William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby - Career

Career

The Stanley family were suspected of pro-Catholic sympathies, as legal heirs to the throne of England through Henry VIII's sister Mary Tudor, Queen of France. There were many rumours surrounding the untimely death of Ferdinando, who had been approached to lead an attempt to overthrow the queen, but remained loyal. Poisoning was widely suspected due to the sudden and violent nature of his illness. Possibly because of the potential for military rebellion in alliance with Irish Catholics, the new Earl was expressly forbidden by the queen to take part in the Earl of Essex's campaign in Ireland. The Earl limited his involvement with national politics, devoting himself primarily to the management of his estates and his dominant position in local administration in Lancashire and Cheshire. In 1603 he became a member of the Privy Council.

Queen Elizabeth eventually granted him the Order of the Garter. James I appointed him Lord Chamberlain of Chester. A few years after the death of his wife the elderly Earl being "old and infirm, and desirous of withdrawing himself from the hurry and fatigue of life" assigned his estates to his son James, retaining an annuity of £1,000. The Earl purchased a house beside the River Dee just outside Chester, where he lived in retirement until his death on 29 September 1642.

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