James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby
Encyclopedia
James Stanley, 7th 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...

 (31 January 1607 – 15 October 1651) was a supporter of the Royalist
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

 cause in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

.

Born at Knowsley
Knowsley Hall
Knowsley Hall is a stately home near Liverpool within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, in Merseyside, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building, and is the ancestral home of the Stanley family, the Earls of Derby. The hall is surrounded by of...

, he is sometimes styled the Great Earl of Derby, eldest son of 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,...

 and Lady Elizabeth de Vere
Elizabeth de Vere, Countess of Derby
Elizabeth de Vere, Countess of Derby, Lord of Mann was an English noblewoman and the eldest daughter of Elizabethan courtier, poet, and playwright Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford....

. During his father's life he was known as Lord Strange. Through his paternal grandmother, 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....

, he descended from Henry VII of England
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....

.

Early career

After travelling abroad he was chosen Member of Parliament for Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 in 1625. On 2 February 1626, James was created a Knight of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

 on occasion of the coronation of Charles I of England
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

. He was joined with his father the same year as 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...

, Lord Lieutenant of 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:*...

 and chamberlain of Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

. He assisted in the administration of the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

 and was appointed in 1627 as 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...

. Subsequently he was appointed lord-lieutenant of North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...

 and on 7 March 1628 he was called up to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 as Baron Strange.

English Civil War

He took no part in the political disputes between king and parliament and preferred country pursuits and the care of his estates to court or public life. Nevertheless when the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

 broke out in 1642, Lord Strange devoted himself to the king's cause. By the death of his father on 29 September 1642 he had succeeded to the earldom.

His plan of securing Lancashire at the beginning and raising troops there, which promised success, was however discouraged by Charles, who was said to be jealous of his power and royal lineage and who commanded his presence at Nottingham.

His subsequent attempts to recover the county were unsuccessful. He was unable to get possession of Manchester, was defeated at Chowbent and Lowton Moor, and in 1643 after gaining Preston failed to take Bolton
Bolton Castle
Bolton Castle in North Yorkshire, is located in Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales . The nearby village Castle Bolton takes its name from the castle. The castle is a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War, but much of it remains...

 and Lancaster
Lancaster Castle
Lancaster Castle is a medieval castle located in Lancaster in the English county of Lancashire. Its early history is unclear, but may have been founded in the 11th century on the site of a Roman fort overlooking a crossing of the River Lune. In 1164, the Honour of Lancaster, including the...

 castles. Finally, after successfully beating off Sir William Brereton's attack on Warrington
Warrington
Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...

, he was defeated at Whalley and withdrew to York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

, Warrington in consequence surrendering to the enemy's forces.

In June 1643 he left for the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

 to attend to affairs there, and in the summer of 1644 he took part in Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Prince Rupert of the Rhine
Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG, FRS was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century...

's successful campaign in the north, when Lathom House, where his wife Charlotte de la Tremoille
Charlotte de La Trémoille
Charlotte Marie Clotilde de La Trémoille was a French noblewoman and the daughter of Louis Charles Marie de La Trémoille and his wife, Hélène Marie Léonie Pillet-Will. On 13 April 1910, she married Henri Florent Lamoral, prince de Ligne. they had one son, Jean Charles...

 (Lady Derby) had successfully resisted the Siege of Lathom House
Siege of Lathom House
The Siege of Lathom House was a military confrontation between a Parliamentarian army and a Royalist stronghold in Lathom near Ormskirk in Lancashire. It lasted from late February to late May 1644, when the siege was lifted.-Background:...

, was relieved, and Bolton le Moors (now just known as Bolton) taken in what became known as the Bolton Massacre
Bolton Massacre
The Bolton Massacre, sometimes recorded as the Storming of Bolton, was an episode in the English Civil War, on 28 May 1644. The strongly Parliamentarian town was stormed and captured by the Royalist forces under Prince Rupert of the Rhine. It was alleged that up to 1,600 of Bolton's defenders and...

.

He followed Rupert to the Battle of Marston Moor
Battle of Marston Moor
The Battle of Marston Moor was fought on 2 July 1644, during the First English Civil War of 1642–1646. The combined forces of the Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven and the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester defeated the Royalists commanded by Prince...

, and after the complete defeat of Charles's cause in the north withdrew to the Isle of Man, where he held out for the king and offered an asylum to royalist fugitives. His administration of the island imitated that of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1632 to 1639 he instituted a harsh rule as Lord Deputy of Ireland...

 in Ireland. It was strong rather than just. He maintained order, encouraged trade, remedied some abuses, and defended the people from the exactions of the church; but he crushed opposition by imprisoning his antagonists, and aroused a prolonged agitation by abolishing the tenant-right
Tenant-right
Tenant-right is a term in the common law system expressing the right to compensation which a tenant has, either by custom or by law, against his landlord for improvements at the termination of his tenancy....

 and introducing leaseholds.

In July 1649 he scornfully refused terms offered to him by Henry Ireton
Henry Ireton
Henry Ireton was an English general in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War. He was the son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell.-Early life:...

. On 12 January 1650 he obtained the Garter
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...

. He was chosen by Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...

 to command the troops of Lancashire and Cheshire, and on 15 August 1651 he landed at Wyre Water in Lancashire in support of Charles's invasion, and met the king on 17 August. Proceeding to Warrington he failed to obtain the support of the Presbyterians through his refusal to take the Covenant
Solemn League and Covenant
The Solemn League and Covenant was an agreement between the Scottish Covenanters and the leaders of the English Parliamentarians. It was agreed to in 1643, during the First English Civil War....

, and on 25 August was totally defeated at the Battle of Wigan Lane
Battle of Wigan Lane
The Battle of Wigan Lane was fought on 25 August 1651 during the Third English Civil War, between Royalists under the command of the Earl of Derby and elements of the New Model Army under the command of Colonel Robert Lilburne...

, being severely wounded and escaping with difficulty.

He joined Charles at Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

; after the battle
Battle of Worcester
The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 at Worcester, England and was the final battle of the English Civil War. Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians defeated the Royalist, predominantly Scottish, forces of King Charles II...

 on 3 September he accompanied him to Boscobel House
Boscobel House
Boscobel House is a building in the parish of Boscobel in Shropshire, as is clear from all Ordnance Survey maps, although the boundary of the property is contiguous with the county's boundary with Staffordshire, and it has a Stafford post code. It is near the city of Wolverhampton...

, and while on his way north alone was captured near Nantwich
Nantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...

 and given quarter. He was tried by court-martial at Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

 on 29 September, and on the grounds he was a traitor and not a prisoner of war under the act of parliament passed in the preceding month, which declared those who corresponded with Charles guilty of treason, his quarter was disallowed and he was condemned to death. When his appeal for pardon to parliament was rejected, though supported by Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....

, he endeavoured to escape; but was recaptured by Captain Hector Schofield and executed at Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

 on 15 October 1651 because of his part in the Bolton Massacre
Bolton Massacre
The Bolton Massacre, sometimes recorded as the Storming of Bolton, was an episode in the English Civil War, on 28 May 1644. The strongly Parliamentarian town was stormed and captured by the Royalist forces under Prince Rupert of the Rhine. It was alleged that up to 1,600 of Bolton's defenders and...

. The execution took place outside the Man and Scythe Inn (owned at the time by the Earl of Derby's family). Outside, there is a cross on the site that bears a plaque which relates the stories of Bolton through the ages. However, within the pub itself, there is a chair that the Earl of Derby supposedly sat in before being taken outside to be beheaded
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...

, the inscription of which reads "15th  October 1651 In this chair James 7th Earl of Derby sat at the Man and Scythe Inn, Churchgate, Bolton immediately prior to his execution". He was buried in Ormskirk
Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in West Lancashire, England. It is situated north of Liverpool city centre, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston.-Geography and administration:...

 church.

Lord Derby was a man of deep religious feeling and of great nobility of character, who though unsuccessful in the field served the king's cause with single-minded purpose and without expectation of reward. His political usefulness was handicapped in the later stages of the struggle by his dislike of the Scots, whom he regarded as guilty of the king's death and as unfit instruments of the restoration. According to Clarendon
Clarendon
-Places:In Australia:*Clarendon, New South Wales, a suburb of northern west Sydney*Clarendon, Queensland*Clarendon, South Australia*Clarendon, Tasmania, a National Trust property near Evandale, Tasmania*Clarendon County, New South WalesIn Canada:...

 he was "a man of great honour and clear courage," and his defects the result of too little knowledge of the world.

Literary works

Lord Derby left in MS. A Discourse concerning the Government of the Isle of Man (printed in the Stanley Papers and in Francis Peck
Francis Peck
-Life:He was born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England, and educated at Stamford School. Peck was educated at Charterhouse School, before continuing on to St John's College, Cambridge...

's Desiderata Curiosa, vol. ii.) and several volumes of historical collections, observations, devotions (Stanley Papers) and a commonplace book.

Marriage and children

He married on 26 June 1626 Charlotte de la Tremoille
Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby
Charlotte Stanley, Countess of Derby , born Charlotte de La Trémoille, was the daughter of the French nobleman Claude de La Trémoille, Duke of Thouars, and his wife Charlotte Brabantina of Nassau...

 (1599–1664), daughter of Claude, duc de Thouars
Claude, Duc de Thouars
Claude de La Trémoille, 2nd Duke of Thouars was a sixteenth-century French nobleman of the La Tremoille family. He was the son of Louis III de La Trémoille and his wife, Jeanne de Montmorency....

 and Charlotte Brabantina of Nassau
Charlotte Brabantina of Nassau
Countess Charlotte Brabantina of Nassau was the fifth daughter of William the Silent and his third spouse Charlotte of Bourbon.-Biography:...

. Her maternal grandparents were William the Silent
William the Silent
William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...

 and Charlotte de Bourbon. They were parents of four daughters and five sons:
  • Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby
    Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby
    Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby , an English nobleman, was the only son of James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby and Charlotte de La Trémouille....

     (1628–1672)
  • Lady Charlotte Stanley (died young)
  • two sons (died young)
  • Lady Henriette Mary Stanley (17 November 1630 – 27 December 1685), married William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford
    William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford
    William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford was a member of England's House of Lords.He was a son of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford and his second wife Arabella Holles. When his father, Thomas, was executed in 1641, William left the Kingdom of England for several years. In 1652 he was...

    , died without issue
  • Lady Amelia Ann Sophia Stanley (1633 – 22 February 1702/3), married John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl
    John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl
    John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl, KT was a leading Scottish royalist and defender of the Stuarts during the English Civil War of the 1640s, until after the rise to power of William and Mary in 1689...

    .
  • Hon. Edward Stanley (7 January 1639 – October 1664), unmarried
  • Hon. William Stanley (18 October 1640 – 25 October 1670), unmarried
  • Lady Catherine Stanley, married Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester
    Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester
    Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, PC, FRS was an English peer, the son of the Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull.-Career:...

    , died without issue


Charles' two sons, William, the 9th Earl
William Stanley, 9th Earl of Derby
William Richard George Stanley, 9th Earl of Derby , styled Lord Strange from 1655 to 1672, was an English peer.Derby was the eldest son of Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby, and Dorotha Helena Kirkhoven...

 (c. 1655–1702), and James, the 10th Earl
James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby
James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby PC , styled The Honourable until 1702, was a British peer and politician.Derby was the second son of Charles Stanley, 8th Earl of Derby, and Dorothea Helena Kirkhoven...

 (1664–1736), both died without sons, and consequently, when James died in February 1736, his titles and estates passed to Sir Edward Stanley
Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby
Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby , known as Sir Edward Stanley, 5th Baronet, from 1714 to 1736, was a British peer and politician....

 (1689–1776), a descendant of the 1st earl. The Earls of Derby are his descendants. Meanwhile, the Barony of Strange
Baron Strange
Baron Strange is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. Two creations, one in 1295 and another in 1325, had only one holder each, upon the death of whom they became extinct. Two of the creations are still extant, however...

 passed in 1736 to the 2nd Duke of Atholl
James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl
James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl KT PC , styled Marquess of Tullibardine between 1715 and 1746, was a Scottish peer.-Background:...

, grandson of James's daughter Amelia (see above).

External links


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