Edward Montagu Cavendish Stanley, Lord Stanley, (9 July 1894 – 16 October 1938) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician. The eldest son of the

17th Earl of Derby Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, (4 April 1865 – 4 February 1948), styled Mr Edward Stanley until 1886, then The Hon Edward Stanley and then Lord Stanley from 1893 to 1908, was a British soldier, Conservative politician, d ...

, he held minor political office before being appointed

Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs The position of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs was a British cabinet-level position created in 1925 responsible for British relations with the Dominions – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundland, and the Irish Free S ...

in 1938, sitting in the cabinet alongside his brother Oliver Stanley. However, Stanley died only five months after this appointment, aged 44; his eldest son, Edward John Stanley, later succeeded to the earldom in his stead.

Background and education

Stanley was born in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

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, the eldest son and

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

of Edward Stanley, later to become 17th Earl of Derby, by Lady Alice Montagu. He was spectacularly well-connected to leading political families. His father was at the time of Stanley's birth

MP for Westhoughton, Lancashire, and went on to serve as Secretary of State for War from 1916 to 1918 and from 1922 to 1924. His paternal grandfather, the 16th Earl of Derby, was a former

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 Lancash ...

MP, Colonial Secretary, and

Governor-General of Canada The governor general of Canada (french: gouverneure générale du Canada) is the federal viceregal representative of the . The is head of state of Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms, but resides in oldest and most populous realm, ...

. His great-uncle, the 15th Earl, twice served as Foreign Secretary and was Prime Minister

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...

's stepfather, while his best-known ancestor was his great-grandfather, the 14th Earl, who was Leader of the Conservative Party for 22 years (1846–1868; the longest tenure in that office) and Prime Minister three times (1852, 1858–59, and 1866–68). His paternal grandmother, Lady Constance Villiers, was daughter of

Lord Clarendon Earl of Clarendon is a title that has been created twice in British history, in 1661 and 1776. The family seat is Holywell House, near Swanmore, Hampshire. First creation of the title The title was created for the first time in the Peera ...

, who himself served on three occasions as Foreign Secretary. Lord Stanley's paternal uncles Sir Arthur and Sir George also served as Conservative MPs. His maternal grandfather was

William Montagu, 7th Duke of Manchester William Drogo Montagu, 7th Duke of Manchester KP ( Kimbolton Castle, 15 October 1823 – 22Sometimes appears 21. March 1890), known as Lord Kimbolton from 1823 to 1843 and as Viscount Mandeville from 1843 to 1855, was a British peer and Conserv ...

, also a Conservative peer and MP. His maternal grandmother Louisa von Alten married after the death of the Duke of Manchester, Spencer, Duke of Devonshire, also known as Lord Hartington, who for a time (before inheriting his peerage) was Leader of the Liberal Party in the House of Commons. His sister Victoria married Neil Primrose, the son of Liberal Prime Minister

Lord Rosebery Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of ...

. Oliver Stanley was his younger brother, and his son

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

became an MP. He became known by the courtesy title ''Lord Stanley'' in 1908, when his father succeeded in the earldom of Derby. He was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford.thepeerage.com Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Montagu Cavendish Stanley, Lord Stanley
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Military career

Lord Stanley was commissioned a second lieutenant on 2 July 1914. He was promoted to temporary lieutenant in the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

on 15 November 1914, later with seniority from 3 November 1914, and became a substantive lieutenant on 11 November 1914. On 29 January 1916, he was made a supernumerary temporary captain with the Guards, relinquishing the rank on 12 May 1916. Lord Stanley was appointed adjutant of the newly formed

Household Battalion The Household Battalion was an infantry battalion of the British army during the Great War. It was formed in September 1916 from the reserves of the Household Cavalry regiments (the 1st Life Guards, 2nd Life Guards and the Royal Horse Guards) to ...

on 9 September 1916, again as a temporary captain. He received a substantive captaincy on 26 September 1916 and served as adjutant until 12 January 1917. He was appointed a

staff captain Staff captain is the English translation of a number of military ranks: Historical use of the rank Czechoslovakia In the Czechoslovak Army, until 1953, Staff Captain ( cs, štábní kapitán, sk, štábny kapitán) was a senior captain ran ...

and seconded on 13 August 1917, and made a

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section dire ...

on 22 January 1918, a post he held until 11 March 1918. He served as a general staff officer, 3rd grade, from 6 May 1918 to 8 October 1918. On 9 October 1918, he was again appointed a brigade major, serving in that capacity until 2 November 1919. Lord Stanley was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...

on 3 June 1919, for his service in Italy during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. On 27 November 1920, he retired from the Army and entered the reserve of officers as a captain.

Political career

Lord Stanley was first elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

on 28 June 1917 in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in Liverpool Abercromby. He left Parliament the following year, when the seat was abolished for the 1918 general election. During this time, he was the

Baby of the House Baby of the House is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house. The term is most often applied to members of the British parliament from which the term originated. The title is named after the Father of the Hous ...

. He returned to Parliament in the 1922 general election when he was elected for Fylde. He served under Stanley Baldwin as a

Junior Lord of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

from 1924 to 1927 and was a Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1927 to 1929. On the formation of the National Government after the

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, Stanley was made

Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty The Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty also known as the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Board of Admiralty was a position on the Board of Admiralty and a civil officer of the British Royal Navy. It was usually ...

under Ramsay MacDonald. On 26 February 1934, he was admitted to the Privy Council. In 1935 he was made Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs by Baldwin, and later that year was made

. Two years later, Lord Stanley became

Under-Secretary of State for India and Burma This is a list of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State and Permanent Under-Secretary of State, Permanent Under-Secretaries of State at the India Office during the British India, period of British rule be ...

. On 16 May 1938 he entered the cabinet as

. His brother, Oliver, was also in the Cabinet as President of the Board of Trade. However, in October 1938, five months after being appointed to the cabinet, Lord Stanley died in Marylebone, aged 44. Neville Chamberlain paid tribute to him 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. T ...

: "So great, indeed, was his keenness and his interest in Imperial relations that he insisted on carrying out his intention to visit Canada, although even then he was suffering from the disease which has now ended fatally. Perhaps in that office he would have, for the first time, found an opportunity of showing the full extent of his powers, for those who knew him best had long recognised that he possessed to an exceptional degree the high qualities of steady judgment and sterling good sense, combined with a complete and utter selflessness and integrity of purpose."theyworkforyou.com House of Commons debates, 1 November 1938
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Family

Lord Stanley married the Honourable Sibyl Louise Beatrix Cadogan, daughter of Henry Cadogan, Viscount Chelsea, in 1917; they had three sons. He died in Marylebone, London, in October 1938, aged 44, predeceasing his father by ten years. His eldest son Edward succeeded his grandfather in the earldom in 1948. Another son,

, later became MP for Fylde North. Lady Stanley died in June 1969, aged 76.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Edward Stanley, Lord 1894 births 1938 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War I British Secretaries of State for Dominion Affairs British courtesy barons and lords of Parliament Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Grenadier Guards officers Heirs apparent who never acceded Lords of the Admiralty Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Chamberlain peacetime government, 1937–1939 People educated at Eton College Presidents of the Board of Trade Recipients of the Military Cross Edward UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 UK MPs 1931–1935 UK MPs 1935–1945