Colonel Thomas Stanley (14 September 1749 – 25 December 1816) was a British Whig politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

for 32 years from 1780 to 1812. He also served as

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

of the 1st Royal Lancashire Militia. He was the son of the Revd Thomas Stanley and educated at

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

. He was described as being of Cross Hall, Lathom near Ormskirk Lancashire. He was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

from February 1780 until he retired from the

at the 1812 general election, having been elected unopposed at seven successive elections. In his long parliamentary career he spoke often in favour of the Lancashire cotton industry. Colonel Stanley was also an avid book collector, with a focus on Literature and Fine Binding. As reported by T. F. Dibdin in his "Bibliographical Decameron" (1817, volume iii, pp 78–82), the Stanley Sale of 1813 (Bibliotheca Stanleiana) was a major event among bibliomaniacs, and was one of the most impressive libraries ever to be sold during the lifetime of the owner. Apparently, Stanley used the proceeds from the sale to retire in style. He died 3 years after the sale, unmarried, aged 67.

References

History of Parliament - STANLEY, Thomas (1749-1816) of Cross Hill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Thomas 1749 births 1816 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Lancashire British MPs 1780–1784 British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 British MPs 1796–1800 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Lancashire UK MPs 1801–1802 UK MPs 1802–1806 UK MPs 1806–1807 UK MPs 1807–1812 People educated at Manchester Grammar School Lancashire Militia officers British Militia officers