Edward Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby — ‘The Brilliant Chief, Irregularly Great’

Abstract

Lord Derby was the first person ever to become Prime Minister three times, but he failed to live up to his early promise, and his posthumous reputation is shadowy, being almost entirely eclipsed by those of his principal opponents and by his leading follower, and successor, Benjamin Disraeli. Born Edward George Geoffrey Smith Stanley, on 29 March 1799, he was the scion of an ancient Whig family, whose title dated back to 1485. His father, the 13th Earl, was mostly known for the impressive zoological collection which he built up at the family seat of Knowsley Hall, in Lancashire. He had married his cousin, Charlotte Hornby, a clergyman’s daughter. Edward was their first child, and they went on to have two other sons and four daughters.