Derby
Derby, the 14th Earl (1799-1869), full name Edward Smith Stanley, was a British statesman, born at Knowsley Hall, Lancashire. He entered Parliament in 1820 in the Whig interest, and was hailed as an accession to their ranks by the Whigs. He supported the cause of reform. In 1830, he became Chief Secretary for Ireland under Earl Grey's administration. He introduced a coercive measure against the Repeal agitation of O'Connell. His contribution in passing of the Reform Bill in 1832 was significant. In 1834, he seceded from the Whigs, and became Colonial Secretary in 1845 under a Conservative administration, but when Sir Robert Peel brought in a bill to repeal the Corn Laws, he retired from the Cabinet, and in 1848 became the head of the Protectionist party as Earl of Derby, to which title he succeeded in 1851. After that he became Prime Minister three times over, and it was with his sanction Disraeli carried his Reform Act of 1867, though he spoke of it as "a leap in the dark". He resigned his Premiership in 1868, and the last speech he made was against the Irish Disestablishment Bill. He was distinguished for his scholarship as well as his oratory, and gave proof of this by his scholarly translation of the "Iliad" of Homer.Nearby pages
Derby the 15th Earl, Derbyshire, Deregulation, Derek Walcott, Dergaon Vidhan Sabha Constituency