[From Seacombe, History of House of Stanley]

[Final section]

The several articles before-mentioned, have been abstracted from the book of Sequestrations for the County of Lancaster, and are intended as specimens of the proceedings of those seditious and rebellious times, wherein Liberty and Property were words without meaning; the Beggar upon a level with a Lord, and they of the household dividing the spoil; the two noble Seats of Latham and Knowsley (spacious enough for princely Palaces) demolished and destroyed, and the estates thereto belonging, all under Sequestration, and the heavy load of 6001. per Annum charged upon the first, and several other manors before-mentioned; all which put together, with many other devastations and destructons by the usurpers, reduced the noble Lord entitled thereto to a narrow and scanty way of living, until the Lady Stanley aforesaid had married the Earl of Lincoln, and her younger son James's death.

When the EARL of DERBY obtained an Act of Parliament to enable him to sell several manors, lands and chief rents, at Chidwall, Little Woolton, part of Dalton, and all Holland; with the chief rents of many other manors and townships, whereby he railed a sum sufficient to purchase the Countess of Lincoln's annuity for life, and her second son James's annuity, from his surviving brother Charles, who was then entitled to the whole; and with the payment of all arrears, and securing to the said Charles the future payment of the whole 600l. per annum upon the manor of Latham, only, he was admitted into the possession of all the aforesaid manors and townships, pledged for the payment of the said 600l. per annum.

All which, with some improvements made by him, descended on his decease to his eldest son William, Lord Strange, who then commenced the ninth EARL of DERBY of this family, who was a Nobleman of polite education, great reading, and strong capacity, and a kind landlord to his tenants, but much averse to any offices of trust or employment under the government, from the confederation of his family sufferings, by their constant attachment to it, which induced him to prefer a country retirement, as he frequently declared upon many occasions, before any honour or preferments at court.

He married to his Lady, Elizabeth, daughter to Thomas, Earl of Ossory, grand-daughter to James, the old Duke of Ormond, and sister to the late proscribed Duke, and by her had issue one son and two daughters, to wit, James, Lord Strange, who died at Venice on his travels, in the twentieth year of his age, and unmarried, but his body was brought to England, and deposited with his noble and most worthy predecessors ; and his eldest daughter, the Lady Henrietta, married first to John, Earl of Anglesey, and by him had issue one daughter, who died very young, and he himself not long after; and to her second husband she married John, Lord Ashburnham, and by him had issue only two daughters, named Henrietta Bridget, who died about the fourteenth year of her age; and Elizabeth, his second daughter, who died in the eighteenth year of her age unmarried.

This Lord intending to re-edify and adorn the old and famous seat of Latham, erected a sumptuous and lofty new front, and covered it in, but did not live to finish it, dying at Chester, when Mayor thereof, in 1702, and also Chamberlain of that city, as his father and ancestors had been before him, and was nobly interred at Ormskirk, in the repository his family, and was succeeded by James, his brother, then Brigadier Stanley, who had been bred up in martial discipline from a youth, by the heroic Prince of Orange, after King William the Third of England, with whom, he was in high favour and esteem; one of his bedchamber, and almost constant attendant in waiting; upon the death of his brother in 1702, he became Baron Strange, and the tenth EARL OF DERBY of his name, soon after which he quitted the army, and was honoured with the high office of Chancellor of the. Duchy and County Palatine of Lancaster, and Lord Lieutenant and Vice-admiral of the same and the coasts thereof, with the high office of Chamberlain of the city and county, palatine of Chester, and one of the Privy Council to King William, Queen Anne, and King George I. and Captain of the Yeomen of the Guards to the last, and Lord of Man and the isles; he commanded a regiment of foot through all King William's wars in Flanders and Ireland, there being no battle or siege but he had a large share therein, his body being almost covered with wounds. And twice carried off the field as a dying man, but by the goodness of God he surmounted all those evils, and all the hazards and dangers of a military life; no person behaving with greater courage and resolution than Colonel Stanley, to the time of his commencing EARL of DERBY; and then he generously bestowed his regiment upon an' old friend and brother officer, and returned home to possess the noble estate of his family, at which time lie was honoured with several offices of power and trust before-mentioned.

But upon the accession of King George II. being grown aged and infirm, and unable to bear the fatigues of public employments, he retired to his seat of Knowsley, the place of his birth, in the Year 1707 or 1708, and in regard to the building, which was much defaced under the usurpation, he resolved, to do the honour to his ancestors, of rebuilding their old seat after the modern way, which he performed in. a most sumptuous and beautiful manner, and in memory of the unkind and ungenerous treatment of his father and grandfather, by King Charles II. caused the following inscription to be cut in stone on the front of it viz, " James, EARL of DERBY Lord of Man and the Isles, grandson of James, EARL of DERBY, by Charlotte, daughter of Cloud, Duke of Tremouille, who was beheaded at Bolton, the fifteenth of October 1651, for strenously adhering to King Charles I. who refused a bill unanimously passed by both Houses of Parliament, for restoring to the family the estates which he had lost by his loyalty to him "

This Lord married Mary, the only daughter and heiress of Sir William Morley of Halnacar, in the county of Sussex, by whom he enjoyed a plentiful estate, and had issue by her, one only son named James, who lived but about three months, and thereby left him childless at his decease, which happened at Knowsley on the first of February, 1736; and from thence conveyed to Ormskirk, and laid with his most eminent and noble ancestors in the common repository of his family. He was born the third of July, 1664.

Here let it be observed, that by the death of this noble Lord without any issue, the honour of the Earldom of Derby became extinct in the direct line, he being ,the tenth in succession from Thomas, Lord Stanley, created EARL of DERBY by King Henry VII. in the first year of his reign, for his signal and faithful services to him and his country (as before observed) on the 27th day of October, in the year 1485, and on many other remarkable occasions,

The late noble Lord we have been here treating of, was by patent made Chamberlain of Chester for life,' that high office having been expired in his family by the death of his elder brother, Earl William-, however, when this Lord was in full life and at the highest pinacle of honour, he appears to me to have possessed more titles of dignity, than any of his brave and renowned predecessors and as the knowledge of these may be as agreeable to the readers, as the pleasure of collecting them hath been to me, I have thought fit to relate them in their order, viz

James EARL of DERBY, Lord Stanley Strange, Baron of Weeton ; Viscount Kinton ; Mohun, Barnwell, Basset and Lacy, Lord Chancellor and Lord Lieutenant of the duchy and county palatine of Lancaster; and Vice-admiral of the same; Lord chamberlain, of the City and County Palatine of Chester; Captain of the Yeomen of the Guards; one of his Majesty's most honourable Privy Council; and Lord of Man and the Isles.

And here, though I have according to promise, given the reader the lineal succession the EARL of DERBY for eleven generations with their marriages and issue, and the marriages and issue of their sons and daughter yet, permit me before I proceed further in the history, to insert a few articles that came my knowledge during my writing, what had already passed, which will tend to make to whole something more intelligible and uniform, altho' a little out of due place, which I flatter myself will be forgiven me, as it intended for the readers information.

And first, the most noble Margaret, Countess of Richmond, and widow to Edmund Earl of Richmond, and afterwards wife to Thomas, the first EARL of DERBY, whom she out-lived, died in the year, 1509, and was interred in Westminster Abbey with her royal ancestors.

Secondly, William, EARL of DERBY, great grandfather to the last Earl James ; was by patent of the first of James I. made Chamberlain of Chester for life; and after this, in the year 1640, another patent passed, joining James, Lord Strange, with his father, for both their Lives, and the survivor of them.

Thirdly, William, EARL of DERBY, died in 1642, and was succeeded in the said office, by James, Lord Strange, his son, who continued therein till the Lords of Parliament removed him, and put in their speaker, Edward, Earl of Manchester, who continued to the year 1647; when the Commons thought fit to remove him, and put in William Lenthel, their Speaker; and Humphrey Mackworth of Shrewsbury, the Vice-chamberlain.

After him, in the year 1654, John Glinn, was made Chamberlain, and appointed Philip Young of Shropshire, his Vice Chamberlain. This John Glinn was afterwards (as I suppose) Sir John Glinn, who had (upon the vote of both houses above-mentioned) made an offer of surrendering the inheritance of Harden-castle, purchased by him from the agents of Sequestration, to Charles, EARL, of .DERBY, for a lease of three Lives, which not being immediately accepted by the said Earl, and his Majesty afterwards refusing his assent to the bill passed by both houses in his favour, he was glad to compound with Sir John Glinn, for the property of the sail castle, and had the same granted to him and his heirs, who now enjoy the inheritance thereof.

And here the reader may observe and lament the hard sate of the late loyal and brave EARL of DERBY'S sufferings and persecutions, in every state of property, whether in office for life, or inheritance ; nay, even in. his person and family, his and their enemies being daily in hand to f swallow them up; who being exalted and set on fire by unbounded power, their teeth became spears and arrows, and their tongues as sharp swords.

Sometime after this, Earl Charles obtained by patent, the office of Chamberlain of Chester, for the life of himself, and William his son; upon the decease of whom it rested in the crown, to the time the late Earl James was favoured therewith for his life.

LIST of the BIRTHS, MARRIAGES and DEATHS of several of the Family, hitherto omitted.

Charlotte, Counters of Derby, died in the year 1664.

Edward Stanley her son, and brother to Charles, EARL of DERBY, died in 1664.

Charles, EARL of DERBY, her eldest son, died in 1672.

Mary, daughter of Charles, EARL of DERBY, died in 1671.

Catharine, Lady Savage, daughter to Lord Colchester, died in 1687.

James, Lord Strange, son of I EARL of DERBY, died in 1700.

William, EARL of DERBY, his father died in 1702

Dorothy Helena Rupa, Countess Dowager, died in 1702.

Charles Stanley, fourth son of Charles EARL of DERBY, died in 1715.

Charlotte, Lady Colchester, her daughter died in 1717

James, EARL of DERBY, third son of Charles, EARL of DERBY, died in 1736. By whose death, the Barony of Strange, and Lordship of Man, devolved on James Murray, Duke of Athol in Scotland, son and heir of John Marquis of Athol, by the Lady Amelia-Sophia, his wife, daughter of James Lord Strange, the seventh EARL of DERBY; and the Barony of Stanley and Earldom of Derby devolved on Sir Edward Stanley of Bickerstaff, Bart. descended from George Lord Strange, son of Thomas the first EARL of DERBY.

Edward the eldest son of Sir Thomas Stanley, was the late EARL of DERBY, the titles devolving to him, on the death of the tenth EARL of DERBY, April 13, 1736; he married, in 1714, Elizabeth, only daughter and heir of Robert Hesketh, of Rufford, in Lancashire, Esq. and by her, who died Feb. 24, 1776, he had four sons and seven daughters. James Lord Strange, born January, 1717, married March 17, 1747, to Lucy, one of the three daughters and co-heirs of Hugh Smith, of Weald-hall, in Essex, Esq. and by her who died February 7, 1759, had issue,
1. Edward, the present Earl.
2. Thomas, born 1753, died 1779.
3. James, born 1754, and died 1771.
4. Elizabeth, born 1745, married July 28, 1779, Thomas Horton, Esq.
5 Lucy, born 1750, married April 25th, 1772, to Geoffrey Hornby, Esq.
6. Harriet, born 1756, married June 3, 1778, Sir Watts Horton, Bart.
7. Louisa, born 1759, and died 1769. His Lordship died in his father's life-time, 1st June, 1771.

The other sons of the Earl were, Thomas, born July 20th, 1718, died young. A son, who died unbaptized March, 1719. Edward, born June, 1732, and died April 20, 1745. The daughters are, Elizabeth, married in March, 1746, to Sir Peter Warburton, Bart. and died Sept. 1780. Mary, born 1717. Isabella-Dorothea, born Feb. 9, 1721-2. Margaret, born 1723, who died March 9, 1776- Jane, born April 1726., Charlotte, married to General John Burgoyne, and died without issue, June 7 1776. Barbara, who died an infant; and the Earl dying February 22, 1776, was succeeded by his grandson.

Having here brought. down and gone through the leading line of the ancient HOUSE of STANLEY, and also the first collateral branch from whence sprung the EARLS of DERBY, with what remarks and observations I had to make thereon, give me leave to return to their natural brother, Sir Oskatel de Latham, on: whom I have before said that Sir Thomas his father, had settled a competent estate, and given him the signet of his family, with the Eagle in the Crest, in token of his love for him, and in memory of his supposed deliverance.

This foundling being possessed of the lands and manors above-mentioned, made choice of Earlham for his seat, and became the ancestor of the Lathams of Earlham, whose progeny continued in a direct line from him without any interruption, until Cromwell's Usurpation.

That Latham whose turn it was to he in possession of the paternal estate, followed the fate of that noble EARL of DERBY w ho suffered Matyrdom at Bolton; and though he escaped the hands of the executioner, yet was obliged to secrete himself all the remaining part of his life from the fury of those times, when a great part of his estate within the power of the sequestrators, with many ancient deeds and records that particularly set forth the origin of the before-mentioned Crest, and the history of it, were all rifled away and eternally lost.

This unfortunate gentleman married a daughter of Egerton, of Riddley, in Lancashire, (own sister to the then Baronet of Bickerstaff's Lady, ancestor to the present EARL, of DERBY) by whom he had issue, one son and two daughters; the eldest of which daughters was never married, and died at Fulshaw, about the year 1730, after having lived in that Family near 40 years. She arrived to an extreme old age, and surprisingly retained a right use of all her senses till a few months before her death.

It was from that gentlewoman (says Mr. Finney) that I received the most authentic account of the family she sprung from, who in. deed was even a living oracle to me, by a remarkable knowledge the had of sundry notable occurrences that happened in Cromwell's time, when she was a young woman, as I have mentioned before. She was daughter to that Latham that was so severely treated in Oliver's days ; and sister to the last Male heir of that name, whose Father dying before the Restoration, she was left a minor under the guardianship of his mother and two uncles, of Bickerstaff and Ridley.

And although the estate had suffered so much in his fathers time, yet he still retained the inheritance of a fair patrimony, though incumbered, but by the provident care and prudent management of his good mother, before her son came of age the entirely discharged his estate.

He married a daughter of Ashhurst of Ashurst in Lancashire, by whom he had issue three daughters (one of whom says the Captain) was my mother, and the only surviving child of that gentlewoman, the last Latham of Earlham.

As his father was a steady Royalist, and suffered both in his person and estate for the cause of his King and Country, so this gentleman made an early embarkation into that grand affair of the Revolution ; whereby he expended such large sums, and so far involved his estate, through an ardent prosecution of the common good, that he left me (being the next male heir by my mother's side) nothing more than the Coat of Arms, which by birth-right descended to me, and what the world could not alienate. This gentleman dying without issue male, both the name and estate of the Lathams of Earlham, were extinguished together.

I have often heard my great aunt say, that Charles, EARL of DERBY (successor to that noble Lord that was murdered at Bolton) took particular notice of her brother when a youth, and under the care of a tutor; and would frequently come to see him, and at proper times take him with him ; that the never heard that Lord when speaking to him or of him, call him by any other name. than, the Top of his Kin - a phrase he constantly used on such occasions for this familiarity; and it was plain to them, not from their alliance with Bickerstaff but from his Lordship's knowledge that this. Latham's ancestor was natural brother to Isabel, the heiress of that name to Sir Thomas Latham, and was the only motive for his Lordship's appellation.

I have now in my custody an old Signet that my aunt used to say had been in the family two hundred years or more, and was esteemed the signet given by Sir Thomas Latham, to his son, Sir Oskatel ; the crest being an Eagle with his wings extended, and looking back as for something she had lost, or was taken from her.

I have also heard my aunt say, that the paternal coat of that family she sprung from, was painted upon wood; and as she had been told about a hundred and forty years age, with the bearings of the sundry families they had married into, quartered therewith. Thus far Mr. Finney, of the family of the Latham's of Earlham, descended from that famous foundling, Sir Oskatel de Latham, to which I have only to add and observe, that if any of my readers should still remain in diffidence of what I have delivered with respect to the two branches hitherto treated of, I do assure him, that I have, with utmost care, collected and examined, what I have wrote on this subject from the best authorities I could meet with, and am fully satisfied of the truth and reality thereof; and is he will please to consider with me, how many revolutions this island has undergone in a few centuries, then it will appear no wonder to him that the members of the national community have been so extremely distorted by those convulsions of state, as almost to wipe out memory, and even history, many notable and remarkable transactions of the preceding ages; then I say it will appear no wonder to him is he meet with force things obscurely delivered which he is requested to overlook or amend.