2i8 DERBY of Belhouse, Essex, on which occasion he (in compliance with the will of his wife's father) took by Act of Pari., 2i Geo. 11, the name of Smith in addition to that of Stanley. She d. 5 Feb. 1759, at Preston, co. Lan- caster. Her admon. as '^Viscountess Strange" 18 Dec. 1760. He d. v.p., I June 1 77 1, at Bath, of apoplexy,(') aged 54. Both were bur. at Ormskirk. His will as "Viscount Strange" pr. Aug. 1771.] XXI. 1776. 12. Edward (Smith-Stanley), Earl of Derby, grandson and h., being s. and h. of James Smith- Stanley, styled (erroneously) Lord Strange,() by Lucy, his wife above- named. He was b. 12 Sep. 1752, and bap. at Preston afsd.; ed. at Eton; admitted Trin. Coll. Cambridge 1771, M.A. 1773; M.P. (Whig) for co. Lancaster i774-76("'); Lord Lieut, thereof 1776-1834; Col. in the army (during service) 1779; P.C. 29 Aug. 1783; Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Aug. to Dec. 1783, and again 1806-07; ^'^^^ Adm. co. Lancaster 1809-31. He OT., istly, 23 June 1774, at Argyll House (spec, lie, reg. at Richmond, Surrey), Elizabeth, () da. (whose issue in 1799 became sole h.) of James (Hamilton), 6th Duke of Hamilton [S.], by Elizabeth, da. of John Gunning. She,(°) who was b. 26 Jan. 1753, at Holyrood House, Edinburgh, d. in Gloucester Str., Marylebone (having long been separated (*) Horace Walpole says of him {George II, vol. i, p. 108), "A busy young Lord, very disinterested, often quick, as often injudicious, and not the less trouble- some for either." C*) See ante, p. 216, note "a." (') " Lord Derby was allowed to have spoken very well, though he was a very raw, light, young man, given up to his pleasures. He had been a warm courtier, but was now as warm in opposition." {Last 'Journah of Horace IValpole, Nov. 1778). He was chiefly notorious as a sportsman, having a passion for horse-racing and cock- fighting. He appears in 1779 with Mrs. Armistead, as "Lord Champetre and the celebrated Mrs. A . . mst . . d," in the scandalous tete-a-tete portraits in Town and Country Mag., vol. xi, p. 120, for an account of which see Appendix B in the last volume of this work. V.G. C) See tabular pedigree in vol. i, p. 4, sub Abercorn, shewing the Earls of Derby to be, through this match, heirs of hne to James (Hamilton), Earl of Arran [S.] (Regent of Scotland). As to their claim to the Dukedom of Ch4telherault in France, see vol. i, Appendix B. (') "A reluctant beauty of 19, sacrificed to his arms by the vanity of her mother." {The TVhig Club, 1794). In 1776 her portrait was painted both by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Romney, and at that date she and her husband were among the most profuse entertainers in London Society. Unfortunately in 1778 she was led into an intrigue with the vicious Duke of Dorset, with whom she lived. Lord Derby burnt her portrait at Knowsley, and would not divorce her, being determined to prevent their marriage. See Queen Victoria's Diary, 24 July 1838. As she was, in the words of Princess Augusta, " really very amiable and prudent," many people were willing to look over her lapse, though Queen Charlotte steadily refused to receive her. Many of her letters, and many references to her, are to be found in Intimate Society Letters, ed. by the Duke of Argyll, 191O; she appears to have been a brilliant, popular, affectionate, kindly woman. G.E.C. and V.G.
