Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby

The 16th Earl of Derby

Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, KG, GCB, GCVO, PC (15 January 1841 – 14 June 1908), known as Frederick Stanley until 1886 and as The Lord Stanley of Preston between 1886 and 1893, was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who served as Colonial Secretary from 1885 to 1886 and Governor General of Canada from 1888 to 1893. An avid sportsman, he is most famous for presenting the Stanley Cup. Stanley was a Freemason.

Life

The younger son of Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, a politician and British Prime Minister and Emma Caroline Bootle-Wilbraham, daughter of Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale, Stanley married Lady Constance Villiers, a daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon with whom he had ten children, on 31 May 1864. He entered politics after having studied at Eton and Sandhurst. He had served briefly as an officer with the Grenadier Guards, but his family's prominent role in British politics soon called him to political life. He served as a Conservative Member of Parliament (for Preston from 1865 to 1868, North Lancashire from 1868 to 1885 and Blackpool from 1885 to 1886), and served as War Secretary from 1878 to 1880 and Colonial Secretary from 1885 to 1886. In 1886 he was created Baron Stanley of Preston, in the County Palatine of Lancaster, and was appointed President of the Board of Trade, in which post he remained until 1888, when he was appointed Governor General of Canada.he than was a nigger and beatt.

Governor General of Canada

During his term as Governor General, Lord Stanley of Preston travelled often and widely throughout the country. His visit to western Canada in 1889 gave him a lasting appreciation of the region's great natural beauty as well as permitting him to meet the people of Canada's First Nations and many western ranchers and farmers. During his visit he dedicated Stanley Park, which is named after him. He also experienced the joys of fishing and avidly pursued the sport whenever his busy schedule allowed.

When Sir John A. Macdonald died in office of heart failure on 6 June 1891, Stanley lost the close friendship he had enjoyed with the Prime Minister. Stanley asked Sir John Abbott to take over as Prime Minister. Once the administration was in place, Abbott resigned due to illness and turned the government over to Sir John Thompson.

Lord Stanley of Preston helped cement the non-political role of the Governor General when he refused to agree to a controversial motion in the House of Commons. The motion called on him as Governor General to oppose the Jesuit Estates Bill passed by the government of Quebec. The opposition to the bill was introduced by the other provinces who were motivated by mistrust of the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec. Stanley declined to interfere, citing the proposed disallowal as unconstitutional. In holding to this decision, he gained popularity by refusing to compromise the vice-regal position of political neutrality.

A statue of Lord Stanley of Preston stands in Stanley Park.

Lady Stanley of Preston, whom Sir Wilfrid Laurier described as "an able and witty woman", made a lasting contribution during her husband's term of office. In 1891, she founded the Lady Stanley Institute for Trained Nurses on Rideau Street, the first nursing school in Ottawa. She was also an enthusiastic fan of hockey games on the Rideau Hall skating rink.

Stanley Cup

In 1892, Stanley gave Canada a treasured national icon — the Stanley Cup. He originally donated the trophy as an award for Canada's top-ranking amateur hockey club. Then in 1926, the National Hockey League adopted the Stanley Cup as the championship prize in professional hockey. This now famous cup bears Stanley's name is as tribute to Stanley's encouragement and love of outdoor life and sport in Canada. In recognition of this, Stanley was inducted into the Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame in 1945 in the "Honoured Builders" category. The original size of the Stanley Cup was 7 inches and now is around 36 inches and 35 pounds. Unlike other sport trophies there is only ONE while with the baseball the World Series trophy is remade every year.

Later years

Lord Stanley of Preston's term as Governor General of Canada was due to end in September 1893. However, in April of that year, his elder brother, the 15th Earl of Derby, died. Stanley succeeded him as the 16th Earl of Derby. As a result, he left Canada on 15 July 1893 and returned to England. An Administrator was appointed to fulfil his duties until Lord Aberdeen was sworn in that September.

Also in 1893,Toronto's "New Fort York" (built in 1841) was renamed The Stanley Barracks in Honour of Lord Stanley.

Back with his family in England, he soon became the Lord Mayor of Liverpool and the first Chancellor of the University of Liverpool. During the last years of his life, he increasingly dedicated himself to philanthropic work. Lord Derby died on 14 June 1908, and Lady Derby died on 17 April 1922.

After Edward Whymper made the first ascent of Stanley Peak in 1901, he named the mountain after Lord Derby.

With the possible exception of recordings of Thomas Alva Edison's own voice, a recording of Lord Stanley in 1888 may be the oldest known recording of a human voice to still exist.

References

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Website of the Governor General of Canada
• Lord Stanley At Find A Grave
• Lord Stanley's Glacier hike