He married, on 31 May 1864, Lady Constance, eldest daughter of George William Frederick Villiers, fourth earl of Clarendon [q. v.], the liberal statesman. His widow survived him with seven sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Edward George Villiers Stanley, seventeenth earl (b. 1865), who served in the South African war, was postmaster-general in Mr. Balfour's cabinet (1903–5).
A portrait by Sir Hubert von Herkomer is in the possession of the dowager countess of Derby. A marble statue by F. W. Pomeroy, A.R.A., was unveiled by Lord Halsbury in St. George's Hall, Liverpool, on 3 Nov. 1911. There is a bust by Sir William Goscombe John in Preston town hall.
[The Times, 15 June 1908; H. W. Lucy's Disraeli Parliament; private information.]
STANLEY, HENRY EDWARD JOHN, third Baron Stanley of Alderley (1827–1903), diplomatist and orientalist, born at Alderley Park, Cheshire, on 11 July 1827, was eldest son of Edward John, second Baron Stanley of Alderley [q. v.], by Henrietta Maria [q. v.], daughter of the thirteenth Viscount Dillon. Of his three brothers, Edward Lyulph became fourth Baron Stanley of Alderley, and fourth Baron Sheffield of Roscommon, and Algernon Charles became] Roman catholic bishop of Emmaus in 1903. Of his six sisters, Katharine Louisa married in 1864 John Russell, Viscount Amberley [q. v.]; and Rosalind Frances, in the same year, George James Howard, ninth earl of Carlisle [q. v. Suppl. II]. Henry Edward entered Eton in 1841, but owing to illness was removed in the following year, and placed under the care of Henry Alford [q. v.], afterwards dean of Canterbury, at that time vicar of Wymeswold, Leicestershire. He proceeded to Cambridge in 1846 as a fellow-commoner of Trinity College, and during his stay at the university showed his early predilection for Oriental subjects by devoting himself to the study of Arabic.
Stanley left Cambridge in December 1847 to enter the foreign office with the object of qualifying himself for the diplomatic service. He was appointed precis writer to Lord Palmerston, then foreign secretary. In 1851 he was sent as an attache to Constantinople, where Lord Stratford de RedclifEe was ambassador. He had charge of the consulate of Varna from June to August 1853, and was appointed secretary of legation at Athens in 1854, holding that position during the critical period of the Crimean war. From July 1856 till May 1858 he was attached as secretary to Sir Henry Bulwer's special commission to the Danubian provinces, when the free navigation of the river was secured and the new Russo-Turkish frontier delimited by an international cormnission appointed at the Congress of Paris. He resigned his post at Athens on 27 Feb. 1859.
During his diplomatic career Stanley acquired most of the European, as well as the Arabic, Turkish, Persian, and Chinese tongues. Of the last-named language he published a manual in 1854. He now began extensive travels in the East, stimulated by the example of his intimate friend. Sir Richard Burton [q. v. Suppl. I]. He visited Tartary, Persia, Kurdistan, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula, Siam, and Java, everywhere studying the languages, customs, and religions of the countries. The East appealed to his imagination and sympathies; and he came to appreciate the Eastern character, value Eastern customs, and accept the Moslem religion for his faith. He was awarded the collar and star of the Turkish order of Osmanieh. He became a prominent member of the Asiatic and Hakluyt Societies, for the latter of which he translated and edited several volumes.
Succeeding to the peerage on the death of his father on 16 June 1869, Stanley settled down to the life of a country gentleman, devoting much care to the improvement of his Cheshire and Anglesey estates, which were largely augmented on the death of his uncle, William Owen Stanley, in 1884. He gave close personal attention to his property, kept his farm buildings in excellent order, and made a hobby of improved dairy accommodation. On the Penrhos estate he adorned a farm-dairy with scenes from an Indian epic. In spite of a somewhat imperious manner he was esteemed by his tenants.
Though he was a Mussulman, he was an ardent supporter of the Church of England especially in Wales. In the. diocese of Bangor in general, and the island of Anglesey in particular, he rebuilt or restored many churches. He also worked energetically to increase the endowments of poor parishes, himself contributing largely to this object.
In the House of Lords, although a frequent questioner and speaker, he was handicapped by deafness, a weak voice, and hurried articulation. Despite conservative predilections he sat on the cross benches, declining to identify himself with either political party.
