnard
* 1972–1973 Harold Wilson
* 1973–1974 D. J. Finney
* 1974–1975 Henry Daniels
* 1975–1977 Stella Cunliffe
* 1977–1978 Henry Wynn
* 1978–1980 Sir Claus Moser
* 1980–1982 David Cox
* 1982–1984 Peter Armitage
* 1984–1985 Walter Bodmer
* 1985–1986 John Nelder
* 1986–1987 James Durbin
* 1987–1989 John Kingman
* 1989–1991 Peter G. Moore
* 1991–1993 T. M. F. Smith
* 1993–1995 D. J. Bartholomew
* 1995–1997 Adrian Smith
* 1997–1999 Robert Nicholas Curnow
* 1999–2001 Denise Lievesley

21st century|

* 2001–2003 Peter Green
* 2003–2005 Andy Grieve
* 2005–2007 Tim Holt
* 2008–2009 David Hand
* 2010–2010 Bernard Silverman (resigned Feb 2010; replaced pro tem by David Hand)
* 2011–2012 Valerie Isham
* 2013–2014 John Pullinger
* 2014–2016 Peter Diggle
* 2017–2018 David Spiegelhalter
* 2019– Deborah Ashby

* Category
* List

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Australia
* Spain
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Sweden
* Vatican
* Israel

Academics|

* CiNii

People|

* Trove
* Deutsche Biographie

Other|

* IdRef
* Yale LUX

*[c.]: circa
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template