Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby KG

Order of the Garter

The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...

 (September 1531 – 25 September 1593) was a prominent English nobleman who served as Lord High Steward

Lord High Steward

The position of Lord High Steward of England is the first of the Great Officers of State. The office has generally remained vacant since 1421, except at coronations and during the trials of peers in the House of Lords, when the Lord High Steward presides. In general, but not invariably, the Lord...

 during the trial of Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel

Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel

Saint Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel was an English nobleman. He was canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970, as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales...

.

Born in Lathom

Lathom

Lathom is a village and civil parish in Lancashire, England, about 5 km northeast of Ormskirk. It is in the district of West Lancashire, and with the parish of Newburgh forms part of Newburgh ward...

, Henry was the eldest son of Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby

Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby

Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby was an English nobleman.At the age of thirteen, Edward received the titles and estates of his father, the 2nd Earl of Derby, and King Henry VIII took responsibility for bringing him up until he was of age...

 and his second wife, Lady Dorothy Howard. His maternal grandparents were Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk

Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk

Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal , styled Earl of Surrey from 1483 to 1514, was the only son of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk by his first wife, Katherine Moleyns...

 and his wife Agnes Tilney

Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk

Agnes Howard was the second wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. Two of King Henry VIII's Queens were her step-granddaughters, Anne Boleyn, and Katherine Howard...

 (1478–1545), daughter of Hugh Tilney of Boston and Eleanor Tailboys.

He was married on 7 February 1554 to Lady Margaret Clifford

Lady Margaret Clifford

Margaret Stanley, Countess of Derby was the only surviving daughter of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland and Lady Eleanor Brandon....

. She was the only surviving child of Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland

Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland

Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland was a member of the Clifford family which held the seat of Skipton from 1310 to 1676. He was married to Lady Eleanor Brandon, a niece of Henry VIII of England.-Family:...

 and Lady Eleanor Brandon

Lady Eleanor Brandon

Lady Eleanor Brandon was the third child and second daughter of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Princess Mary Tudor, the Dowager Queen consort of France. She was a younger sister of Lady Frances Brandon and an elder sister of Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln...

. The marriage took place in a chapel

Chapel

A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...

 of the Palace of Whitehall

Palace of Whitehall

The Palace of Whitehall was the main residence of the English monarchs in London from 1530 until 1698 when all except Inigo Jones's 1622 Banqueting House was destroyed by fire...

 and was attended by Queen Mary I of England

Mary I of England

Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

 and her consort Philip of Spain

Philip II of Spain

Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....

. They were relatives of the bride through her maternal grandmother Mary Tudor, former queen consort of France

Mary Tudor (queen consort of France)

Mary Tudor was the younger sister of King Henry VIII of England and queen consort of France through her marriage to Louis XII. The latter was more than 30 years her senior. Following his death, which occurred less than two months after her coronation as his third wife, she married Charles Brandon,...

.

Henry and Margaret were parents to four children:

• Hon. Edward Stanley. Died young.
• Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby
  Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby
  Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby was the son of Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby and Lady Margaret Clifford. According to the will of Henry VIII, his mother was heiress presumptive of Elizabeth I of England from 1578 to her own death in 1596...
  
   (c. 1559 – 16 April 1594).
• William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby
  William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby
  William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby was an English nobleman. Stanley inherited a prominent social position that was both dangerous and unstable, as his mother was heir to Queen Elizabeth I under the Third Succession Act, a position that fell to his deceased brother's oldest daughter in 1596,...
  
   (c. 1561 – 29 September 1642).
• Hon. Francis Stanley (b. 1562). Died young.

By Jane Halsall:

• Ursula Stanley, who was illegitimate, but acknowledged. She married John Salisbury (d. 1613); the son of Sir John Salisbury and Katheryn of Berain
  Katheryn of Berain
  Katheryn of Berain , sometimes called Mam Cymru , was a Welsh noblewoman noted for her four marriages and her extensive network of descendants and relations.-Family:...
  
  . Ursula and John had four sons and three daughters.

His father died on 24 October 1572. Lord Derby inherited his peerages, the title Lord of Mann

Lord of Mann

The title Lord of Mann is used on the Isle of Man to refer to Queen Elizabeth II, who is the island's Lord Proprietor and head of state.-Relationship with the Crown:The title is not correctly used on its own...

 and the offices of Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire

Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire

This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire.-References:* The Lord-Lieutenant of Lancashire, Lancashire County Council...

 and Cheshire

Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire

This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire. Since 1689, all Lords Lieutenant have also been Custos Rotulorum of Cheshire.-Lord Lieutenants of Cheshire:-References:*-External links:*...

.

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

 created Derby a Knight of the Garter in 1574. He was created alongside Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke

Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke

Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke KG was an English peer of the Elizabethan era.-Life:He was the son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Anne Parr. His aunt was queen consort Catherine Parr, last wife of King Henry VIII. Herbert was responsible for the costly restoration of Cardiff Castle...

.

He was appointed ambassador to the court of Henry III of France

Henry III of France

Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...

 in 1580. He was appointed to the Privy Council

Privy council

A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...

 in 1585. He was among the chief officials of the trial of deposed Scottish monarch Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1586.

He was among the officials assigned to negotiate an end to the Anglo Spanish War

Anglo-Spanish War (1585)

The Anglo–Spanish War was an intermittent conflict between the kingdoms of Spain and England that was never formally declared. The war was punctuated by widely separated battles, and began with England's military expedition in 1585 to the Netherlands under the command of the Earl of Leicester in...

 following the defeat of the Spanish Armada

Spanish Armada

This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...

 in 1588. This assignment was a failure. In 1589, an English Armada

English Armada

The English Armada, also known as the Counter Armada or the Drake-Norris Expedition, was a fleet of warships sent to the Iberian Coast by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1589, during the Anglo-Spanish War...

 under Sir Francis Drake

Francis Drake

Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...

 and Sir John Norris

John Norreys

Sir John Norreys , also frequently spelt John Norris, was an English soldier of a Berkshire family of court gentry, the son of Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys a lifelong friend of Queen Elizabeth....

 suffered heavy casualties in battle with the Spanish naval fleet.

Elizabeth appointed Derby Lord High Steward

Lord High Steward

The position of Lord High Steward of England is the first of the Great Officers of State. The office has generally remained vacant since 1421, except at coronations and during the trials of peers in the House of Lords, when the Lord High Steward presides. In general, but not invariably, the Lord...

 in 1589 for the trial of Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel and Surrey. He returned to Lathom in retirement in 1592 and died there one or two years later.

Ancestry

External links

• http://www.leighrayment.com/peers/peersd2.htm
• Stanley's patronage of theater and/or music: Patrons and Performances Web Site