Social Victorians/People/Stanley

Overview
The page for the Earl of Derby and this Stanley page are interrelated.

For the discussion of the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House, the Derby page treats the Earl and Countess of Derby. All other Stanleys at the ball except for the family of the Barony of Alderley and Barony of Eddisbury — regardless of their relationship to the Earl and Countess — are treated on this page. All the Stanleys who attended the ball are here.

Also Known As

 * Stanley is the family name of the Earl of Derby
 * Lord Stanley refers to the heir apparent, in 1897 Lord Edward George Villiers Stanley, who became the 17th Earl of Derby
 * "Stanley" is also the family name of the Barony of Alderley and Barony of Eddisbury
 * Viscount Crichton
 * Lt.-Col. Henry William Crichton, Viscount Crichton (30 September 1872 – 31 October 1914)

Edward, Lord Stanley

 * Wellington College, Berkshire, England
 * Grenadier Guards (1885, Lieutanent)
 * Governor-General of Canada, Aide-de-Camp (1888–1891)
 * Member of Parliament, Conservative, for West Houghton (1892–1906)
 * Lord of Treasury (1895–1900)
 * Boer War (1899–1900)
 * Private Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, South Africa (1900)
 * Finance Secretary of the War Office (1900–1903)
 * Privy Counsellor (1903)
 * Postmaster-General (1903–1905)

Timeline
1873 February 6, Edward Lyulph Stanley and Mary Katherine Bell married.

1885, Edward, Lord Stanley was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards.

1888 May 1, Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby was appointed Governor General of Canada.

1889 January 5, Edward George Villiers Stanley and Lady Alice Maude Olivia Montagu married.

1890, Prince George of Wales visited the Stanleys in Rideau Hall.

1893 April, Frederick Arthur Stanley's brother, who was 15th Earl of Derby, died.

1893 July 15, the Stanleys returned to England from Canada.

1896 November 25, Victor Albert Stanley and Annie Bickerton Pooley married.

1897 July 2, Friday, the 16th Earl and Countess of Derby (Frederick Stanley and Constance Villiers Stanley) and a number of Stanleys attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House.

1898 February 15, the Earl and Countess Derby were on a ship traveling away from the U.K., along with the Hon. A. Stanley and Lady J. Stanley as well as, possibly, other friends. The New Zealand Herald's "Own Correspondent" says,"Quite a large number of prominent 'Society' names appear in the list of passengers booked by the new P. and O. steamer India, taking passengers for Australia and New Zealand. They include the Earl and Countess of Derby, Viscountess Hampden, Lord Durham, Lady Chelsea [?], Lady St. Oswald, Lady Drummond-Hay and Miss Drummond-Hay, the Hon. A. Stanley, Lady J. Stanley, Mrs. Trench, Sir J. Woodburn and Lady Woodburn. I find, however, that in the majority of cases these distinguished passengers are not traveling beyond Egypt or India. There is, however, a probability that some of them may extend their travels to Australia and New Zealand."1898 December 10, Lady Isobel Constance Mary Stanley and Sir Francis (John Francis) Gathorne-Hardy married.

1903, King Edward VII visited the Stanleys at their London home in St. James Square.

1903 June 10, Henry William Crichton and Lady Mary Cavendish Grosvenor married.

1903 November 26, George Frederick Stanley and Lady Beatrix Taylour married.

1903 December 10, Edward Lyulph Stanley inherited the title 4th Baron Sheffield.

1904 February 15, Ferdinand Charles Stanley and Alexandra Frances Anne Fellowes married.

1905 June 17, Frederick William Stanley and Lady Alexandra Louise Elizabeth Acheson married.

1918 April 18, Algernon Francis Stanley and Lady Mary Cavendish Grosvenor Crichton married.

Stanleys at the Ball
A number of Stanleys mostly associated with the Earl and Countess of Derby were present at the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball:


 * 1) Constance Villiers Stanley, Countess of Derby
 * 2) Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby
 * 3) Lord Stanley: Lord Edward George Villiers Stanley
 * 4) Lady A. Stanley: Lady Alice Maud Olivia Montagu Stanley
 * 5) Hon. F. C. Stanley: Hon. Ferdinand Charles Stanley
 * 6) The Hon. George Stanley: Lt.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir George Frederick Stanley
 * 7) Miss Madeline Stanley
 * 8) Lady Isobel Stanley
 * 9) Lord William Stanley: Frederick William Stanley
 * 10) Lady W. Stanley
 * 11) Lady J. Stanley
 * 12) E. Stanley

Stanleys in the Presentation Album
Further, of these, 6 Stanleys were in the presentation album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery :


 * 1) Constance Villiers Stanley, Countess of Derby
 * 2) Lord Edward Stanley
 * 3) Lady Alice Stanley
 * 4) Lady Isobel Stanley
 * 5) The Hon. George Stanley
 * 6) Lord William Stanley: called the Hon. Frederick "William" Stanley in the album

The Stanleys in 17th-century Costumes
Not in the album is Ferdinand C. Stanley, who is also dressed as a Grenadier Guard of the late 17th century.
 * 1) Constance Villiers Stanley, Countess of Derby is wearing a headdress that is quite specific to the late 17th century.
 * 2) Lord Edward Stanley is dressed as a Grenadier Guard of the late 17th century.

Lady Alice Stanley, Edward Stanley's wife, as Diana, is apparently not 17th century.

The Stanleys in 18th-century Costumes

 * 1) The Hon. George Stanley is dressed as Mars, Diana's opposite, in a way, but in the period of Louis XVI, which is late 18th century.
 * 2) Lady Isobel Stanley is dressed in a hunting costume of the time of Louis XVI.
 * 3) Lord William Stanley is also wearing a hunting costume of the time of Louis XVI.

The Louis XV and Louis XVI quadrille was led by Daisy, Countess Warwick and had 29 people in it, not counting her pages. A number of other people at the ball not in this quadrille were also dressed in costumes of this period, including these Stanleys, who are not listed in the Morning Post or Times as part of it.

Edward George Villiers Stanley, Lord Stanley
Lord Edward George Villiers Stanley sat at Table 9 in the first supper seating. He was married to Lady Alice Maude Olivia Montagu Stanley, the 3rd daughter of Louise, Duchess of Devonshire (born when Louise was Duchess of Manchester).

Lafayette's portrait of "Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby as an officer of the Grenadier Guards, XVII Century" in costume is photogravure #172 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lord Stanley, M.P. as an officer of the Grenadier Guards XVII Century."

The 1900 photograph (right) of Lord Edward Stanley shows what was probably the natural color of his mustache.

Two higher resolution images of Lord Stanley in costume can be found on the Lafayette Negative Archive:


 * 1) This is the same portrait that was included in the album: http://lafayette.org.uk/sta1450.html.
 * 2) This shows Lord Stanley more clearly, in this case with Mabel Susan, Baroness St. Oswald: http://lafayette.org.uk/sta1450.html.

Newspaper Description of Lord Edward Stanley's Costume
This account from the Gentlewoman names 3 men, two of whom were Stanleys, all dressed as Grenadier Guard officers from 1660: It is not clear, then, if the costume was intended to be specific to 1660 or more generally to the late 17th century, as suggested in the letterpress description in the album. Given that they were supposedly dressed as Grenadier Guards, which were founded under a different name in 1660, we believe that these men intended their costumes to be late 17th century, whether as specific as 1660 or not. (Technically, the Grenadier Guards got their name at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, around 1815, so they would not have been called that in the 17th century.)
 * "Lord Algernon Gordon-Lennox, Lord Stanley, Hon. F. C. Stanley (as Grenadier Guard officers, 1660), scarlet tunics, trimmed gold; cuirasses inlaid with gilt, baldricks, swords; full blue breeches, scarlet hose and shoes, lappet wigs."

Commentary on Lord Stanley's Costume
With his costume, Lord Stanley may have been referencing an ancestor of his, William Stanley, 9th Earl of Derby, who was Colonel of "one regiment of horse," which along with the first of 3 regiments of foot guard he raised in 1689 was the Brigade of Lancashire Militia. If so, Lord Stanley's brother Hon. Ferdinand Charles Stanley, also dressed as a 17th-century Grenadier Guard, may have been referencing an ancestor as well: the 9th Earl's brother James, who was a soldier, Brigadier of the Lancashire Regiments of Militia and "in the 1st Foot Guards at the Coronation of William and Mary."

Unlike any of the women's costumes, Lord Stanley's costume is not essentially Victorian with period embellishments or elaborations. Much of what he is wearing is appropriate to the 17th century and to military garb.
 * Lord Stanley was a lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards. At at the time of the Stuart Restoration in the 17th century, Royalist field officers and commanders were members of the military as well as Cavaliers at least politically and likely also stylistically.
 * By choosing 17th-century, these men are dressed as royalist field officers loyal to Charles II.
 * It is not clear how much Lord Stanley knew about the history of the Grenadier Guards. His costume is a mix of late-17th and late-19th centuries and a mix of military and Cavalier styles.
 * Cavalier Style
 * Men's fashion was dominated in the 17th century by lace, ribbons and bows.
 * Not much of Lord Stanley's shirt under his coat shows, except for a small amount of ruffled lace at the cuffs. The cravat is a separate piece.
 * Lord Stanley is wearing a linen cravat, which is appropriate both for Cavaliers and general men's late 17th-century style. The bow tied to hold the lacy cravat in place would have been ribbon in the 17th century and likely made of silk. This kind of cravat — which Charles II brought over from France — would have been new in 1660, succeeding the falling band.
 * The Gentlewoman says that Lord Stanley was wearing a lappet wig. According to Payne,"It was the fashion at this time [1620–1630] to wear the hair long falling upon the shoulders; still longer strands on the left made the 'love [332/334] lock.' One reason often cited for the fashion is that Louis XIII of France had beautiful hair and fancied it in flowing waves. When it was no longer either beautiful or flowing he resorted to a wig, thus starting another fashion which gained momentum through the century and endured for yet another one. Only when the limp ruff and falling band replaced the starched ruff and whisk [non-ruffled stand-up collar] was it really feasible to wear the hair long. (332–334)"Lord Stanley's wig does appear to be slightly longer on the left side in the Lafayette portrait, but the style of this wig looks more like 1630s than 1660s. Exact historical accuracy is not a feature of any of the costumes at the ball, but his wig suggests that Lord Stanley had seen portraits of 17th-century military men wearing wigs that have lappets.
 * Lord Stanley's breeches are about right for the late 17th century: somewhat full — neither the petticoat breeches of earlier in the century nor the narrow ones of the 18th century. The looped ribbons and bows at the bottoms of the breeches disappeared in France by the end of the 17th century, the time of Louis XVI.
 * The shoes — with their slightly raised and blocky heel, their squarish points, the bows and the upright tongue — are generally appropriate to the 2nd half of the 17th century.
 * Military
 * Lord Stanley's 17th-century-style coat has wide cuffs and a flared skirt, ribbon or braid on the cuffs and skirt, and possibly pocket flaps. The cut of the coat is generally appropriate, as is the braid along the edges and the parallel stripes of braid on the cuffs; the parallel horizontal stripes on the skirt of the coat, however, look like a 19th-century military flourish.
 * A baldric — a leather or fabric strap across his chest — was an essential part of a military man's equipment, holding the sword of the common foot soldier or the grenades of a grenadier.
 * Lord Stanley's cuirasse is worn over his coat and fastened on the side with leather straps and buckles.
 * The sash with its large, flat bow and long fringe is a somewhat flamboyant version of what a Guard uniform might have had at the end of the 17th century.
 * The gloves had wide gauntlets large enough to fit over the cuffs of the coat.
 * A sword is not easily visible in either photograph of Lord Stanley in costume, although perhaps a part of it may be visible on his left side between his gauntlet and his coat in the portrait with Mabel, Baroness St. Oswald (http://lafayette.org.uk/sta1450.html).
 * Russell Harris calls the cluster of ribbons on his right shoulder a "Shoulder knot — an indication of rank and probably [made] of dark blue silk."
 * Not Historically Accurate
 * The brim of the hat is curved but not cocked, suggesting a style from the first half of the 17th century. The cocked hat, most clearly associated with the 18th century, would have had plumes falling over the crown, but men wearing the flatter brim typically wore their plumes lying along the brim and draped off the hat.
 * Lord Stanley's beard is a Van Dyke, and he has a matching mustache, both darker than his own. Blanche Payne says,"As evidenced in many paintings of the [1620–1630] period, a pointed beard, ranging from the small tuft on [Frans Hals' 1624 Laughing Cavalier] to much larger ones on other men, was often combined with a mustache. Van Dyck's subjects wore this fashion so often that the pointed beard is still referred to as a Van Dyck. (334)"Lord Stanley's Van Dyck beard is larger and bushier than a 17th-century Van Dyck would be and is more like the facial hair men wore in the 19th century. Cavalier-style Van Dycks were smaller, thinner and very controlled, and they diminished in size and fullness until the end of the 17th century, when they disappeared and men were clean shaven.

Lady Alice Stanley
Lady A. Stanley, Lady Alice Maude Olivia Montagu Stanley, was in the procession of duchesses according to the Morning Post but, because she was dressed as the Roman goddess Diana, was more likely among the goddesses if she walked in a procession, and sat at Table 5 at the first supper seating, escorted by the Duke of York. That is, she was important enough to be in the first supper seating.

The group of unidentified Stanleys, below, were all in the Duchess Procession, suggesting either that they are part of the family of the Earl of Derby or that 2 Lady A. Stanleys were present, this one and one associated with that group.

Lafayette's portrait of "Alice Maud Olivia (née Montagu), Countess of Derby when Lady Alice Stanley as Diana" in costume is photogravure #100 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lady Alice Stanley as Diana."

Unlike other photographs in this album, Lady Stanley's portrait has been altered to look like a painting. The bottom edge of the background drop has been smudged with some post-photographic technique so that her feet do not show and she appears not to touch the ground. Similarly, the edges of the photograph itself have been altered so that the scenic drop for the background fades at the edges. Normally in these photographs, the background is obviously painted and the figure has the kind of hyperrealism of photography. Lady Stanley's portrait blends the figure and background so they both look painted. Lord Stanley's portrait, on the other hand, looks like the rest of the portraits in the album with a painted background and a photographic figure.

The Roman Goddess Diana
Lady Stanley is not likely making a strict distinction between Greek and Roman in her costume, but because she is identified in the album as personating Diana rather than Artemis, we have assumed she meant Diana.

The 9th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica offers a sense of what was generally available in 1897 to those interested in that kind of research. According to the Britannica,"DIANA, who was at a later period reverenced as the Greek Artemis by the side of Apollo, was originally an independent deity of Italy, as, indeed, is shown by the name, which is the feminine form of Janus. She is essentially the moon goddess, and presides over wood, plain, and water, as well as over the changes of human character, and the special functions of the female sex, also over chase and war. ... The festival of the goddess was on the ides of August, the full moon of the hot season. She was worshipped with torches, her aid was sought by women seeking a happy deliverance in childbirth, and many votive offerings have rewarded modern excavations on the site. ... There were several ancient groves and sanctuaries of Diana in Rome, one in the Vicus Patricius between the Viminal and Esquiline, into which no man was admitted, another at the highest point of the Vicus Cyprius, another on the Cœliolus. But the most celebrated of all was the temple on the Aventine. This was originally a sanctuary of the Latin League, which accounts for the hill not being included in the original circuit of Rome, and for its being the refuge of the plebeians in political disturbances. The statue of the goddess was of the Ephesian type, the day of dedication was the ides of August, and the temple was especially frequented by slaves and their wives. Runaway slaves throughout Italy had a special dependence upon Diana. Such are the chief characteristics of the Roman Diana; but as early as 400 B. C. she began to be identified with the Greek Artemis, of which an account has already been given (see A RTEMIS )."

Lady Alice Stanley's Costume

 * Signifiers of Diana present in the portrait include the moon in her headdress and the bow, arrow and quiver. (The diagonal line across her chest and going under her left arm is the strap to the quiver on her back.)
 * In part because of the alterations to the photograph, the layers of this garment are difficult to see clearly and to identify. It is impossible, then, to describe the costume's construction, and we have no idea what colors Lady Alice was dressed in.
 * A few observations based on what can be seen:
 * It has a train, apparently not a cloak. The train appears to be attached at the waist with a dark, round ornament.
 * The top might be a girdle or a traditional late-19th-century tight bodice.
 * Even though it does not look like it, the square neckline must be very high in the back or the shoulders would not stay up.
 * The sleeves may have been made of a very light, possibly stiffened, fabric and may be divided in two at the shoulders, with two pieces below the elbow as if tied.
 * The skirt has two or maybe three layers.
 * The skirt appears to be heavily embroidered and perhaps studded with jewels and beads. The embroidered pattern includes a round design with what could be moonbeams or rays.
 * The short overskirt has fringe and appears to lengthen at the sides. Perhaps it is a long drape of very thin fabric wrapped around her hips. Something in the back causes it to fold along the side and something catches it below the knee, attaching it to the long, embroidered skirt, perhaps in a knot.
 * Beneath the trim at the bottom of the embroidered skirt is another layer, perhaps a ruffle, perhaps another skirt.
 * Accessories
 * She has a headdress of a encrescent — or waxing — moon that is standing upright.
 * She has a quiver of arrows on her back, with the strap going across her chest and under her left arm.
 * She is carrying a bow.
 * She is wearing gloves that go above her elbows.
 * Her shoes are not visible.

Hon. Ferdinand Charles Stanley
Hon. F. C. Stanley is likely Ferdinand Charles Stanley. According to the Gentlewoman, "Lord Algernon Gordon-Lennox, Lord Stanley, Hon. F. C. Stanley (as Grenadier Guard officers, 1660), scarlet tunics, trimmed gold; cuirasses inlaid with gilt, baldricks, swords; full blue breeches, scarlet hose and shoes, lappet wigs." That is, he was dressed like his brother Lord Edward Stanley, whose portrait (above left) says "XVII Century" instead of 1660. Like his brother Lord Edward Stanley, he may be referencing an ancestor in his costume, James, 10th Earl of Derby.



George Frederick Stanley
George Frederick Stanley, the 7th child and the 5th surviving son of the 16th Earl and Countess, was dressed as the Roman god Mars.

Lafayette's portrait (right) of "Sir George Frederick Stanley as Maro [sic] (period of Louis XVI)" in costume is #101 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "The Hon. G. Stanley as Maro (period of Louis XVI)."

Newspaper Descriptions of His Costume

 * "The Hon. George Stanley was Mars, and his flesh-coloured hose gave him the correct god-like appearance of disdaining too much protection against anything so immaterial as weather."
 * "The Hon. George Stanley (Mars), cuirass, buff-coloured leather, panelled with white leather, embroidered with gold mountings and gold lion's head in centre; brown leather skirt and sleeves, panelled with white leather, and mounted with crimson tabs, scalloped and embroidered with gold; crimson silk mantle; large gold Grecian helmet, adorned with a lion's head and crimson feather crest; silk buff-colour breeches."

Commentary on George Frederick Stanley's Costume

 * George Frederick Stanley is dressed not as a Roman but à la romaine. An early 17th-century example of a figure of Mars with a helmet that has a dragon à la romaine was likely available to George Stanley "at the foot of the Buckingham tomb in Henry VII's Chapel at Westminster Abbey." He would have been able to see other examples in theatres, galleries and museums.


 * Even though the album says his costume is of the period of Louis XVI, neither the Morning Post nor the Times list George Stanley as walking in the Louis XV and Louis XVI procession.
 * The entire costume represents the French neoclassic à la romaine style and is made up of a number of layers, including the cloak. The photograph makes it impossible to determine where one layer begins and another ends. For example, we cannot tell which piece is attached to what in the layers of the neck and leg treatments. The layers on the bodice and sleeves are much easier to distinguish.
 * The scarf-like neck drape across his shoulders and chest could be part of the cloak or a separate piece. The lace trim appears to match a section of the cloak hanging on his right side.
 * The oversleeve stops at the elbow, gathered panels hang down from the elbow with tassels attached at the bottom.
 * Short pointed tabs are the top layer, stitched into the elbow of the oversleeve. These tabs and the ones on the shoulders are miniatures of the tabs shown on the skirt.
 * Perhaps intended to suggest a cuirass, George Stanley's bodice is a simplification of the doublet normally found in à la romaine style, making it kind of a one-piece bodice with pointed dags at the bottom.
 * The larger tabs that hang freely from the waist cover the skirt beneath, which is present probably for the sake of modesty.
 * George Stanley is not wearing a baldric to hold his Roman short sword, so it must be held by a belt, which must be under the bodice.
 * The breeches (which are not tights) resemble Roman bracchae used by Roman soldiers in colder climates like England and northern Europe. The leg treatment here is clearly trouser-like pants, pushed up and wrinkled, rather than tights or hose, the term Truth uses.
 * His shoes are not the sandals Roman soldiers wore. In the à la romaine style boots come to the bottom of the breeches. The Hon. George Stanley's "boots" actually look like Victorian dancing shoes that have a heel and a bow on the toe, and that rise to his knees with some kind of decoration perhaps intended to look like open work and with some kind of oak-leaf shin guard. The shin covering is not clearly either stocking or boot.
 * The shape of George Stanley's helmet and the cheek guards (normally how the chin strap was attached) look generally Roman. Roman legionnaires wore comb holders, which had plumes or horsehair, curving over the top of the helmet. George Stanley's helmet and bodice appear to be decorated with lion heads, and below the lion's head on the bodice is a figure that could be an eagle or the insignia of the golden fleece.

The Roman God Mars
While his costume does not seem to have been based on any historical precedent that we can find, the Hon. George Stanley would have known about Mars from his education. Also, the 9th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica shows us what would have been available if someone were to have done that kind of research. The Britannica has a long article (2 full columns) about the Roman God Mars: MARS was a Roman deity whose name has passed into later literature as that of the war god. ... Mars then was identified with the Greek A RES (q.v.), and was regarded as almost the same in nature with the warlike element in Jupiter as Feretrius and Triumphator. ...

Father Mars, Marspiter, Maspiter, Mavors, or Maurs, was the great god of one of the races that composed the Roman state. He is the god of heaven, the giver of light, the opener of the new year; he hurls the thunder and sends [p. 569 / p.570] the rain. ... The first month of the old Roman year was the month of Mars, still called March. On the first day the god had been born; and on the same day various annual ceremonies both political and religious took place; and the holy fire was renewed in the temple of Vesta. ... The spear sacred to Mars was in its original sense doubtless the lightning, and his sacred shield was, like the ægis of Zeus and Athene, the storm shield, i.e., the thundercloud. ... The wolf which was sacred to Mars may be compared with the wolves of Zeus Lycaios, and the horse, the sacrifice of Mars, is the horse of the sun, which the Greeks also sacrificed to Helios.

As heaven-god and sender of rain, Mars is the giver of fertility and increase. ... As he was powerful to send fertility, so he could cause also drought, sterility, and all evil; and propitiatory ceremonies, such as the Ambarvalia, were consecrated to him. ... In times of calamity there was an old Italian custom of dedicating to Mars a ver sacrum. Everything born in this spring was the property of the god; the animals were sacrificed, the young men when they grew up were sent out of the country. Mars seems also to have had some relation to the religious ceremony of marriage. Along with Juno, the goddess of women and of childbirth, he was worshipped by the Roman matrons on June 1 and at the Matronalia on March 1. As god of the land and giver of increase, Mars was also the god of death and the dead .... He was likewise the giver of oracles: like Zeus he revealed his will to men by certain signs. ... Woodpeckers were the sacred birds of Mars, and the noise which they made tapping on the trees was one of the simplest methods of revelation. Picus, the woodpecker, was a name or form of Mars, and was ultimately individualized as a local hero, an early king of Latium, and son of the god. ...

Next to Jupiter, Mars was the chief protecting god of the Roman state. Quirinus Mars was the father of the twin-founders of the city, and his sacred wolf was the emblem of the city and the foster-mother of the twins. ...

... There was also a goddess Bellona, whose name marks her strictly as the goddess of war; she is called the sister or daughter or wife of Mars. Quirinus, on the Quirinal, had a festival called Quirinalia, on the 17th of February. (259, Col. 2c – 570, Col. 2c)

Lady Isobel Stanley
Lady Isobel Stanley married Francis Gathorne-Hardy, who was also at the ball, in December 1898, the year following the ball.

Lafayette's portrait of "Lady Isobel Constance Mary Gathorne-Hardy (née Stanley) in hunting costume, period of Louis XVI" in costume is #104 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "Lady Isobel Stanley in hunting costume, period of Louis XVI."

Commentary on Lady Isobel Stanley's Costume
Lady Stanley's costume is a mix of 18th- and 19th-century styles. Given the several very specific 18th-century touches on this costume, it seems likely that Lady Isobel or her clothier or costumier saw paintings of late-18th-century women in riding habits.


 * Isobel Stanley is wearing a riding habit, made up of a redingote with a fitted bodice, a full skirt and an underskirt, all normally likely made of wool. Similar in style to men's redingotes, Lady Isobel's costume has a clear masculine line.
 * She is probably wearing a wig, which is powdered and curled, with long ringlets tied at the back of the neck with a light-colored ribbon. A tricorne hat with white plumes is perched on top of it, perhaps held in place with a hatpin.
 * She appears to be carrying a riding crop in her left hand.
 * She is wearing some kind of lacy neck treatment, possibly a fichu wrapped and tied around the neck, or a jabot or cravat. Something sheer is covering the striped fabric of the upper part of her bodice.
 * Lady Stanley's sleeve is more late 1880s at the top (gathered at the shoulder, but not as big as was popular in the 1890s) and then more late 18th century below (with the wide cuff at the elbow and the puffed and lacy under-sleeve gathered at the wrist).
 * The fabric of the underskirt looks more like a ball gown than a riding skirt.



Lord William Stanley
Lord William (Frederick William) Stanley, is Lord William Stanley or Hon. W. Stanley. Lord William Stanley was the youngest of the children of the Countess and Earl of Derby.

Lafayette's portrait of "Hon. Frederick William Stanley in hunting dress (period of Louis XVI)" in costume is #102 in the album presented to the Duchess of Devonshire and now in the National Portrait Gallery. The printing on the portrait says, "The Hon. W. Stanley in hunting Dress (period of Louis XVI)," with a Long S in Dress.

Lord William Stanley's Costume

 * The Gentlewoman described William Stanley's costume:"Hon. W. Stanley (Chasseur à Louis XV.), green velvet long skirted coat, with large turned-back cuffs, embroidered in gold; green velvet vest, embroidered with gold; brown leather hunting belt with silver mountings; green velvet riding breeches, with gold embroiderey [sic] on side seams; black felt three-cornered hat embroidered with gold."
 * The letterpress in the presentation album says William Stanley's costume is "period of Louis XVI" and the description of his costume in The Gentlewoman says "Chasseur à Louis XV," but both are 18th century.
 * William Stanley was dressed as a hunter of the 18th century like his sister Lady Isobel Stanley. Hon. George Stanley is dressed as Mars, the opposite of Lady Alice Stanley's Diana, in a way, but in the period of Louis XVI.
 * Lord Stanley's neck treatment is made up of a plain stock around his neck and a lacy jabot falling down the front of his costume. The lace of the wrist ruffles appears to match the lace of the jabot.
 * Lord Stanley appears to be wearing a wig, which is not powdered, and has a tricorne perched on top of it. It is long in back and tied with a dark ribbon.
 * Lord Stanley's coat is typical of late 18th-century gentlemen's style. It has braid trim on his coat front and on the wide cuffs of his sleeves, giving it a slightly military look appropriate for a hunting costume. The braid on the front of his coat is part of the frog closures, though he is wearing it completely open in this photograph.
 * He is wearing a long, fitted waistcoat closed with frogs. The fabric is described in The Gentlewoman as velvet, although it looks like it might be some kind of jacquard weave.
 * His wide leather belt is underneath his coat and from it hangs his sword.
 * His knee breeches are embellished with embroidery down the outside seam.
 * He has the cuff of his boots pulled up over his knees. (They may not be boots; there may be a softer leather upper covering his shoes to make it look like he is wearing boots.)

Other Stanleys Present at the Ball
According to the Morning Post, W. Stanley, E. Stanley, Lady J. Stanley and Lady A. Stanley walked in the Duchess procession. Almost nothing is known about them at this time as a group or as individuals.

W. Stanley
At this time, W. Stanley is unidentified and may have been a man, as Lady J. Stanley and Lady A. Stanley, also said to have been in the Duchess procession, have the gender-identifying honorific Lady. Other men seem to have been in the Duchess procession, like Lord Acheson.

W. Stanley could be Frederick William Stanley, called Lord William Stanley, but to present the name without any kind of honorific would have been an error. Also, neither the account of Frederick William Stanley in The Gentlewoman nor his page in the presentation album says he walked in the Duchess procession.

W. Stanley (assuming Lady W. Stanley) cannot be Lady Alexandra Louise Elizabeth Acheson Stanley, married to Lord Frederick William Stanley, because they did not marry until 1905.

Lady A. Stanley
It is not clear whether the Lady A. Stanley that the Morning Post says walked in the Duchess Procession is Lady Alice Stanley or a different A. Stanley. An Hon. A. Stanley is reported to have been on the P. & O. steamer India traveling away from the U.K., along with the 16th Earl and Countess of and Lady J. Stanley, as well as, possibly, other friends, including Lady St. Oswald.

If the Lady A. Stanley in the Duchess procession is a mistake, then conceivably the Hon. A. Stanley on the P. & O. India could have been one of the three 16th Earl and Countess's children not listed in accounts of the ball that I can recognize: Hon. Victor Albert Stanley, Hon. Arthur Stanley and Hon. Algernon Francis Stanley. Arthur Stanley never married. Algernon Francis Stanley was Mary Cavendish Grosvenor Crichton's second husband, and they married in 1918.

Victor Stanley was married to Annie Bickerton Pooley, but she would never have been called Lady A. Stanley. Annie Bickerton Pooley Stanley would have been pregnant, possibly 6 months pregnant, at the time of the ball; this doesn't necessarily mean she would not have gone, however: the Duchess of Marlborough was seven months pregnant at the time of the ball.

Lady J. Stanley
At this time, Lady J. Stanley is unidentified.

Lady J. Stanley walked in the Duchess procession.

Lady J. Stanley cannot be Susan Mary Elizabeth Stewart-Mackenzie Stanley, who had been married to Hon. John Constantine Stanley, because he died in 1878 and she had married Francis Jeune by 1897.

Whoever Lady or the Hon. J. Stanley was, she (or, less likely, he) were traveling in Australia and New Zealand in February 1898 with Lady A. Stanley and the Earl and Countess of Derby.

E. Stanley
At this time, E. Stanley is unidentified and may have been a man, as Lady J. Stanley and Lady A. Stanley — also said to have been in the Duchess procession — have the gender-identifying honorific.

If this were Lord Edward Stanley, the newspaper would have been likely to have called him Lord E. Stanley, although of course a mistake is always possible. Two E. Stanleys from the family of the Barony of Alderley are possible candidates, but I find no likely candidates for W. Stanley, Lady J. Stanley or even another Lady A. Stanley among that family, and these four are grouped together in the Duchess procession.

A Lady Eleanor Stanley was a Maid of Honour to Queen Victoria in the mid-1800s and knew Louise, Duchess of Devonshire in 1859. She married Samuel Long in 1869, his 4th wife; he died in 1881.

Family of the Barony of Alderley and Barony of Eddisbury
Susan Mary Elizabeth Stewart-Mackenzie, whose 1st husband was Hon. John Constantine Stanley (30 September 1837 – 23 April 1878) remarried, to Francis Henry Jeune, 1st and last Baron St. Helier. They attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House with a Miss Stanley, likely her unmarried daughter Madeline Cecilia Carlyle Stanley, who would have been 21 years old on the day of the ball.

Demographics

 * Nationality: British

Family of the Earl of Derby

 * Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby (15 January 1841 – 14 June 1908)
 * Constance Villiers Stanley (1840 – 17 April 1922) [they had 8 sons and 2 daughters, 7 and 1 of whom, respectively, survived to adulthood]
 * 1) Katherine Mary Stanley (– 21 October 1871)
 * 2) Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby (4 April 1865 – 4 February 1948)
 * 3) Admiral Hon. Sir Victor Albert Stanley (17 January 1867 – 9 June 1934)
 * 4) Hon. Sir Arthur Stanley (18 November 1869 – 4 November 1947)
 * 5) Geoffrey Stanley (18 November 1869 – 16 March 1871)
 * 6) Brig.-Gen. Hon. Ferdinand Charles Stanley (28 January 1871 – 17 March 1935)
 * 7) Lt.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir George Frederick Stanley (14 October 1872 – 1 July 1938)
 * 8) Colonel Hon. Algernon Francis Stanley (8 January 1874 – 10 February 1962)
 * 9) Lady Isobel Constance Mary Stanley (2 September 1875 – 30 December 1963)
 * 10) Lt.-Col. Hon. Frederick William Stanley (27 May 1878 – 9 August 1942)


 * Edward George Villiers Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby (4 April 1865 – 4 February 1948)
 * Lady Alice Maude Olivia Montagu (1862 – 23 July 1957)
 * 1) Lady Victoria Alice Louise Stanley (24 June 1892 – 26 November 1927)
 * 2) Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Montagu Cavendish Stanley, Lord Stanley (9 July 1894 – 16 October 1938)
 * 3) Colonel Rt. Hon. Oliver Frederick George Stanley (4 May 1896 – 10 December 1950)


 * Victor Albert Stanley (17 January 1867 – 9 June 1934)
 * Annie Bickerton Pooley Stanley (– 14 April 1962)
 * 1) Violet Alice Stanley (11 October 1897 – )
 * 2) Godfrey Victor Stanley (18 January 1902 – 9 March 1903)
 * 3) Rosemary Constance Stanley (9 October 1905 – )


 * Sir Arthur Stanley (18 November 1869 – 4 November 1947)


 * Ferdinand Charles Stanley (28 January 1871 – 17 March 1935)
 * Hon. Alexandra Frances Anne Fellowes (29 June 1880 – 16 September 1955)
 * 1) Colonel Frederick Arthur Stanley (3 March 1905 – 2 January 1978)
 * 2) John Stanley (9 July 1907 – 17 February 1964)
 * 3) Major Henry Ferdinand Stanley (4 April 1911 – 3 December 1997)


 * Lt.-Col. Rt. Hon. Sir George Frederick Stanley (14 October 1872 – 1 July 1938)
 * Lady Beatrix Taylour (6 January 1877 – 3 May 1944)
 * 1) Barbara Helen Stanley (6 March 1906 – 1986)


 * Lady Mary Cavendish Grosvenor (12 May 1883 – 14 January 1959)
 * Lt.-Col. Henry William Crichton, Viscount Crichton (30 September 1872 – 31 October 1914)
 * 1) George David Hugh Crichton (12 May 1904 – 18 May 1904)
 * 2) Lady Mary Katherine Crichton (8 July 1905 – 2 February 1990)
 * 3) John Henry George Crichton, 5th Earl Erne of Crom Castle (22 November 1907 – 23 May 1940)
 * Algernon Francis Stanley (8 January 1874 – 10 February 1962)
 * 1) Constance Mary Stanley (24 January 1919 – )
 * 2) F/O Anthony Hugh Stanley (20 February 1923 – March 1943)


 * Lady Isobel Constance Mary Stanley (2 September 1875 – 30 December 1963)
 * General Hon. Sir Francis (John Francis) Gathorne-Hardy (14 January 1874 – 21 August 1949)
 * 1) Elizabeth Constance Mary Gathorne-Hardy (23 August 1904 – 3 March 1953)


 * Lt.-Col. Hon. William (Frederick William) Stanley (27 May 1878 – 9 August 1942)
 * Lady Alexandra Louise Elizabeth Acheson (1878 – 21 January 1958)
 * 1) Major David William Stanley (9 August 1906 – 14 January 1997)
 * 2) Olivia Mary Beatrice Stanley (1 January 1908 – 9 July 1985)
 * 3) Diana Margaret Stanley (18 February 1909 – 2 July 1975)

Questions and Notes

 * 1) The family of the Earl of Derby whose portraits are in the Album are the following: Constance Villiers Stanley, Countess of Derby; Lord Edward Stanley; Lady Alice Stanley; Lady Isobel Stanley; the Hon. George Stanley; The Hon. Frederick "William" Stanley.
 * 2) Their location on the complete list of people who attended the Duchess of Devonshire's ball in 1897:
 * 3) Lord (Edward) Stanley: #188
 * 4) Lady A. Stanley: #157
 * 5) Hon. F. C. Stanley, Ferdinand Charles Stanley: #251
 * 6) George Frederick Stanley: #249
 * 7) Lady Isobel Stanley: #654
 * 8) Lord William (Frederick William) Stanley: #473
 * 9) Lady W. Stanley: #474
 * 10) Lady J. Stanley: #250
 * 11) E. Stanley: #248