Arthur Stanley, 5th Baron Stanley of Alderley

Arthur Lyulph Stanley, 5th Baron Stanley of Alderley, KCMG (14 September 1875 – 22 August 1931), also 5th Baron Sheffield and 4th Baron Eddisbury, was an English nobleman and Governor of Victoria from 1914 to 1920.

The Lord Stanley of Alderley
14th Governor of Victoria
In office
23 February 1914 – 30 January 1920
MonarchGeorge V
Preceded bySir John Fuller, 1st Baronet
Succeeded byEarl of Stradbroke
Member of Parliament
for Eddisbury
In office
8 February 1906 – 10 February 1910
Preceded byHenry James Tollemache
Succeeded byHarry Barnston
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
18 March 1925 – 22 August 1931
Hereditary Peerage
Preceded byThe 4th Baron Stanley of Alderley
Succeeded byThe 6th Baron Stanley of Alderley
Personal details
Born(1875-09-14)14 September 1875
London, England
Died22 August 1931(1931-08-22) (aged 55)
London, England
Spouse
(m. 1905)
RelationsVenetia Stanley (sister)
Lowthian Bell (maternal grandfather)
ChildrenEdward Stanley
Pamela Stanley
Parent
EducationEton College
Alma materBalliol College, Oxford
Military career
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service / branch British Army
RankCaptain
UnitRoyal Anglesey Engineers
Battles / warsSecond Boer War

Early life and family

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Stanley was the second child and first son of Edward Lyulph Stanley, 4th Baron Stanley and Mary Katherine Bell. On 29 August 1905 he married Margaret Evelyn Evans Gordon. They had five children:

Political career

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Stanley was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, University of Oxford, where obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1898. In 1902 he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple. In 1904 he became a London County Councillor and in 1906 became Liberal Member of Parliament for Eddisbury in Cheshire near the family seat. Whilst an MP he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Postmaster General serving under Sydney Buxton. His sister, Venetia Stanley, was a close correspondent of the Prime Minister and leader of the Liberal party, H. H. Asquith.

Stanley had been commissioned an officer in the Royal Anglesey Engineers Militia in May 1900, and saw active service in South Africa during the Second Boer War. He was promoted to captain on 6 December 1902.[3]

In 1913 he was serving as High Sheriff of Anglesey when he was appointed Governor of Victoria. He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George and took up his post on 23 February 1914. He served a five-year term and an additional year until relinquishing the post on 30 January 1920, although he had returned to Britain the previous year due to ill health. In the 1923 General election he stood unsuccessfully as Liberal candidate for Knutsford, losing by 80 votes to Conservative, Sir Ernest Makins. From 1925 to 1928 he was Chairman of the Royal Colonial Institute and of the East Africa Joint Committee.

In 1925 he succeeded his father to the three baronies and was known by the Stanley title. He died in August 1931 of a bacterial infection, actinomycosis. He was succeeded by his son Edward.

In his capacity as former Governor of Victoria, he attended the Covent Garden farewell of the Australian soprano Nellie Melba, and made a speech thanking her for her artistry and war-work. HMV recorded several excerpts of the evening, including Lord Stanley's speech, all of which can be heard on CD today.[4][5]

Arms

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Coat of arms of Arthur Stanley, 5th Baron Stanley of Alderley
Crest
On a chapeau gules, turned up ermine, an eagle with wings expanded or preying upon an infant proper, swaddled gules, handed argent.
Escutcheon
Argent, on a bend azure, three bucks' heads cabossed or, a crescent for difference.
Supporters
Dexter, a stag or, gorged with a ducal crown, line reflexed over the back, and charged on the shoulder with a mullet azure; sinister, a lion reguardant proper, gorged with a plain collar argent charged withthree escallops gules.
Motto
Sans Changer "Without Changing"[6]

References

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  1. ^ Pamela Stanley played Ophelia in Leslie Howard's ill-fated 1936 Broadway production of Hamlet (Hamlet at IMDb)
  2. ^ "Obituary: 'Tordie' Woods". TheGuardian.com. 19 February 2007.
  3. ^ "No. 27501". The London Gazette. 5 December 1902. p. 8443.
  4. ^ "From the archive, 9 June 1926: Melba's farewell at Covent Garden". TheGuardian.com. 9 June 2010.
  5. ^ "Nellie Melba; the Hayes and London Recordings 1921-26 Naxos 8.110780 [JW]: Classical CD Reviews- June 2004 MusicWeb(UK)".
  6. ^ Debrett's peerage & baronetage 2003. London: Macmillan. 2003. p. 1511.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Eddisbury
19061910
Succeeded by
Government offices
Preceded by Governor of Victoria
1914–1920
Succeeded by
Peerage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Baron Stanley of Alderley
1925–1931
Succeeded by
Baron Eddisbury
1925–1931
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Baron Sheffield
1925–1931
Succeeded by