KNOWSLEY
Chenulveslei, Dom. Bk., Knuvesle, 1199; Knouselegh, 1258; Knouleslee, 1261; Knusele, 1262; Knouslegh, 1346. Pronounced Nowsley, sometimes Nosely.
This township has an area of 5,058 acres. (fn. 1) A
projecting corner, Radshaw Nook, in the north-west
lies between two brooks, which there form the
boundary, and after joining flow into the Alt. The
population in 1900 was 1,325.
The country is generally flat, very slightly undulating on the east, where it reaches 330 ft. above sealevel. The land which lies outside the park itself is
divided into rich arable fields, yielding crops of potatoes, turnips, and cereals. The soil is variable, sometimes sandy loam, or peat. In the south-eastern part
of the township the geological formation consists of
the millstone grit and coal measures; on the western
side and in the north-eastern corner of the lower
mottled sandstone of the bunter series, and all the
central and northern parts of the pebble beds of this
series of the new red sandstone.
Game, in the shape of pheasants, partridges, and
hares, is particularly abundant in the district.
The north of the township lies on the edge of
mossland, the birches and bracken in the plantations
being typical of moss vegetation. The village of
Knowsley, which is situated in the north-west, is
entirely modern.
In the north-east is Longbarrow; Bury is within
the park, on the north. The well-wooded park surrounding Knowsley Hall is the principal feature of
the township, occupying the eastern half of its area,
and stretching over the boundary into Eccleston.
'The scenery in the park, which is beautifully undulating, is exceedingly varied, abounding in charming
lawn and woodland views, with noble groups of trees
in different elevated positions. From almost every
part of the park, but more especially that portion of
it more immediately in front of the hall, the view
of the surrounding country is commanding and
beautiful, not being confined to inland scenery, but
embracing on the west a splendid marine and sea
prospect. … The park throughout is magnificently
wooded, more especially that portion which is known
as the Gladewoods, in which there is one large tree
constantly attracting much attention and interest from
the fact of its having been twisted in the stem either
by some freak of nature or other singular agency,
which gives it the appearance of a huge corkscrew.
The park also contains a large and artistically arranged
lake, upward of 90 acres in extent. … Near the
head of the lake there is a nude statue called the
"White Man," the tradition being that the statue
was found in the lake. … A large portion of the
eastern side of the park, consisting of several hundreds
of acres, forms the deer park, in which there are
numerous herds of red, fallow, and other deer.
The gardens and pleasure grounds, which are very
extensive, are most artistically laid out and beautifully
decorated with works of art.' (fn. 2)
The principal road is that from Prescot, west,
north, and east, skirting the park and passing the
church. Another road, crossing this, leads northward
from Huyton, passing near the hall, and ultimately
turning to Kirkby.
Six almshouses, erected in 1883; a parish hospital,
1899; and a recreation ground are gifts of the
Stanley family.
The township is governed by a parish council.
Henry, earl of Lancaster, granted a charter at
Knowsley in 1343. (fn. 3)
MANOR
The manors held by Uctred in 1066
take precedence in Domesday after the
royal manor of Derby; and the first of
them were Roby and KNOWSLEY. These were
together rated at 1 hide, Knowsley by itself being
4 plough-lands. (fn. 4)
Before 1212 the whole parish of Huyton had
become part of the barony of Widnes, as the Lancashire part of the Halton fee is called. Its four manors
were by the lords of Halton considered as one only—
Knowsley; so that this must very soon have become
the principal residence of those lords or their undertenant. The superior lordship of Halton is recognized
in all the inquisitions; Knowsley with its members,
Huyton, Roby, and Tarbock, being considered as one
knight's fee, and rated at 12 plough-lands in all. (fn. 5)
Knowsley and its members were held by the
Lathom family from before the year 1200, but how
they acquired it is unknown. In 1199 Amabel,
widow of Robert son of Henry de Lathom, sued her
step-son Richard for her reasonable dower from her
late husband's estate, and the whole of Knowsley was
assigned to her, as well as Anglezark. (fn. 6) Her sons
appear to have taken Knowsley as a surname, and to
have divided Huyton among themselves. Tarbock
was held by another of the Lathom family, while
Roby remained manorially part of Knowsley, though
as a township it became merged in Huyton.
In the survey of 1212 it was found that the
Knowsley knight's fee was held by Richard son of
Robert. (fn. 7) One alteration had been made since the
Conquest; for Henry II had placed Croxteth Park
within the forest, so that at the inquest made in
1228 it was returned it ought to be given back to
Knowsley. (fn. 8) This, however, was not done; Croxteth
Park remained a royal park and extra-parochial.
The service for the manor is not stated quite
uniformly in the inquisitions—apart from its being
that of one knight's fee. (fn. 9)
Of the Lathoms' dealings with Knowsley there is
not much record. (fn. 10) Sir Thomas de Lathom about
1355 obtained a grant of free warren in Knowsley
and Roby with liberty to empark, and in 1359 was
allowed to enclose an adjacent place called Grimshurst. (fn. 11) It was probably at Knowsley that his son
Thomas's melancholy death took place in 1382. He
lay feeble and decrepit for three months before his
death, and during this time his wife Joan refused to
pay him any attention, living in open adultery in the
high chamber at Knowsley with Roger de Fazakerley.
There was no reconciliation,
and immediately after her husband's death Joan sent his body
to Burscough to be buried,
there being present neither
priests nor gentry, as there
should have been. Immediately afterwards she married her
paramour. (fn. 12)
Stanley of Knowsley. Argent, on a bend azure three buck's heads cabossed or.
It was Joan's children by Sir
Thomas de Lathom who were
in the end the heirs of the
family estates. The eldest
daughter Isabel marrying Sir
John de Stanley brought Knowsley into the possession of the family which still holds it. (fn. 13)
The marriage took place about 1385, (fn. 14) for their
son and heir was twenty-eight and more in 1414;
but it was not till 1398 that a dispensation was
asked and obtained from Pope Boniface IX, it having
been shown by Sir John Massy of Tatton that they
were related in the third and fourth degrees. (fn. 15)
At the beginning of 1386 Sir John de Stanley was
appointed deputy of Robert Vere, earl of Oxford, in
the government of Ireland, (fn. 16) and subsequently held
other offices under the Crown. (fn. 17) In June, 1397, he
purchased from John le Strange the manor of Bidston
in Wirral, with the adjacent Moreton and Saughall
Massie. Soon afterwards he secured an annuity of
40 marks. (fn. 18) He received in 1405 a grant of the lordship of Man, forfeited by the Percys for rebellion. (fn. 19)
In February, 1407–8, the king granted to Sir John
Stanley, steward of his household, and Isabel his wife
free warren within their manors of Lathom and
Knowsley, and their lands in Childwall, Roby, and
Anglezark, although the same were within the metes
of the forest. (fn. 20) Stanley was again sent to Ireland as
lieutenant, (fn. 21) dying there at the beginning of 1414. (fn. 22)
His widow Isabel did not long survive him, dying in
October, 1414, her son John being her heir. (fn. 23)
The heir, who was soon afterwards made a knight,
had several public appointments. Just after his father's
death he was made steward of Macclesfield (fn. 24) and master
forester of Macclesfield and Delamere; in November,
1414, he was elected a knight of the shire. (fn. 25) He
is frequently mentioned as justice, &c., in Cheshire. (fn. 26)
He was at the capture of Rouen in August, 1418. (fn. 27)
Sir John Stanley died at the beginning of December,
1437. (fn. 28) He granted the prior of Burscough a buck in
the park of Lathom and another in the park of
Knowsley in greasetime, and a doe in winter. (fn. 29)
His son Sir Thomas Stanley was thirty-one years
of age on succeeding. It was in July, 1424, that
he had been attacked in his father's tower at Liverpool by Sir Richard Molyneux, a dangerous tumult
being created. He had taken part in the government of Ireland from 1429 to 1436, (fn. 30) and succeeded
his father in his Cheshire offices. In 1446 he received a grant of the manor of Bosley, near Macclesfield, from Humphrey, duke of Buckingham. (fn. 31) He
was knight of the shire for Lancashire from 1447 to
1455, (fn. 32) and summoned to the House of Lords as Baron
Stanley, January, 1455–6. He died in February,
1458–9, Thomas his son and heir being twenty-six
years of age. (fn. 33)
Sir Thomas Stanley, the second Lord Stanley,
married Eleanor Nevill, sister of the King-maker, and
succeeded to his father's dignities in Cheshire, some
additional offices and lordships being added. (fn. 34) His
first wife, who brought him into connexion with the
leading Yorkist family, died in 1472, and soon afterwards he married, as her third husband, Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry, earl of Richmond,
the hope of the Lancastrian party. (fn. 35) In 1475 Lord
Stanley accompanied the king to France. (fn. 36) At the
siege of Berwick in 1482 he took part in the assault
which gained the town, and afterwards made several
knights. (fn. 37) He and his brother Sir William stood
aloof from Richard III at the battle of Bosworth in
1485, and then opposed him, thereby giving the decisive turn to the contest. (fn. 38) As a reward he was
created earl of Derby. (fn. 39) After the battle of Stoke in
June, 1487, more substantial rewards were granted;
the forfeited estates of Sir Thomas Broughton of
Furness, Sir James Harrington, Francis Lord Lovell,
Sir Thomas Pilkington and his wife, and Robert
Hulton were conferred on him. (fn. 40)
After the execution of his brother Sir William for
participation in the plot of Perkin Warbeck, the earl
received a visit from the king at Knowsley and
Lathom, and part of the existing hall at the former
place is said to have been erected in anticipation of
this visit, which lasted about a month. The earl
died 29 July, 1504. (fn. 41)
His son George, made knight of the Bath in
1475, had married Joan, daughter and heir of John,
Lord Strange of Knockin, and was in her right summoned to Parliament from 1482 onwards as Lord
Strange. He fought at Stoke and took part in several
military excursions, including the invasion of Scotland in the autumn of 1497; (fn. 42) soon after his return
from this he died at Derby House, London, where is
now the College of Arms, on 5 December. (fn. 43) His
eldest son Thomas succeeded his grandfather in
1504; (fn. 44) a younger son James, settled at Cross Hall
in Lathom, is the ancestor through whom the title
has descended to the present earl of Derby.
Thomas, the second earl, married (fn. 45) Anne Hastings
daughter of Edward Lord Hastings. He took part
in various public affairs of the time, as in the French
expedition of Henry VIII in 1513; and was one of
the judges of the duke of Buckingham in 1521.
This was just before his own death on 24 May of
that year. He died at Colham in Middlesex, and
was buried at Sion Abbey. (fn. 46) There were several
inquisitions taken after his death. (fn. 47)
As Edward Stanley his son and heir was only eleven
or twelve years old at his father's death, (fn. 48) his wardship
fell to the king, who placed him in the household of
Cardinal Wolsey. (fn. 49) Of most of the Lancashire estates a
full account has been preserved for the first year of the
minority. (fn. 50) From these it appears that from Lancashire the earl had a gross income of about £700,
which various allowances, fees, and charges reduced to
about £550. Apart from this there was the produce
of the lands devoted to the maintenance of the household. (fn. 51)
The young earl, brought up by Wolsey, and after
the latter's fall married to Dorothy Howard, daughter
of the duke of Norfolk, (fn. 52) appears to have gone with the
court. He was among the peers who asked the pope
to grant the king a divorce (1530) and he assisted as
cupbearer in the coronation of Anne Boleyn, being
then made knight of the Bath (1533). He was also
zealous in resisting the Northern risings under Aske
(1536–7), (fn. 53) and took a share of the plunder of the
monasteries, including Eynsham and Shefford in
Oxfordshire. (fn. 54) He assisted at the coronation of
Edward VI. In 1552 he was made lord-lieutenant
of Lancashire.
He did not sign the letters patent of 16 June, 1553,
whereby the succession of Mary was put aside in favour
of Lady Jane Grey, though his eldest son Lord Strange
signed; and on Edward's death three weeks later, he
assisted in securing the crown for Mary, who showed
her gratitude by several favours. In the religious controversies of the time it is obvious that he was hostile
to Protestantism. (fn. 55) On the accession of Elizabeth
when Edward's church discipline was re-enacted, the
earl of Derby was continued upon the Privy Council,
made chamberlain of Chester in 1559 and lord-lieutenant of Lancashire and Cheshire in 1569, (fn. 56) but his
known opposition to the change of religion cost him
the queen's favour. (fn. 57) In 1562 he with the bishop of
Chester and others was appointed on a commission to
enforce the royal supremacy and the use of the Common
Prayer Book in Lancashire and Cheshire, but nothing
much appears to have been done. Five years later,
the earl and bishop were again urged to exert themselves to secure some degree of conformity to the new
order, and the earl, 'upon small motion made to him,
caused all such persons as have been required to be
apprehended,' and showed himself 'very faithful and
careful.' (fn. 58)
He was celebrated for the great retinue he maintained, and the splendour of his living. (fn. 59) He took
care to entail Lathom, Knowsley, and others of the
ancient possessions of the house upon the heirs male. (fn. 60)
He died on 24 October, 1572, at Lathom, and was
buried with great pomp six weeks later at Ormskirk. (fn. 61)
The earl was thrice married; his successor was
the eldest son Henry, by his first wife, born in
1531. The new earl appears to have spent a large
part of his life at court, and had from time to time
various public appointments. (fn. 62)
The view of the county written in 1590 states
that 'Henry earl of Derby hath in that hundred
(West Derby) three of his chief houses, Lathom
and New Park in Ormskirk parish, Knowsley in
Huyton parish. He hath preaching in his house
sabbathly by the best preachers in the county,
and he giveth honourable countenance to all the professors of religion, and is very forward in the
public actions to religion,' and his son 'Ferdinando,
Lord Strange, giveth good countenance to religion,
when he is with us.' (fn. 63) The household record bears
this out. He added Burscough to the family inheritance by a grant from Queen Elizabeth. His wife
was Margaret Clifford, granddaughter of Mary, the
younger sister of Henry VIII. He had by her
Ferdinando and William, successively earls of Derby,
and three other children who died young. (fn. 64) He died
on 25 September, 1593, and was buried at Ormskirk. (fn. 65)
His son Ferdinando, who had already (1589) been
summoned to Parliament as Lord Strange, succeeded
his father in his titles and property, and in the
lord-lieutenancy of Lancashire and Cheshire. He
had been mayor of Liverpool in 1588. He was a
friend and patron of literature, being praised by
Spenser among others. (fn. 66) He married Alice, daughter
of Sir John Spencer of Althorpe, (fn. 67) and by her had
three daughters. Through his mother he was one of
the nearest heirs to the crown, for, excluding the
king of Scots as a foreigner, in accordance with the
Act of Henry VIII, he came next after Lord Beauchamp, son of Lady Katherine Grey, whom many
considered illegitimate. (fn. 68) The English exiles for religion, now that Elizabeth was growing old, were
endeavouring to secure the succession of a sovereign
who, if not in communion with Rome, would mitigate the persecuting laws and allow liberty for the
ancient worship. It was believed that Ferdinando
was so inclined, (fn. 69) and Sir William Stanley, of the
Hooton family, (fn. 70) and the Jesuit Father Holt, sent
Richard Hesketh to sound him on the matter. (fn. 71)
Lord Derby, however, handed Hesketh over to the
authorities and he was executed in November, 1593.
Four months afterwards the earl was taken ill, and
after a fortnight's suffering died on 16 April, 1594. (fn. 72)
He was buried at Ormskirk. (fn. 73)
His brother William, then thirty-two years of age,
succeeded to the earldom and estates. He was called
'the wandering earl,' and was the hero of several ballads,
having travelled much and lived an adventurous life. (fn. 74)
He married in June, 1594, Elizabeth, sister and
coheir of Henry de Vere, earl of Oxford; was
made chamberlain of Chester 1603 and lord-lieutenant of Lancashire and Cheshire 1607; these
offices were shared by his son, Lord Strange, from
1626. (fn. 75) For some reason unknown he retired from
public life about this time, living as a private gentleman
chiefly at Bidston and at a house he built by the side
of the Dee, near Chester, Lord Strange taking up the
public duties and the management of the estates.
He died 29 September, 1642, and 20 years later was
buried at Ormskirk. (fn. 76)
His son Lord Strange, the 'Martyr Earl,' and
the most famous of the line, now succeeded to the
earldom. He had served in numerous public
offices; was member for the borough of Liverpool
in 1625 (fn. 77) ; mayor of that town 1626. He married in
June, 1626, Charlotte de la Tremouille, daughter
of the duke of Thouars, one of the Protestant
nobility of France, and a granddaughter of William
of Nassau, prince of Orange. (fn. 78) After a short experience of the court he preferred to live in Lancashire,
spending his time chiefly at Lathom and Knowsley. (fn. 79)
The Civil War had begun before his father's
death, and he had taken his side decisively for the
king. After some endeavours to secure peace in
Lancashire, he attempted to seize Manchester, and
was proclaimed a traitor by the Parliament. In
1643 he took part in the unsuccessful assaults on
Bolton and Lancaster, and recovered Preston; he
fortified Lathom House, which his countess in
1644 bravely defended against the Parliamentary
forces. Lord Derby had in the meantime been
settling grievances in the Isle of Man; in 1644
he joined Prince Rupert, who was hastening to
the relief of Lathom, took part in the storming
of Bolton, and later in the year fought at Marston
Moor. His countess having retired to the Isle
of Man, after this defeat he joined her there,
taking no further part in the war, but retaining
the island for the king. (fn. 80) Parliament retaliated by
excepting him from pardon, by the renewed siege
and destruction of Lathom House, and by the confiscation of his great estates. (fn. 81)
In 1651 he repulsed an attack on the island by
Parliamentary forces, and having learnt that Charles II,
who had been crowned in Scotland, was about to
invade England, Lord Derby determined to join him,
and left the Isle of Man in August with 300 men.
He endeavoured to raise as many men as possible in
Lancashire, but after the defeat in Wigan Lane, where
he was wounded, he fled southwards to join Charles
at Worcester, and fought gallantly there on 3 September. The royalist cause now appearing hopeless,
the earl turned north again, no doubt wishing to
reach the Isle of Man, but on the way he and his
party surrendered to Captain Edge as prisoners of
war. He was taken to Chester and tried on the
charge of treason; his death had already been
determined upon, and he was sentenced to die at
Bolton on or before 16 October. (fn. 82) The place was
chosen as it was supposed the inhabitants cherished
a hostile feeling against the earl on account of the
slaughter there seven years before. The sentence
was duly carried out, (fn. 83) but it was found that the
people were sympathetic instead of hostile. The
executioner, named Whewell, was a farmer of the
district. (fn. 84) The earl was buried at Ormskirk. Shortly
after this the Isle of Man was captured by the
Parliament.
On the Parliament taking possession of his estates
they had first to satisfy the demands of various
claimants under wills and settlements. Lady Vere
Carr claimed £1,000 under the will of her grandmother the countess of the sixth earl. (fn. 85) The countess
of Lincoln, formerly wife of Sir Edward Stanley,
brother of the seventh earl, claimed rent-charges
from various lands in Lathom, Burscough, and Childwall, and Upton Hall in Cheshire, for the benefit
of herself and her sons Charles and James Stanley,
under deeds of 1637, and a large amount for
arrears. (fn. 86) The almsmen of Lathom also put in a
claim. (fn. 87)
After the earl's execution his countess desired to
compound, (fn. 88) and in 1653 was allowed to do so after
the rate of five years' purchase for the estates in fee
simple, four years' purchase for estates in tail, three
years for estates of one life, &c., the values of the
year 1640 to be taken as the standard; and personal
estate after the rate of one-third. (fn. 89)
In 1647 (fn. 90) the six surviving children of the earl
had been permitted to live at Knowsley. A little
after this the eldest son, Lord Strange, went
abroad, and in 1650 married in Holland Dorothea
Helena de Rupa, (fn. 91) a maid of honour to Elizabeth,
queen of Bohemia. He returned to England early
in 1651, and found that two of his sisters (Katherine
and Amelia) were in prison in Liverpool, (fn. 92) having no
allowance from their father's estate and depending
entirely on charity; the other children were in the
Isle of Man. He therefore 'cast himself on the
wisdom and the mercy of Parliament,' being 'desirous
as well to obedience and his good affection and loyalty
to the Commonwealth, as to preserve some small
ruins of his unhappy family.' Himself, his wife and
child, and the family were quite destitute of means.
After taking the engagement he was granted 'twofifths of the four parts yet undisposed of,' and allowed
to live at Knowsley. (fn. 93)
He appears to have been unacquainted with his
father's movements in August, 1651, but on hearing
of his capture and imprisonment at once visited
him, made strenuous efforts for his pardon, and
attended him to his execution, and then at the
burial. He lived at Knowsley, the widowed countess
joining him in 1658. He engaged in the premature
rising of 1659 in favour of Charles II. After the
restoration he was, of course, restored to his father's
honours and to much of his estates; he bore a sword
before the king at the coronation, and was made lord
lieutenant of Lancashire and Cheshire, and (in 1662)
chamberlain of Cheshire for life. He wrote and
published two controversial tracts in favour of Protestantism (1668–9), (fn. 94) and died at Knowsley 21 December, 1672, being buried at Ormskirk nearly six
weeks later. (fn. 95)
His son and successor was William George
Richard, ninth earl, who left two surviving daughters,
Henrietta and Elizabeth. He was lord lieutenant of
Lancashire and Cheshire from 1676 to 1687, when
he was arbitrarily displaced by James II, to be restored
in the following year, when the king discovered how
much this action was resented. He retained the
office till his death. He preferred a county retirement to court offices, and set himself to the work of
rebuilding Lathom, which, however, he did not
finish. (fn. 96) His daughter Henrietta became sole heir by
the death of her sister Elizabeth in 1714. She was
twice married—to John Annesley, earl of Anglesey,
in 1706, and to John, earl of Ashburnham, in 1714,
having a daughter by each husband. (fn. 97) She died on
26 June, 1718, and her second and surviving
daughter, Henrietta Bridget Ashburnham, died unmarried 8 August, 1732.
James, tenth earl, succeeded to the title and the
bulk of the estates on the death of his brother in
1702. He was a member of Parliament for
Lancashire boroughs and for the county from 1685
to 1702; (fn. 98) served in the campaigns of Flanders
under William III, with whom he was in high
favour; had court offices, was a Privy Councillor,
lord lieutenant of the county 1702–10 and 1714
to 1736, and chancellor of the duchy 1706 to 1710.
He was mayor of Liverpool in 1734. He rebuilt
Knowsley Hall, putting up an inscription as to the
ingratitude of Charles II, 'who refused a bill unanimously passed by both Houses of Parliament for the
restoring to the family the estates which he had lost
by his loyalty to him.' (fn. 99) He died on 1 February,
1735–6, at Knowsley without surviving issue. (fn. 100)
The title of earl of Derby, with Knowsley,
Halewood, Bury, and other manors, went to the
heir male of the second earl, who had died so
far back as 1521, through the Sir James Stanley of
Cross Hall of whom mention has been made above. (fn. 101)
He had a numerous family, including Henry Stanley
of Aughton, who married Margaret, daughter and
heiress of Peter Stanley of Bickerstaffe, and was succeeded in 1598 by his son Edward, created a baronet
by Charles I in 1627. His eldest son Sir Thomas,
second baronet, strove for the Parliament in the Civil
War as strenuously as his great relative the earl of
Derby did for the king; he died in 1653, leaving a
son, Sir Edward Stanley, who was succeeded in 1671
by his son, Sir Thomas Stanley (died 1714), the
father of Sir Edward Stanley, fifth baronet, who
became eleventh earl of Derby in 1736. He was
sheriff of Lancashire in 1722, and knight of the shire
from 1727 till his succession to the earldom; lord
lieutenant 1742 to 1757 and 1771 till his death on
22 February, 1776. His widow died two days after
him, and they were buried together at Ormskirk.
Their son James married Lucy, daughter of Hugh
Smith of Weald Hall in Essex, and assumed in accordance with Mr. Smith's will the additional surname
of Smith. He was knight of the shire (1738) till his
death, also lord lieutenant from 1757, and chancellor
of the duchy from 1762.
He died in June 1771, (fn. 102) and his son Edward, at
twenty-three years of age, succeeded his grandfather as
twelfth earl. He also was knight of the shire 1774
to 1776, and lord lieutenant from 1776 till his death.
He married in 1774 Elizabeth, daughter of James,
sixth duke of Hamilton, (fn. 103) who afterwards separated
from him, and died in March, 1797. In the
following May Lord Derby married Eliza Farren, an
actress of some fame, commemorated by an inscription
in Huyton church. 'A passion for horse-racing and
cock-fighting was the absorbing one of his life,' and
'Derby Day' preserves his memory.
His son and heir Edward, born in 1775, had been
member for Preston 1796 to 1812, and for the
county 1812 to 1832, when he was summoned to
the House of Lords as Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe;
two years later, on succeeding to the earldom, he also
succeeded to the office of lord lieutenant of Lancashire. He took a great interest in natural history,
and formed a large menagerie at Knowsley, (fn. 104) and also
a museum, which he bequeathed to Liverpool, where
it is still preserved. He died 30 June, 1851. (fn. 105)
His eldest son, Edward Geoffrey, the most brilliant
and distinguished of the modern earls, after a successful
career in the House of Commons, was called to the
House of Lords on his father's barony in 1844, and
succeeded to the earldom in 1851. He served in
many ministries, being thrice prime minister himself
(1852, 1858, 1866), and becoming leader of the
Conservative party. He was celebrated as an orator,
being known as 'the Rupert of debate,' and maintained his reputation for scholarship by a translation
of the I liad. He died at Knowsley on 23 October,
1869, and was buried there. (fn. 106)
He was succeeded by his eldest son Edward Henry,
born at Knowsley in 1826, and distinguished for a
long and useful public career, having filled numerous
ministerial positions. He died in 1893, (fn. 107) and was
succeeded by his brother Frederick Arthur, the present
(sixteenth) earl of Derby, who after being a member of
the House of Commons for many years, and holding
office several times, was in 1886 summoned to the
upper chamber as Baron Stanley of Preston; he was
governor-general of Canada from 1888 to 1893. At
home, after the extension of the boundaries of the
city in 1895, he was lord mayor of Liverpool. (See
Pedigree next page.)
Leland in Henry VIII's time notices the place
thus: 'Knollesley, a park having a pretty house of
the earls of Derby, within a mile of Prescot.' (fn. 108)
Camden passes it over.
Until the Civil War Lathom was the principal
residence of the family, but after its destruction
Knowsley took its place. Here, as already stated, the
children, and then the widow, of the seventh earl
took up their residence with the permission of those
in power, and the dowager countess died there on
21 March, 1663–4. (fn. 109)
The house is L-shaped, with an east wing some
415 ft. long, joined towards its south end by a south
wing about 290 ft. long, the latter being the older
portion, and said by Pennant to have been built 'by
Thomas, first earl of Derby, for the reception of his
son-in-law Henry VII.' (fn. 110) Parts of the walls may be
as old as this time, but there are now no architectural
features which can be older than the latter part of the
seventeenth century, with the doubtful exception of
the three pointed arches in the kitchen. The entrance
to the south wing is on the north side, somewhat to
the east of the middle, and is flanked by circular
stair-turrets. It opens to a passage running along the
whole of the north side of the wing, as far west as
the entrance to the kitchen, and opening into a line
of rooms on the south. These have a cloister in
front of them, and have been completely refaced on
the south, a large block of building projecting southward from the middle of the south front having been
added at the same time. The kitchen measures about
50 ft. by 35 ft., and is divided lengthwise by an arcade
of three pointed arches with octagonal pillars, which
have preserved no ancient detail, if indeed any part of
them is of ancient date. It is to be noted that the
walls here and for some distance eastward are thick,
and may be older than any architectural features
which they have to show. (fn. 111) The fittings seem to be
nowhere older than the early part of the eighteenth
century, to which date belongs the staircase opposite
the north entrance mentioned above. At the west
end of the wing, on the south side, is a modern block
built round a small court, containing the estate office,
muniment rooms, &c.
The east wing is of several dates, and for the
middle of its length has a thick central wall which
may be its oldest part. The south end of the long
range of buildings seems to have been begun about
1730, and is the work of James, the tenth earl of
Derby, who died in 1736. Dates on the rain-water
heads range between 1731 and 1737. The range has
a central portion of three stories, about 70 ft. long,
flanked by shorter wings which were originally of two
stories, but have since been raised to the same height
as the central block. (fn. 112) It is of red brick with stone
dressings, with the characteristic moulded architraves
and sash windows of the time, and is finished with a
rather dull panelled parapet. On its south front is a
two-story portico carried by pairs of columns, and on
this part of the building is the inscription which
records the ingratitude of the Stuarts to the great
house of Stanley, which had lost so much in their
cause.
LATHOM AND STANLEY OF KNOWSLEY
In the middle of the east wing rises a large modern
tower with a high roof, and an oriel on the east face,
overlooking the site of a building which formerly
projected from the front at this point, and contained
the chapel. From extant drawings this seems to
have been a poor eighteenth-century building whose
loss is not to be deplored on aesthetic grounds. To
the north of the tower is a two-story range, of early
eighteenth-century date, or perhaps a little earlier,
with tall sash windows of good proportion, and this
and the southern part of the east front are by far the
most pleasing pieces of architecture in the building.
At the north end of the range are modern buildings,
and the whole west face has been modernized, the
old sashes being replaced by plate glass with much
detriment to the general effect. The main entrance
to the house is now in the middle of the west front
of this range, and is covered by a large modern
carriage porch. The fall of the ground is from east
to west, and a terrace has been formed by levelling
the wide lawn which lies before the entrance.
Thomas Pennant visited the hall in 1773. 'About
a mile and a half from Prescot,' he writes, 'lies
Knowsley, the residence of the earls of Derby, seated
in a park, high, and much exposed to the fury of the
west winds; for distant as this place is from the sea
the effect is visible in the shorn form of the trees.'
Then, after describing the house, he enumerates the
pictures, collected chiefly by James, the tenth earl,
this being his preface: 'I surveyed with great
pleasure the numerous portraits of this illustrious
family, an ancient race, long uncontaminated by vice
or folly. The late venerable peer, Edward, earl of
Derby, supported the dignity of his family; aged as
he was, there was not a person in his neighbourhood
but wished that his years could be doubled.' (fn. 113)
The court rolls are preserved at Knowsley.
Apart from the Lathom and Stanley families there
is little record of the township. The Stockley
family, already mentioned several times, occurs as early
as 1302, when Richard son of Adam de Stockesley
brought some small action against Robert de Lathom. (fn. 114)
Edmund de Prescot occurs as a landowner here in
Richard II's reign. (fn. 115)
In 1717 Sampson Erdeswick, of Healy in Audley,
and Thomas Howard, registered estates here as
'papists.' (fn. 116)
From the mention of the 'place of St. Leonard' at
Knowsley in the charter of Burscough, it may be inferred that there was already a chapel of some kind
here. (fn. 117)
In later times the English Presbyterians had a chapel
in the village, the doctrine in the ordinary course of
development becoming Unitarian; (fn. 118) but at the expiry
of a lease in 1830, it was consecrated as a chapel of
ease to Huyton, (fn. 119) Knowsley becoming an independent
ecclesiastical district in 1844, and a vicarage in 1869.
The incumbents are presented by the earl of Derby.
A new church, St. Mary's, was built in 1843–4 at
the expense of the thirteenth earl. In 1871 a memorial chapel was added at the expense of the personal
friends and admirers of the fourteenth earl; a monument to him was placed therein, the recumbent figure
being by Matthew Noble; stained-glass windows were
added. (fn. 120)