Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley


Sir Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley, titular King of Mann, KG, of Lathom and Knowsley, Lancashire, was a Privy Councillor, Comptroller of the Royal Household, Lieutenant-Governor of Ireland, Chief Steward of the Duchy of Lancaster, Knight of the Shire for Lancashire, Constable & Justice of Chester, Chamberlain of North Wales, Lord Chamberlain, and from 15 January 1456 was summoned by Writ to Parliament as Lord Stanley.

Life

Stanley was the son of Sir John Stanley, of Liverpool, Lathom, and Knowsley, Lancashire, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Nicholas Harington of Farleton, Lancashire. He represented Lancashire in the House of Commons in 1427, 1433, 1439, 1442, 1447, 1449, 1450, 1453, 1455.
In 1424 he was attacked in his father's tower at Liverpool by Sir Richard Molyneaux, who was arrested. His family had long associations with the governance of Ireland, his grandfather Sir John Stanley, K.G., having been both Justiciar and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and in 1429 he was sent to Ireland and called a Parliament in that Kingdom in 1432.
In 1437, he succeeded to the title of King of Mann upon the death of his father.
During the Parliament at Westminster in 1450-1 the House of Commons demanded his removal from the Royal presence with others of the Duke of Suffolk's party.

Marriage and issue

He married Joan Goushill, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Sir Robert Goushill, of Hoveringham in Nottinghamshire, by his wife Elizabeth Fitzalan, a daughter of Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel. By his wife he had four sons and three daughters:
He died on 11 February 1459 and was buried in Burscough Priory, near his home at Lathom, Lancashire, where his wife was later buried also.