General Notes

Thomas Stanley, 2nd Lord (Baron) Stanley and 1st Earl of Derby, so created 27 Oct 1485, KG (1483), PC (1471); born c 1435; Esquire of the Body to Henry VI and Richard III 1471-85, Constable of England 1483 for life, at Battle of Bosworth 22 Aug 1485 betrayed Richard III at a decisive moment and allegedly set the crown on Henry VII's head afterwards, Chief Steward of the Duchy of Lancaster (Northern parts) 1485-1504; married 1st after 10 May 1457 Eleanor Nevill(e), 4th daughter of 5th Earl of Salisbury of the 1337 creation; married 2nd Margaret Beaufort (died 29 Jun 1509), daughter and heir of 1st Duke of Somerset of the 1442/3 creation and widow of (a) 1st Earl of Richmond of the 1452 creation (by whom she was mother of Henry VII) and (b) Sir Henry Stafford, and died 29 July 1504, having had by his 1st wife [George]. [Burke's Peerage]

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BARONY OF STANLEY (II)

EARLDOM OF DERBY (X, 1)

Thomas (Stanley), Lord Stanley, 1st son and heir of Thomas, Lord Stanley (so created by writ dated 1456), by Joan, daughter and coheir of Sir Robert Goushill, of Hoveringham, Notts, was b. about 1435; succeeded his father 20 Feb 1458/9, being then aged 24, and was summoned to Parliament from 30 July 1460 to 9 Dec 1483.  He was also Sovereign Lord of the Isle of Man and possessor of the large estates at Lathom and Knowsley in the hundred of West Derby, co. Lancaster, inherited from the family of Lathom.  Knighted 10 July 1460 by Henry VI, to whom in 1454, he had been Esquire of the Body; Chief Justice of Chester; was PC and Steward of the Household to Edward IV and Richard III 1471-85; was present at the Coronation of Richard III, KG 1483; Constable of England for life 16 Dec 1483, with the fee of 100 pounds a year, granted by Richard III, whose cause he skilfully betrayed at the battle of Bosworth, 22 Aug 1485, where he is said to have set the King's crown on the head of the victorious Henry.  Chief Steward of the Duchy of Lancaster (Northern parts) 1485 till his death.  He was created by charter 27 Oct 1485, Earl of Derby, and made one of the Commissioners for the office of Lord High Steward at the Coronation of the King and his Consort.  Reappointed Constable of England 5 Mar 1485/6.  He was godfather (1486) to Prince Arthur, the King's eldest son.  On 24 June 1495, he received a visit lasting nearly a month, from the King and Queen, at Knowsley and at Lathom.

He m. 1stly, apparently after 10 May 1457, Eleanor, sister of Richard, Earl of Warwick (the celebrated King Maker), 4th daughter of Richard (Neville), Earl of Salisbury, by Alice, daughter and heir of Thomas (Montagu), Earl of Salisbury.  She was buried at St. James's, Garlickhithe, London.  He m. 2ndly, in 1482 (before Nov), Margaret, widow of Sir Henry Stafford and before that of Edmund (Tudor), Earl of Richmond, daughter and heir of John (Beaufort), Duke of Somerset, by Margaret, daughter of John (Beauchamp), Lord Beauchamp (of Bleetsoe).  He d. 29 July 1504, at Lathom, aged about 69, and was buried with his ancestors at Burscough Priory, co. Lancaster.  Will dated 28 July, probated 9 Nov 1504.  His widow, who was b. 31 May 1443, at Bletsoe, was the well-known founder of Christ's and St. John's Colleges, Cambridge. She d. 29 June 1509 (three months after the death of her son, Henry VII), in her 67th year, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.  Will, as "Countess of Richmond and Derby", probated 17 Oct 1512.  [Complete Peerage, IV:205-207]