Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby was a British politician snd statesman.
Background
Edward Henry Stanley was the eldest son of Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, the fourteenth Earl of Derby, who was prime minister on three occasions in the mid-nineteenth century. Edwards mother was Emma Caroline, the second daughter of the first Lord of Skelmersdale. He was born on 21 July 1826.
Education
Edward was educated at Rugby under the famous headmaster Dr. Thomas Arnold, and at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Career
Stanley’s political career began in March 1848, when he contested the Lancaster parliamentary seat, losing by six votes. He then went on tour to the United States and was elected as M.P. for Kings Lynn, which he represented from 1848 until 1869, when he became the fifteenth Earl of Derby. Although Stanley was more than capable as a politician, his political career rested partly upon his father’s political prominence. In March 1852, the younger Stanley became undersecretary for foreign affairs in his father’s ministry. His main responsibility was to deal with Bengal, in India. He resigned along with the other members of his father’s government in December 1852 but continued to speak fre- quendy in the House of Commons on Indian affairs. Lord Palmerston offered him the post of colonial secretary in 1855, but he did not return to government until the second Derby government of 1858, when he became colonial secretary and then president of the Board of Trade. After the passage of the India Bill in 1853, he was appointed first secretary for India.
In 1859, Stanley was out of office again, following the collapse of his father’s second government. He continued to debate Indian matters in the House of Commons and was also associated with events in Greece. The Greeks had expelled their king and had offered the throne to Alfred (later Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), the second son of Queen Victoria, who refused it. At that point, in 1863, they offered the throne to Lord Edward Stanley, who also declined it.
Stanley returned to high office again in his father’s third ministry, formed in 1866. He became foreign secretary on 6 July 1866, remaining in that office throughout the ministries of his father and of Benjamin Disraeli, until the end of November 1868.
Derby remained active in politics throughout his life. He presided briefly over the first session of the Royal Commission on Labour, which was convened in 1892, before his death on 21 April 1893.
Achievements
Views
Derby resumed his role as foreign secretary when Disraeli formed his second ministry, in February 1874. For Derby this was an uneasy period in office: Disraeli was much more committed to expansionism than was Derby, and the two were often in disagreement—the Suez Canal project being a prime example of a policy with which Derby was not completely comfortable. With regard to Russo-Turkish relations, Derby, nonetheless, did pursue a policy supportive of Turkey, which Disraeli saw as a potential buffer to Russian expansionism; but Derby also advocated Turkish reforms at the Constantinople Conference in December 1876. He continued to advocate British support to Turkey throughout 1876 and 1877, when the British population was equally divided between those who supported Turkey and those who objected to the Bulgarian atrocities perpetrated by the Turks. Derby’s support for the Turks continued throughout the Russo-Turkish war, which he attempted to bring to an end. However, Derby resigned on 28 March 1878, when it looked as though Disraeli would send a fleet to protect Turkey and thus provoke a war with Russia.
In 1877, referring to middle-class opposition to government policy, Derby had commented, “Unfortunately the Premier neither understands nor likes the middle class.” This comment echoed a remark made earlier by Disraeli—that “the middle classes would always be against war; but unfortunately the middle classes did not govern”. In the end, Disraeli refused the British fleet permission to go beyond the Dardanelles; but Derby had already left office.
From that point onward, Derby became increasingly alienated from Conservative politics due to disagreements over foreign policy, and he eventually left the Conservative Party in March 1880. He joined the Liberal Party and was quickly accepted as one of its leaders.
Personality
Derby was both a man of principle and an astute politician. Raised in the Conservative tradition but a Liberal by temperament and predilection, he maintained a firm commitment to a nonexpansionist foreign policy. Had it not been for the divisive issue of Irish Home Rule, no doubt he also would have remained a member of the Liberal Party.
Connections
He married Mary Catherine, second daughter of George, the fifth Earl De La Warr, on 5 July 1870.
He became the fifteenth Earl of Derby on his fathers death in 1869, inheriting a debt of about £680,000 (which hung over him for the rest of his life).