James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby

Who was 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. He was elected to the House of Commons for Clitheroe in 1685, a seat he held until 1689, and then represented Preston from 1689 to 1690 and Lancashire from 1695 to 1702. The latter year he succeeded his elder brother as tenth Earl of Derby and entered the House of Lords. In 1706 Derby was admitted to the Privy Council and appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a position he retained until 1710, and was later Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard from 1715 to 1723. He also served as Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire between 1702 and 1710 and 1714 and 1736. In 1732 he succeeded his great-niece as sixth Baron Strange.

Lord Derby married Mary Morley. He died in February 1736, aged 68, without surviving male issue. The barony of Strange was passed on to his first cousin once removed James Murray, 2nd Duke of Atholl. He was succeeded in the earldom by his distant relative Edward Stanley, 11th Earl of Derby. Lady Derby died in 1752.