[From Draper The House of Stanley]

THE STANLEYS OF ALDERLEY.

This branch of the Stanley family has a history in common with the elder and second branches of the ancient family of Stanley down to Thomas, first Baron Stanley, who, as already noticed, had four sons, the first of whom was Thomas, first Earl of Derby, and the third was

Sir John Stanley, Knight of Weever and Alderley, in the time of Edward IV., who married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Weever, Knight of Weever, in the county of Chester, in whose right he succeeded to that estate, and had issue,

Sir Thomas Stanley, of Weever, who married a daughter of Thomas Leversedge, Esq., of Wheelock, by whom he had a son,

Sir Thomas Stanley, who married one of the daughters of Thomas Davenport, Esq., by whom he had three sons, Thomas, John, and Randal, He was succeeded by his eldest son,

Sir Thomas Stanley, who married Ursula, daughter of Richard and sister to Sir Hugh Cholmondeley. Sir Thomas died in 1591, leaving issue, a son,

Sir Randal Stanley, of Weever, who married Margaret, the daughter of John Masterson, Esq., of’ Nantwich, by whom he had issue, Thomas, Randal, and Mary. Sir Randal was captain of the Isle of Man, where he died on the 17th June, 1595 He was succeeded by his elder son,

Sir Thomas Stanley, Knight of Weever and Alderley, high-sheriff for Cheshire in the seventh year of King Charles I.

This Sir Thomas married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir Peter Warburton,¹ Knight of Grafton, in the county of Chester, chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas. Sir Thomas died in 1605, at the age of twenty-nine, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas Stanley, Esq., of Alderley, who was created a baronet 25th June, 1660. Sir Thomas married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir James Pytts, of Ryre, Worcestershire, by whom he had issue :—4, Peter, his successor ; 2, Thomas, who married Penelope, daughter of John Bradshaigh, Esq. ; 3, James, married to Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of John Byron, Esq. ; 4, Jane, died unmarried ; 5, Elizabeth, married first to John Leigh, Esq., and secondly to Robert Venables, Esq. ; Frances, died unmarried ; 7, Mary, married to Peter Wilbraham, Esq. ; 8, Margaret, who became the wife of Thomas Swettenham, Esq., of Swettenham.Sir Thomas Stanley died in 1672, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

Sir Peter Stanley, the second Baronet of Alderley, who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Leigh, of North-court, Isle of Wight. Sir Peter was high-sheriff for Cheshire in 1678. He had two sons and six daughters :—1, Thomas; 2, Charles, who married Lucretia, grandaughter of Lord Plunket, and died sine prole ; 3, Elizabeth, married to Thomas Weever, Esq. ; 4, Penelope, married to John Perrott, Esq. ; 5, Mary, married to George, eldest son of Sir Henry Ingoldsby, Bart. ; 6, Anne, died unmarried ; 7, Frances, married first to Sir Thomas Fotherley, Bart., and secondly, to John Swettenham, Esq. ; 8, Diana, who died unmarried.—Sir Peter was succeeded, in 1701, by his eldest son,

Sir Thomas Stanley, who became the third Baronet of Alderley ; and married Christiana, daughter of Sir Stephen Lennard, Bart., of West Wickham, by whom he had two sons, James and Edward, who succeeded to the baronetcy, and two daughters, both of whom died unmarried.—Sir Thomas died in 1721 , and was succeeded by his elder son,

Sir James Stanley, as the fourth Baronet of Alderley, who married, in November, 1740, Frances, youngest daughter of George Butler, Esq., of Ballyragget, county Kilkenny ; but, dying without issue, in 1746, the title and estates now devolved upon his brother,

Sir Edward Stanley, the fifth Baronet, who married Mary, daughter of Thomas Ward, Esq., of London, banker. He died in 1755, and was succeeded by his only surviving son,

Sir John-Thomas Stanley, the sixth Baronet, who was born in 1735, and was one of the gentlemen of his Majesty’s privy-chamber. He married, in 1763, Margaret, daughter and heiress of Hugh Owen, Esq., of Penrhos, in Anglesey, who died on the 1st February, 1816. Sir John had issue :—1, John-Thomas, his successor ; 2, Edward (Bishop of Norwich); 3, Isabella-Elizabeth, married, 19th October, 1812, to Charles Gibson, Esq., of Quernmore Park, Lancashire ; 4, Louisa-Margaret, married, 25th November, 1802, to General Sir Baldwin Leighton, who died in 1828 ; 5, Emma, married, in 1810, to Captain Digby-Thomas Carpenter, Esq., and died in 1842, leaving one son and four daughters.—The Right Rev. Dr. Stanley, the second son of Sir John-Thomas Stanley, Bart., was born at London, 1st January, 1779, studied at Cambridge, and, having taken holy orders in 1805, was presented by his father to the living of Alderley, where he continued to labour for about thirty-two years) and in 1837 was promoted to the see of Norwich ; and was celebrated as an accomplished geologist, botanist, and entomologist ; but his works shew that his favourite study was ornithology, and his Familiar History of British Birds, their Nature, Habits, and Instincts is an admirable work ; and his articles upon natural history, which appeared from time to time in Blackwood’s Magazine, are also excellent productions. Dr. Stanley married Catherine, daughter of the Rev. Oswald Leycester, rector of Stoke, Salop, by whom he had issue :—1, Owen, born 13th June, 1811, a lieutenant in the Royal Navy ; 2, Arthur-Penrhyn, born at Alderley in 1813, and educated at Rugby, under Dr. Arnold, whence, in 1834, he proceeded to Oxford, where he subsequently became fellow and tutor of University College ; and married, December 22nd, 1863, at Westminster Abbey, the Lady Augusta Bruce, sister of the late Governor-General of India ; in 1851, was nominated a canon of Canterbury, and afterwards appointed chaplain to His Royal Highness Prince Albert (late Prince Consort), and accompanied the Prince of Wales through his tour in the Holy Land, in 1862 ; in 1863, having refused the archbishopric of Dublin on the death of Dr. Whately, he was appointed Dean of Westminster ; in 1856, he was elected to fill the chair of Ecclesiastical History in the University of Oxford ; and of his works we may mention his Life and Correspondence of Thomas Arnold, D.D., Historical Memorials of Canterbury, a most learned and interesting work under the title of Sinai and Palestine in connection with their History, and a memoir of his father, Dr. Stanley, Bishop of Norwich, and also several collections of sermons and essays ; 3, Charles-Edward, lieutenant of Royal Engineers; and Mary and Catherine-Maria—Sir John Stanley, Bart., died on the 29th November, 1827, and was succeeded by his eldest son,

JOHN-THOMAS, FIRST LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY.

Sir John-Thomas Stanley, Bart., F.R.S. and F.S.A., the seventh Baronet, was born 26th November, 1766, and was elevated to the peerage, as Baron Stanley of Alderley, in May, 1839. He married, October 11th, 1796, the Lady Maria, Josepha Hoiroyd, daughter of John, first Earl of Sheffield,and had issue :—1, Edward-John, his successor ; 2, William-Owen (twin with his brother Edward-John), born November 12th, 1802, and married, 14th February, 1832, Ellen, youngest daughter of Sir John Williams, Bart., of Bodelwyddan, Flintshire ; 3, Maria-Margaret ; 4, Lucy-Anne, married, September 24th, 1838, to Marcus-Theodore Hare, Esq., RN.. who died in :1845, leaving issue ; 5, Louisa-Dorothea ; 6, Isabella-Louisa, married, October 23rd, 1826, to Sir William-Edward Parry, Knight, Captain RN., and died May 13th, 1839, leaving issue ; 7, Harriott-Althea, married, October 20th, 1835, to Lieutenant William-Henry Scott, and has issue ; 8, Matilda-Abigail, married, October 6th, 1828, to Henry-John Adeane, Esq ., of Babraham, Cambridgeshire, and died 28th July, 1850, leaving issue ; 9, Emmeline, married, April 30th, 1844, to Albert Wray, Esq.—.Lord Stanley, having nearly attained the age of eighty-four, died on the 23rd October, 1850, being succeeded by his elder twin son.

EDWARD-JOHN, SECOND LORD STANLEY OF ALDERLEY.

The Right Honourable Edward-John, Lord Stanley of Alderley, was born on the 13th November, 1802, and graduated at Christ Church, Oxford, taking A.B. in 1823. His lordship married, at Florence, October 6th, 1826, Henrietta-Maria, daughter of Henry-Augustus, 18th Viscount Dillon. Lord Stanley is a magistrate and deputy-lieutenant of Cheshire, and was M.P., for Hindon from 1831 to 1832, and for North Cheshire from 1832 to 1848, when he was called to the House of Lords as Baron Eddisbury, of Winnington. From 1835 to 1841, he was Joint Secretary of the Treasury, and was President of the Board of Trade from 1 853 to 1858; he has been Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs and the Home Department ; and in September, 1860, his lordship was appointed Postmaster-General. Lord Stanley is a states-man of great experience, and his speeches always display good, sound sense, business ability, and a thorough acquaintance with the subject upon which he may be speaking, and they read well. Lord and Lady Stanley of Alderley have issue, four Sons and six daughters :—l, Henry-Edward-John, born 11th July, 1827, who has filled various diplomatic appointments, and was secretary to the special mission in the Danubian Provinces from 1856 to 1858 ; 2, John-Constantine, born October 30th, 1836, captain in the Grenadier Guards ; 3, Edward-Lydulph, born May I 6th, 1839 ; 4, Algernon-Charles, born September 1 ßth, 1843 ; Alice-Margaret, married, February 3rd, 1853, to Augustus-Lane Fox, Esq. ; Henrietta-Blanche, married, September 23rd, 1 851, to David-Graham-Drummond Ogilvy, the 7th Earl of Airlie ; Cecilia, who died in 1839 ; Katherine-Louisa ; Maud-Alethea ; Rosalind- Frances.

Arms.—Arg., on a bend, az., three stags’ heads, cabossed, or, a crescent for difference.—.Crest—On a chapeau, gu., turned up erm , an eagle, wings expanded, or, preying upon an infant, ppr., swaddled, of the first, banded, az.——Supporters—Dexter, a stag, or, gorged with a ducal crown, and line reflexed over the back, and charged on the shoulder with a mullet, az. ; sinister, a lion reguardant ppr., gorged with a plain collar, arg., thereon three escallops, gu.—.Motto—Sans changer.

The seats are Alderley Park and Winnington Hall, Cheshire ; and Penrhos Hall, Anglesey.

The Stanley family, a sketch of whose interesting history has been attempted in the foregoing pages, now comprehends one baronetcy (the eldest branch), represented by Sir Rowland Errington, the eleventh baronet, brother of Sir William Thomas Stanley Massey-Stanley, Bart., late of Hooton, Che shire, who died at Paris, 29th June, 1863 ; two peerages — the earldom of Derby, and the barony of Stanley of Alderley, Cheshire ; the Stanleys of Cross-Hall, Lancashire; the Stanleys of Dalegarth and Greswithen, Cumberland ; and other branches, occupying prominent positions in other counties. For eight centuries the Stanley family has enjoyed a proud and noble place in its country’s history, and can boast an ancestrý whose fame is not surpassed by that of any other noble family in the land ; and whose illustrious career and great national worth promise to be perpetuated

" SANS CHANGER."

Footnotes

* In his will, dated 25th June, 1621, the Chief Justice styles himself Peter Warburton, Knight, one of the Justices of’ the Court of Common Pleas, stating that he was in good health, and recommending his poor soul into the hands of Almighty God, in full hope, through faith in Christ Jesus, to have remission of all his sins, and requesting that his body might be buried in Tilston Church, near his dear wife Dame Alice Warburton, if he died in Cheshire. He gave to his well-beloved grandchild, Thomas Stanley, Esq., all his leases of land in Cheshire. His will was executed on the 7th September, 1621, and ends as follows —"And so I take my leave of this world, 7th September, 1621.—To my servant xls."

2 John Bradehaigh, Esq., was a member of the old Lancashire family of Bradshaw. Sir John de Bradshaw, Knight (the ninth from Sir John, who was reinstated in the possessions of his Saxon ancestors by William the Conqueror) married, in the tenth year of Edward I., the daughter and heiress of Sir John de Bromley, Knight, by whom he had issue three Sons, the eldest of whom, Sir Thomas, was the progenitor of the Bradshaws, of Bradshaw. county of Lancaster, from whom the regicide, President John Bradshaw, in the time of Charles I., was an unworthy descendant. The second son of Sir John de Bradshaw was Sir William, who is represented as having been a military man and a great traveller. He married Mabel, daughter and co-heiress of " Hugh le Norris, Lord of Sutton, Rainhill, Eccleston, Whinston, Haigh, Blackrod, and Westleigh," all in the county of Lancaster. In some " Curious Particulars " from an old MS., Sir William is said to have had, at puberty, Haigh and Blackrod by a twelfth part of a Knight’s Fee [ie. twelfth part of 640 acres of land] as Hugh le Norris hold the same, and for which he and his wife paid 3s. 8d. aid-lump to Edw. III. for making the Knight’s eldest son a Knight, when Sir William made an alteration in the spelling of his name, namely, from Bradshaw to Bradshaigh. About the year 1314, Sir William went to the wars, and was absent from his lady more than ten years. During his absence, his wife, Dame Mabel, believing him to have been slain, married Sir Osmond Nevile but Sir William, returning, came in a palmer’s habit ["palm" or " cross "—the sign of having visited the Holy Land] amongst the poor, to Haigh, whom she no sooner beheld than, struck with the resemblance of her former husband, she burst into tears, for which she was sharply rebuked by Sir Osmond, upon which Sir William withdrew and made himself known to his tenants. Sir Osmond, learning that Sir William Bradshaigh had really returned, fled towards Wales, but was overtaken by Sir William near to Newton Park, where Sir William slew him ; and, according to an extract from the family pedigree of the Brafishaigh family, " the said dame Mabell was enjoined by her Confessor to doe penance by going onest every week barefoot and barelegged to a crosse ner Wigan from the Haghe wilest she lived ; and is called Mabel to this day ; and ther monument lies in Wigan Church, as you see them ther portray’d." Mab’s cross is at the top of Standishgate, Wigan, about one mile and a half from Haigh Hall. Sir William shortly after was reconciled to his lady, and both lie interred in Wigan Church, and are there represented by two efflgies,—Sir William in antique mail, crosslegged, unsheathing his sword ; and Mabel, in a long robe, and veiled, with her hands closed and enjoined, as if praying. Roger Bradshaigh, M.P., of Haigh, was created a baronet in 1679, having been brought up and educated by James the seventh Earl of Derby, Who, according to Dr. Wroe, the eloquent warden of Manchester, was the "instrument in reclaiming him from the errors of the Church of Rome." Haigh Hall is now the seat of the Earl of Balcarres, Alexander, the sixth Earl of Balcarres, having married in June, 1780, his first cousin, Elizabeth, only child of Charles Dalrymple, Esq., who inherited the Haigh property on failure of male issue in her maternal family, namely, that of Sir Roger Bradshaigh, Bart., of Haigh, who was her ladyship’s great grandfather.