Coat of Arms of Sir Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley, KG

Sir Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley, titular King of Mann, KG (c. 1405 – 11 or 20 February 1459), of Lathom and Knowsley, Lancashire, was a Privy Councillor, Comptroller of the Royal Household, Lieutenant-Governor of Ireland (1431–36), Chief Steward of the

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of a portfolio of lands, properti ...

Knight of the Shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

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 Lancash ...

, Constable & Justice of Chester, Chamberlain of

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main c ...

(1455), and from 15 January 1456 was summoned by Writ to Parliament as Lord Stanley.

Life

Stanley was the son of Sir John Stanley, of Liverpool, Lathom, and Knowsley (in Huyton), Lancashire, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Nicholas Harington (or Haverington) of Farleton (in Melling), Lancashire. He represented

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 ...

in 1427, 1433, 1439, 1442, 1447, 1449, 1450, 1453, 1455. In 1424 he was attacked in his father's tower at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

by Sir Richard Molyneaux, who was arrested. His family had long associations with the governance of Ireland, his grandfather Sir John Stanley, K.G., having been both Justiciar and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (and who died there), and in 1429 he was sent to Ireland and called a Parliament in that Kingdom in 1432. In 1437, he succeeded to the title of

King of Mann The King of Mann () was the title taken between 1237 and 1504 by the various rulers, both sovereign and suzerain, over the Kingdom of Mann – the Isle of Man which is located in the Irish Sea, at the centre of the British Isles. Since 1504, th ...

upon the death of his father. During the Parliament at Westminster in 1450-1 the House of Commons demanded his removal from the Royal presence with others of the Duke of Suffolk's party.Richardson, Douglas, 2007, p. 771.

Marriage and issue

He married Joan Goushill (1401–1466),Joan died shortly before 27 April 1466 eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir Robert Goushill, of Hoveringham in Nottinghamshire, by his wife Elizabeth Fitzalan, a daughter of Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel. By his wife he had four sons and three daughters: * Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (1435–1504), KG, eldest son and heir, who in 1485 was created

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

by King Henry VII following his decisive assistance in the

Battle of Bosworth The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 Au ...

. He married twice, firstly to Eleanor de Neville, secondly to Lady

Margaret Beaufort Lady Margaret Beaufort (usually pronounced: or ; 31 May 1441/43 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late fifteenth century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch. A descendant of ...

, mother of King Henry VII. * William Stanley (c.1435–1495), KG, 2nd son, invested as a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

in 1487 by King Henry VII, but executed by that king in 1495 for treason for his alleged part in the Perkin Warbeck conspiracy. *Sir John Stanley, ancestor of the Barons Stanley of Alderley; *James Stanley, Archdeacon of Chester; *Elizabeth Stanley, wife successively of Sir Richard Molyneux (d.1459), killed in the Battle of Blore Heath, and Thomas Strange; *Margaret Stanley, wife successively of Sir William Troubeck (d.1459), killed in the Battle of Blore Heath; Sir John Boteler, and Henry Grey, 4th (7th) Baron Grey of Codnor; *Katherine Stanley, wife of Sir John Savage, of Clifton, Cheshire. Of their many sons, the eldest, Sir John Savage, KG, was the commander of the left wing of Henry Tudor's army at the

in 1485; another, Sir Christopher Savage of Aston-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, fell at the

Battle of Flodden The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...

, and another, Thomas Savage, was

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

Death and burial

He died on 11 February 1459 and was buried in

Burscough Priory Burscough Priory, at Burscough, Lancashire, England, was an Augustinian foundation, established in around 1190 and dissolved in around 1536. Some remains of the church survive. History The priory was founded in c. 1190 by Robert Fitz-Henry, Lord ...

, near his home at Lathom, Lancashire, where his wife was later buried also. , -

References

* Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron 1400s births 1459 deaths 15th-century English nobility Barons Stanley Knights of the Garter Thomas Year of birth unknown Monarchs of the Isle of Man Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Lancashire English knights Lords Lieutenant of Ireland English MPs 1427 English MPs 1433 English MPs 1439 English MPs 1442 English MPs 1447 English MPs February 1449 English MPs November 1449 English MPs 1450 English MPs 1453 English MPs 1455