Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby

Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby

Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby KG , GCB , GCVO , PC (born January 15, 1841 in London , England , † June 14, 1908 in Holwood near Hayes , Kent , England), also known as Sir Frederick Stanley until 1886 and from then until 1893 as Baron Stanley of Preston , was a British politician of the Conservative Party . Stanley was Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1885 to 1886 and Governor General of Canada from 1888 to 1893 . He became famous through the foundation of the Stanley Cup in 1892, which was later named after him and which became the most coveted award in ice hockey and has been awarded to the winner of the North American professional ice hockey league National Hockey League since 1927 . Stanley donated this trophy at the suggestion of Lord Kilcoursie under the original name “Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup”.

Life

The son of three-time British Prime Minister Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby , entered politics after studying at Eton College , Eton and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst .

He briefly served as an officer in the Grenadier Guards , but his family's important role in British politics soon led him into political life. He was a Conservative MP in the UK House of Commons and a member of the Cabinet. On May 31, 1864, he married Lady Constance Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon . They had ten children together.

From 1878 to 1880 he was Minister of War and 1885/86 Colonial Minister in conservative governments. In 1886, when his older brother had inherited the title of Earl of Derby from his late father , he was made a peer as Baron Stanley of Preston .

Stanley travels extensively in all parts of the country during his tenure as Governor General of Canada. He learned to appreciate the untouched nature of the west and discovered fishing as a hobby. He largely stayed out of domestic political controversies. This also shaped the office of governor general for future incumbents.

In the last year of his tenure, he donated the Stanley Cup , then for the best amateur ice hockey team in the country. Since 1926 the cup has been awarded by the National Hockey League to the winner of the professional league.

Statue of Stanley in Stanley Park, Vancouver

Baron Stanley's tenure as Governor General of Canada was due to end in September 1893. However, in April of that year his brother, Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, died . He inherited him as Earl of Derby . As a result, Stanley left Canada on July 15, 1893 and returned to Great Britain.

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

After Edward Whymper was the first to climb Stanley Peak in 1901 , he named the mountain after Lord Stanley. Likewise, the Stanley Park in Vancouver , where a statue of Stanley is named. Frederick Arthur Stanley was a member of the Freemasons ' Union , his lodge , the Royal Alpha Lodge No 16, is based in London .

Web links

• Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . 24 volumes, 1966–2018. University of Toronto Press, Toronto ( English , French ).
• Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)
• Website of the Governor General of Canada

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Famous Freemasons Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby , Homepage: Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon (Retrieved April 25, 2012)

predecessor	Office	successor
Edward Stanley	Earl of Derby 1893-1908	Edward Stanley
New title created	Baron Stanley of Preston 1886-1908	Edward Stanley