[From Draper The House of Stanley]

THE STANLEYS OF CROSS-HALL*

The Cross-Hall family of the House of Stanley forms the first¹ collateral branch of the Stanleys of Bickerstaffe, the present House of Derby, the progenitor of the present representative of the Stanleys of Cross-Hall being Peter Stanley, second son of Sir Thomas Stanley, second Baronet of Bickerstaffe, and brother of Sir Edward Stanley, the third Baronet of Bickerstaffe from whom the present Earl of Derby is the lineal descendant.....See p. 265.

Peter Stanley, Esq., the progenitor of the present proprietor of Cross-Hall, married, lath April, 1683, at Goosnargh Chapel, Catherine, daughter of Colonel Alexander Rigby, of Middleton, Goosnargh, by Margaret, daughter of Sir Gilbert Houghton ; and, after the death of her first husband Peter Stanley, re-married, at Preston, 2nd November, 1689, to Paul Amyas, Esq. Peter Stanley, Esq., was buried at Ormskirk, January 27th, 1686, and had issue, Mary and Margaret, who died without issue, and Thomas, who succeeded his father.

Thomas Stanley, Esq., of Cross-Hall, was high sheriff of the county of Lancaster in 1718. He married Catherine, daughter of Anthony Parker, Esq., of Bradkirk, Lancashire, who was buried at Ormskirk, 29th January, 1738, having survived Mr. Stanley nearly five years. Mr. Stanley was buried at Ormskirk on the 10th April, 1733, having had issue :—l, Charles, his successor ; 2, Thomas, who succeeded his brother ; 3, James, who married Anne, daughter of —Langley, Esq., and was buried at Ormskirk, in May, 1773, without issue ; 4, Mary, who became the wife of the Rev. John Lowe, and was buried at Winwick, 22nd June, 1778; 5, Rebecca, who was buried at Ormskirk, 8th October, 1758.

Charles Stanley, Esq., of Cross-Hall, eldest son of the above-mentioned Thomas Stanley, was born on the 25th July, 1715, and married Jane, daughter and heiress of the Rev. Charles Sudell,³ rector of North Meols, Lancashire. Mr. Stanley died in 1754, and was buried at Ormskirk, 23rd April, 1754 ; and Mrs. Stanley died the following year, and was also buried at Ormskirk, on the 26th December. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley were :—1, Margaret-Sarah, baptised at Ormskirk, April 23rd, 1740, and died at Bath, unmarried, and was buried at Ormskirk, October 14th, 1787 ; 2, Thomas-James, baptised December 24th, 1741, and buried at Ormskirk, April 29th, 1742. In the Cross-Hall Chapel, under the tower of Ormskirk Church, on the east side, is a mural monument to the memory of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley, the inscription being,—.

Charles Stanley, Esqr., of Cross-Hall, Lancashire, died ye 19th April, 1754, aged 39. An inexpressible Loss to his own Family, and universally lamented by his Friends and Acquaintance for the many amiable Qualities he so eminently possessed. And here also is interred the Body of Jane Stanley his wife who died ye 12 of Deer., 1755, aged 50, whose Conduct as a Wife, Mother, and Friend add a lustre to her Memory.

Thomas Stanley, D.D., rector of Winwick, as already noticed, was the second son of Thomas Stanley, of Cross-Hall, and succeeded his brother Charles. He was christened at Clitheroe, January 2nd, 1717, and married, at York Minster, Betty, daughter and co-heir of John Shaw, Esq., of York. Mr. and Mrs. Stanley had issue :—1 , Thomas, who succeeded his father to the Cross-Hall estate ; 2, John, born at Winwick, January 18th, and christened February 13th, 1750, was an officer in the army, and died, unmarried, at Worcester; 3, James, who continued the line of descent, as shall be noticed presently ; 4, Betty, born July 17th and baptised August 17th, 1 753, at Winwick ; 5, Catherine, born November 22nd, 1759, and baptised January 1st, 1760, at Winwick, and married John Bacon Sawrey Morritt, Esq., of Rokeby Park, county York, and died s.p.—.The Rev. Thomas Stanley, D.D., died in June, and was buried on the 30th of the same month, 1764, at Ormskirk, being survived by his widow till 1780, who was also buried at Ormskirk, on the 4th December of that year.

Thomas Stanley, Esq., of Cross-Hall, eldest son of the Rev. Thomas Stanley, D.D., was born on the 14th of September, at Winwick, and christened there on the 16th October, 1749. He was colonel of the 1st Regiment of Royal Lancashire Militia from I 783 till his death. He was one of the knights of the shire for the county of Lancaster from 1780 to 1812; and, during the memorable period of his Parliamentary career, his attention to his public duties was most unremitting. In 1797, the bill for increasing the allowance to prisoners for debt, from fourpence to sixpence per day, received his support. He opposed Mr. Pitt’s Additional Force Bill, in 1804 ; and, during the same year, he also opposed the Corn Bill, as he considered it highly prejudicial to the county of Lancaster. It is also worthy of note that in 1805 he sat as chairman of the committee of enquiry into the claims of the Duke of Athol for further remuneration as the former proprietor of the Isle of Man ; and, in 1807, Colonel Stanley opposed the bill for per-mitting militia men to volunteer into the regular army. In the Exchange Room, at Manchester, is a fine full-length portrait of the gallant colonel, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, bearing the following inscription underneath~a pleasing memento of his public worth and the esteem he enjoyed

Thomas Stanley,
Colonel of the Royal Lancashire Militia,
and one of the Representatives of this County,
This Portrait
Presented to the Merchants and Manufacturers of Manchester by
Thomas Johnson and James Ackers, Esquires,
is placed here as a
Testimony of Public Regard for the ability and zeal with which he uniformly promoted
the commercial interesiz of this town during eight successive Parliaments.

Colonel Stanley died, unmarried, on the 8th of January, 1818, and was buried in the family vault under the tower of Ormskirk Parish Church. He was warmly attached to Cross-Hall ; but, probably, not so much on account of being its proprietor, as having been the place of the pleasant associations of his childhood. According to his expressed desire, his corpse, on being conveyed to its final resting place, was taken past Cross-Hall, where his tenantry joined in the funeral procession. The occasion of the funeral was marked by every demonstration of regret, the deceased having won for himself universal esteem.—James Stanley, Esq., was the third and youngest son of Dr. Stanley, having been born at Winwick, December 26th, 1750, and baptised January 24th, 1751. He was called to the bar on the 9th February, 1781 ; and married, in May, 1786, Augusta, daughter of John Cornwall, Esq., of Hendon, Middlesex, and had issue :—1, Edward ; 2, the Rev. Thomas Stanley, born in 1799 ; 3, Augusta, born in 1787 ; 4, Elizabeth, born in 1788 ; 5, Catherine, born in 1795.—James Stanley, Esq., died on the 28th September, 1810 ; and was buried in the Church of St. Nicholas, Brighton, where a mural monument was erected to his memory. James Stanley, Esq., dying before his brother, Colonel Stanley, the Cross-Hall estate descended to his elder son,

Edward Stanley, Esq., who succeeded his uncle, Colonel Stanley, and is the present proprietor of Cross-Hall. He was born in 1789 ; and married, September 3rd, 1819, the Lady Mary, second daughter of James Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale, and has issue :—1 , Eleanor, born in 1821 ; 2, Augusta, born in 1823, and married, in 1841, to Richard, Lord Cremorne ; 3, Edward-James, born at Geneva, in December, 1826. At the election in 1837, Mr. Stanley, having Mr. Charles Towneley for his colleague, contested the southern division of the county of Lancaster, in the Whig interest, against Lord Francis Egerton, afterwards first Earl of Ellesmere, and the Hon. Richard Bootle-Wilbraham, father of the present Lord Skelmersdale, when the Conservative candidates were returned by an overwhelming majority, the votes being : Egerton, 7,822 ; Wilbraham, 7,645 ; Stanley, 6,506 ; Towneley, 6,044. —Mr. Stanley, though a Whig in politics, is a staunch member of the Church of England ; and, though he gives his interest to the Liberal candidates, yet he leaves his tenants to vote as they please. Mr. Stanley is a magistrate and a deputy-lieutenant for the county of Lancaster.

Arms—The achievement emblazoned by Sir Gilbert Dethick, Garter King-of-Arms (temp. Elizabeth) for the younger branch of the House of Derby, is as follows

1. Stanley, arg., on a bend, az., three stags’ heads, caboshed, or. 2. Lathom (of Lathom and Knowsley,) or, on a chief indented, az., three plates. 8. Isle of Man, gu., three men’s legs, armed~ ppr. conjoined in the centre at the upper part of the thighs, flexed in a triangle, garnished and spurred, or. 4. Warren ( Earls of) chequy, or and az. 5. Strange (Barons Strange of Knockyn*), gu. two lions, passant, arg. 6. Wydville (Earl Rivers) arg., a fesse and canton, gu. 7. Scales’(Barons Scales), gu. six escallop shells, three, two, one. 8. Gobion, arg., three gudgeons, haurient, within a bordure, engrailed, sa. 9. Bedelsgate, or, on a bend, sa., three mullets, arg. 10. Beauchamp of Hache, vair, arg. and az. 11. Luxembourg, arg., a lion, rampant, gu., queue noiiée fourchée passée en sautoir, armel and crowned, or, langued, az , a label of three points, az 12. De-Baux(Dukes of Andrie)lst and 4th De-Baux, gu., a comet of sixteen rays, arg., 2nd and 3rd France, setnée of fleurs-de-lis, or. 13. Luzignan (King of Cyprus, &c.) barry of ten, arg. and az, over all a lion, rampant, gu. la queue fourchée passée en sautoir, armed and crowned, or, langued, az. 14. Ursius (Counts of) bendy of six, arg. and gu., a fesse, or, on a chief arg., a rose, gu. 15. Ohatillon (Counts of St. Paul, &c ) gu., three pales vair, arg. and az, on a chief, or, a label of five points, az. 16. Mohun (Barons Mohun) or, a cross, engrailed, sa. :i 7. Montalt (Barons of) az., a lion, rampant, arg. In the centre of the shield a crescent for differ-ence, gu.—Crest—On a chapeau, gu., turned up erm., an eagle with wings expanded, or, preying on an infant, ppr. in its cradle, or, swaddled, gu., banded, or.—Motto---Sans changer.

Residence, Grosvenor-square, London.

Footnotes

*Cross-Hall, the old Lancashire residence of this branch of the Stanley family, was a mansion built of brick, but was taken down about sixty years ago. The hall stood on an elevated and most delightful site, commanding the best views of the surrounding scenery, which is most pleasant and varied. A small portion of the old mansion still remains, having a modern stone front ; and there are also still standing portions of the garden enclosures. The hail is situate in the township of Lathom, about three-quarters of a mile from Ormskirk, on the Wigan-road. In the valley to the east is the New Park, in which formerly stood Altosi Castle, and which, with. the Bath-wood, the Ruff, and a large area of well-cultivated land, in the immediate neighbourhood of Cross-Hall, are still held by this branch of the Stanley family. Some years back the kitchen at the Cross-Hall had hung on the walls several pieces of armour, formerly belonging to the gallant knights of Cross-Hall, but these have been removed. Cross.Hall was formerly the patrimonial property of the elder branch of the house of Derby, but was left by James, the tenth ian, to this branch of the family, with remainder to Sir Edward Stanley, fifth baronet of Bickerstaffe, who succeeded to the Earldom of Derby as the eleventh Earl, and to his heirs for ever.

1 The family of the late James Stanley, of Ormskirk, forms the second collateral branch of the Stanleys of Bickerstaffe, being descended from Henry Stanley, the second son of Sir Edward Stanley, Bart., cf page 264.

2 The barony of Strange past into theStanley family by the marriage of George Stanley, third son of the first and father of the second Earl of Derby, with Jane, or Joan, daughter and heiress of John, Baron Strange of Knockyn, by Jaquetta, sister-in-law to Edward IV., and daughter of Richard Wydville, Earl Rivers, and his wife Jaqueline of Luxembourg, widow of John Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford, and daughter of Peter Luxembourg, by Margaret, daughter of Francis De-Baux, Duke of Andrie, by Justine, daughter of count d'Ursin, of the noble family Ursini, of Rome. Jahn, the eighth Lore Strange, the father of Jane, the wife of George Stanley, was the son of Richard, the seventh Lord Strange, who was the son of John, the sixth Lord Strange, who married Maud, the daughter of John, Lord Mohun, his father being Roger, the fifth Baron, who was the son of Robert, Lord Strange, the son of Ebulo, who married Elinor, the daughter of Edmund Lacy, Baron of Halton, who married Isabel, daughter of the Marquis of Saluce. This Edmund was the son of John Lacy, Baron of Halton, who married Margaret, the elder daughter of Robert, Lord Quinsey, Earl of Lincoln, by his wifeHawisse, the fourth daughter of Hugh Bohun, or Hugh cyvelioc or Kevelioc, the fifth of the seven noted Norman Earls of chester. who died 30th June, 1232. Hugh Bohun was the father of Handle Blundeville, the sixth Norman Earl of chester, who built Beeston castle, and died 23rd October, 1232, being the uncle of John Scot, the seventh Norman Earl of Chester, the mother of the latter being Maud, the eldest daughter of Hugh Kevelioc, who married David, the King of the Scots, who died in 1219, leaving issue, John Scot, the seventh Earl of chester, just named, who died 7th June, 1237. The father of Hugh, the fifth Norman Earl of chester, was Randle Gernouns, the fourth Earl of chester, ‘who died 16th December, 1153, being the son of Handle Meschines, the third Earl of chester, who died 16th June, 1129, his mother being Margaret, sister of Hugh Lupus, who married John Bohun. Richard, the eldest son of Hugh Lupus, and the second Earl of Chester, was drowned at the age of 24 years, on the 25th November, 1120. Hugh d’Avranches. commonly called Hugh Lupus or Hugh Wolf, from having a wolf’s head as his favourite device, was the first Norman Earl of chester, his uncle, William the con-queror, having given to him that portion of the conquered country with the Saxon title of Earl. Hugh Lupus resided in the castle at Chester, which was built by the conqueror, and died July 27th, 1101. The Chapter-house of Chester Cathedral is remarkable owing to the burial in it of the renowned Hugh Lupus by his nephew, Handle Meschines. In 1724 the remains of Hugh Lupus were there disdovered, wrapped in leather, and deposited in a stone coffin, having a cross on the breast.

Altho my corpse it lies in grave
And that my flesh consumed be,
My picture here, now that you have
An Earl some time of this city— Hugh Lupus by name, &c.

The sword of Hugh Lupus is preserved in the British Museum. In a painted glass window at Brereton Hall, were portraits of the nine Saxon and Norman Earls of Chester, the two Saxon earls, Leofwine and Leofric, occupying the first positions. The portraits of the Norman earls formerly graced the banquetting.hall of the Stanleys of Hooton Hall, and also the portrait of Edric Silvestris, who died in 1089, ancestor of the Earls of Stourton. When the late Sir William Thomas Stanley Massey-Stanley, Bart., lost the fine estate of Hooton, the portraits of the Norman Earls of Chester were sold, and are now the property of Mr. James Thompson, of St. John’s Market-house, Great Charlotte-street, Liverpool, where they may now (Sept., 1864,) be seen. On the death of John Scot, the seventh and last Norman Earl of Chester, in 1237, without male issue, King Henry III. bestowed the county on his son Edward of Caernarvon, and since that tiuie the earidom has been in the Crown—the Prince of Wales being Earl of Chester,

3 On the west wall of the small chapel on the south side of the tower of Ormskirk Parish Church, belonging to the Stanleys of Cross-Hall, is a marble monument to the memory of the Rev. Christopher Sudell, inscribed in Latin, as follows :—" Certa spe Resurrectionis juxta requiescunt cineres Christophori Sudell, AM., Prænobilis Jacobi Comitis Derbiæ; Capellani, Ecciesiarum de North Meols in hoc agro Lancastriensi et S.S. Trinitatis Cestriæ Rectoris, Necnon Ecclesiæ Cathedralis ibidem Prebendarij . Obiit iii die Aug. anno Sal., mdccxxxv, Ætatis suæ LXIII."—In English the foregoing inscription may be thus rendered :—" In certain hope of the Resurrection, near to this place rest the ashes of Christopher Sudell, M.A., Chaplain to the Right Honourable James Earl of Derby, Rector of the Churches of North Meols in this county of Lancaster and of the most Holy Trinity in Chester, also a Prebendary of the Cathedral Church of the same city. He died Aug. 3, 1735, in the 63rd year ol his age."