Family and Education

b. 23 Sept. 1721,1 o.s. of George Stanley of Paultons by Sarah, da. of Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Bt., of Chelsea, and coh. with her sis., w. of Charles Cadogan, 2nd Baron Cadogan. educ. Hackney; Switzerland.2 suc. fa. (who committed suicide) 1734. unm. One of his sisters m. Welbore Ellis.

Offices Held

Ld. of Admiralty Sept. 1757-July 1765; envoy to Paris May-Sept. 1761; P.C. 26 Nov. 1762; gov. and v.-adm. I.o.W. 1764-6, 1770-d.; ambassador designate to Russia 1766-7; cofferer of the Household Dec. 1766-Mar. 1774, Oct. 1776-d.

Biography

Hans Stanley’s grandfather, a Southampton merchant and alderman, bought Paultons and his father unsuccessfully contested Lymington in 1729. Returned for St. Albans as an opposition Whig, he was one of the signatories of the opposition whip of 10 Nov. 1743.3 He spoke twice in the debates on the Hanoverian troops in January 1744, stating

in express terms that the King had been obviously guilty of partiality to the worst of mercenaries. Mr. Pelham reprimanded him very mildly and excused him as a young man; he then resumed his speech and was as abusive as he had been before.4

He remained in opposition till the end of the Parliament. He did not stand in 1747, though on 18 May he was made a freeman of Southampton,5 together with his cousin A. L. Swymmer, possibly with a view to his contesting the borough. By this time he had gone over to the Government. Shortly after the general election he was nominated by Pelham to contest a by-election at Shaftesbury on Lord Ilchester’s (Stephen Fox) interest against William Beckford, who, however, arranged a compromise under which Stanley withdrew.6 Like his father he died by his own hand, 12 Jan. 1780.

Ref Volumes: 1715-1754

Author: Sir Lewis Namier

Notes

• 1. Sloane-Stanley mss.
• 2. Yorke, Hardwicke, iii. 320; Stanley to Ld. Palmerston, 28 Oct. 1763, Palmerston mss.
• 3. Owen, Pelhams, 198.
• 4. Hartington to Devonshire, 19 Jan. 1744, Devonshire mss; Yorke’s parl. jnl. Parl. Hist. xiii. 390, 393, 463.
• 5. Reg. of Burgesses Admission, 1697-1835, Southampton City recs.
• 6. See SHAFTESBURY.