Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby

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Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby

Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, KG (1435 - July 29, 1504), an English nobleman was born to Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley and Joan Goushill, daughter of Sir Robert Goushill and Elizabeth FitzAlan, daughter of Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel. After the death of his father in 1459 Stanley inherited his titles, including that of King of the Isle of Man and Baron Stanley. Stanley was a shrewd man, who managed to remain in favour with successive kings throughout the Wars of the Roses, right up until his death in 1504. His marriage to Eleanor, sister of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, did him no harm, even after Warwick was toppled from power, and he proceeded to take as his second wife Margaret Beaufort, whose son, Henry Tudor, was the leading Lancastrian claimant to the throne.

Richard III of England unwisely continued to trust Thomas Stanley and his brother, William, even after he had briefly imprisoned Thomas in 1483 on suspicion of conspiracy. At the Battle of Bosworth Field, the Stanleys betrayed him, coming in on the side of the Lancastrians at a crucial moment. It is Thomas who is alleged to have retrieved Richard's lost crown from the battlefield and placed it on the head of his own stepson. In gratitude, he was created Earl of Derby on October 27, 1485, and never looked back. His brother, William, did not fare so well. In 1495, William made the mistake of supporting the pretender Perkin Warbeck, and was executed for treason.

Descendents of Thomas Stanley and Eleanor (or Alainor) Neville included George Stanley, Edward Stanley, and James Stanley, all of whom were also descended from the same Beauforts and John of Gaunt as the step-son who became Henry Tudor. Interestingly, he was also a maternal ancestor of John Lennon.

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