Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby
Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby,
KG,
GCB,
GCVO,
PC (
15 January 1841–
14 June 1908), known as
Frederick Stanley until
1886 and as
The Lord Stanley of Preston between
1886 and
1893, was
Colonial Secretary from
1885 to
1886 and
Governor General of Canada from
1888 to
1893. He is most famous for presenting the
Stanley Cup, which became the most famous award for professional
ice hockey.
The younger son of
Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, a politician and
British Prime Minister and Emma Caroline Bootle-Wilbraham, daughter of
Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale, Stanley married
Lady Constance Villiers, a daughter of
George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon with whom he had ten children, on
31 May 1864. He entered politics after having studied at
Eton and
Sandhurst. He had served briefly as an officer with the Grenadier Guards, but his family's prominent role in British politics soon called him to political life. He served as a Conservative
Member of Parliament (for
Preston from
1865 to
1868, North
Lancashire from
1868 to
1885 and
Blackpool from
1885 to
1886), and served as
War Secretary from
1878 to
1880 and
Colonial Secretary from
1885 to
1886. In
1886 he was created
Baron Stanley of Preston, in the County Palatine of Lancaster, and was appointed
President of the Board of Trade, in which post he remained until
1888, when he was appointed
Governor General of Canada.
During his term as Governor General, Lord Stanley of Preston travelled often and widely throughout the country. His visit to western
Canada in
1889 gave him a lasting appreciation of the region's great natural beauty as well as permitting him to meet the people of Canada's
First Nations and many western ranchers and farmers. During his visit he dedicated
Stanley Park, which is named after him. He also experienced the joys of fishing and avidly pursued the sport whenever his busy schedule allowed.
When
Sir John A. Macdonald died in office of heart failure on
6 June 1891, Stanley lost the close friendship he had enjoyed with the
Prime Minister. Stanley asked
Sir John Abbott to take over as Prime Minister. Once the administration was in place, Abbott resigned due to illness and turned the government over to
Sir John Thompson.
Lord Stanley of Preston helped cement the non-political role of the Governor General when he refused to agree to a controversial motion in the House of Commons. The motion called on him as Governor General to oppose the
Jesuit Estates Bill passed by the government of
Quebec. The opposition to the bill was introduced by the other provinces who were motivated by mistrust of the
Roman Catholic Church in Quebec. Stanley declined to interfere, citing the proposed disallowal as unconstitutional. In holding to this decision, he gained popularity by refusing to compromise the vice-regal position of political neutrality.
Lady Stanley of Preston, whom
Sir Wilfrid Laurier described as "an able and witty woman", made a lasting contribution during her husband's term of office. In
1891, she founded the
Lady Stanley Institute for Trained Nurses on Rideau Street, the first nursing school in
Ottawa. She was also an enthusiastic fan of
hockey games on the
Rideau Hall skating rink.
In
1893, Stanley gave Canada a treasured national icon — the
Stanley Cup. He originally donated the trophy as an award for Canada's top-ranking amateur hockey club. Then in
1926, the
National Hockey League adopted the Stanley Cup as the championship prize in professional hockey. That this now famous cup bears Stanley's name is a fitting tribute to his encouragement and love of outdoor life and sport in Canada. In recognition of this, Stanley was inducted into the Canadian
Hockey Hall of Fame in
1945 in the "Honoured Builders" category.
Lord Stanley of Preston's term as Governor General of Canada was due to end in September 1893. However, in April of that year, his elder brother, the
15th Earl of Derby, died. Stanley succeeded him as the 16th
Earl of Derby. As a result, he left Canada on
15 July 1893 and returned to England. An Administrator was appointed to fulfil his duties until
Lord Aberdeen was sworn in that September.
Back with his family in England, he soon became the Lord Mayor of
Liverpool and the first Chancellor of the
University of Liverpool. During the last years of his life, he increasingly dedicated himself to philanthropic work. Lord Derby died on
14 June 1908, and Lady Derby died on
17 April 1922.
After
Edward Whymper made the first ascent of
Stanley Peak in
1901, he named the mountain after Lord Derby.
With the possible exception of recordings of
Thomas Alva Edison's own voice, a
recording of Lord Stanley in
1888 may be the oldest known recording of a human voice to still exist.
*
Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online*
Website of the Governor General of Canada*
Lord Stanley At Find A Grave
