Audley-Stanley family

The Audley-Stanley family is a family with many notable members including the Earls of Derby who are descended from Adam de Aldithley (or Audley) a prominent Norman who was said to have accompanied William the Conqueror to England.

The first mention of Audley, however, is in the Domesday book of 1086, when it was called Aldidelege, when the lands were held by a Saxon thegn called Gamel - who may have been known as Gamel de Tettesworth born c. 1043 in Heleigh, possible son of Wolfric de Hatton of Mercia, a great grandson of Leofwine, Earl of Mercia [ [http://fabpedigree.com/s060/f415120.htm Fabpedigree.com] ] .

The extended Audley family, originally of Audley Castle but who later built (or re-built) Heighley Castle, Madeley, Staffordshire in 1226, had several additional households including Red Castle at Hawkstone in Shropshire, Buglawton Manor in Congleton, Newhall Tower at Combermere and a home in Nantwich [ [http://www.madeleyvillage.co.uk/heighleycastle.htm madeleyvillage.co.uk] ] . One of Adam's descendants married an heiress whose marriage portion included Stoneleigh, Derbyshire - which resulted in the eventual family name of Stanley.

The Audley & Stanley families and their descendants remained prominent throughout the history of England and Ireland into modern times. John Tuchet inherited the title of 4th Baron Audley and afterwards his son James Touchet, 5th Baron Audley. Later generations of the Tuchet's becoming Earl of Castlehaven. The Stanley's were, at one time, one of the richest landowning families in England.

John I Stanley

John I Stanley of the Isle of Man 1350-1414, was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and titular King of Mann. He held numerous offices in Ireland, Chester and Macclesfield and was also Steward of the Household to the Prince of Wales circa 1403, later King Henry V. He was granted the Isle, Castle, peel and Lordship of Mann, by King Henry IV of England and became Sovereign Lord of the Isle of Man in 1406, Constable of Windsor Castle in 1409 and Lieutenant of Ireland between 1413 and 1419

Latham family and "Eagle and child" Coat of Arms

In 1526, Isabella de Lathom, the eldest daughter of parents who had no male heir, married Thomas Stanley and the Latham family (originally Lathom or Lothe Hom - "Brick house" from Lathom, Lancashire) and Stanley families became linked [ [http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/fulltext/hs173x/index.htm History of the House of Stanley - Seacombe] ] . In 1526, the Stanley family adopted the Eagle and child coat of arms that had been the Lathom's [ [http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/knowsley_mbc.jpgKnowley metropolitan borough arms, Eagle and child] ] .

Conservative Party

Several successive generations of the Stanley Earls, along with other members of the family, have been prominent members of the Conservative Party, and at least one historian has suggested that this family rivals the Cecils (Marquesses of Salisbury) as the single most important family in the party's history. The early 13c marriage of James Aldithley with Ela, daughter of the William de Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury suggests a likely close family link.

ee also

* Henry de Aldithley/Audley c. 1175 - , Lord of the Welsh Marches,governor of Carmarthen castle and Cardigan Castle, Sheriff of Salop and Staffordshire from 1216 until 1221, constable of Shrewsbury Castle and Bridgnorth Castle,Governor of Shrewsbury, Chester Castle and Beeston Castle, governor of Newcastle-under-Lyne. He married Bertred Mainwaring.
* Baron Audley
* James de Aldithley c. 1220-1272 who married Ela de Longespee, daughter of William II Longespee, son of William de Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, a son of King Henry II of England by Ida de Tosny (who would later marry Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk).
* Emma de Audley c. 1224, daughter of Henry de Audley & Bertrade de Mainwaring and great granddaughter of Hugh de Kevelioc, 3rd Earl of Chester, who married Gruffydd II ap Madog, Lord of Dinas Bran Prince of Powys
* Hugh I de Audley c. 1250 who married Isolda de Mortimer, daughter of Hugh de Mortimer and great granddaughter of Llywelyn the Great ("Fawr").
* Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester c. 1289-1347
* James Audley founder of the order of the garter c. 1316-1386
* Margaret de Audley, daughter of Margaret de Clare and great-granddaughter of King Edward I of England c. 1318-1347.
* John I Stanley of the Isle of Man c. 1350-1414 King of Mann
* James Touchet, 5th Baron Audley
* Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley 1405-1459 King of Mann, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Constable of Chester Castle , Controller of the Royal Household in 1439.
* Earl of Derby, first creation and later creations
* Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby 1435-1504
* Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby 1477-1521
* Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden Lord Chancellor
* Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby 1509-1572, Lord High Steward (who's daughter, Jane, was the great great grandmother of Abraham Darby I, founder of the industrial revolution).
* Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby 1531-1593, Lord of Mann
* Edward Stanley, Earls of Derby
* Baron Stanley
* Baron Stanley of Alderley
* Ferdinando, the fifth Earl of Derby, Baron Strange of Knockin, 1559-1594, patron of, amongst others, William Shakespeare
* Stanley (surname) List of people with Stanley surname
* History of Shropshire reference to Redcastle

References

External links

* [http://www.isle-of-man.com/manxnotebook/manxnb/v09p001.htm The Manx Note Book - Sir John Stanley]
* [http://www.mimas.ac.uk/~zzalsaw2/genealogies/powys.html Kings and Lords of Powys]