This date in 1799 saw the birth of Edward Stanley Earl Derby, English statesman and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 10 facts about him:
He is the longest-serving leader of the Conservative Party to date, serving from 1846 to 1868.
He is one of only four British prime ministers to have three or more separate periods in office. However, his ministries were short, less than two years and only totalled three years and 280 days. He is the only modern-era prime minister who never enjoyed a parliamentary majority.
He was born at Knowsley Park, Lancashire, the eldest son of Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby, and his wife (and first cousin) Charlotte Margaret Hornby.
He was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford. He left university without a degree, which was common at the time. It didn’t mean he lacked intellectual talent, though. He won the Chancellor's Prize for Latin poetry in 1819 with a poem on Syracuse.
The Stanley family rose to prominence in the 15th century and entered the peerage during the reign of Henry VII after Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, fought at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The family was a big noise in Horse racing: Earl Derby’s grandfather, the 12th earl, was the one after whom the Derby horse race was named, and earlier, the 7th earl, had instituted horse-racing on the Langness Peninsula on the Isle of Man.
He was first elected to Parliament in 1822, in the rotten borough of Stockbridge as a Whig, the traditional party of his family. Years later, Stanley would criticise rotten boroughs, arguing that no matter how talented their representatives, they lacked true legitimacy in the eyes of the people.
Stanley married The Hon. Emma Bootle-Wilbraham, the second daughter of Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Baron Skelmersdale, on 31 May 1825.
He resigned from the Whig Party over a difference of opinion with Lord Melbourne over reformation of the church in Ireland, and joined the Tory party.
His first stint as prime minister came in 1852 following the collapse of Lord John Russell's Whig Government. A lot of experienced politicians had left the party at the time, and so Stanley found himself having to appoint a lot of new people to the various posts. Only three of his cabinet had ever served in that capacity before. When their names were announced in the House of Lords, the Duke of Wellington, who was very old and rather deaf by this time, would shout out "Who? Who?" which led to Stanley’s first government being known as the "Who? Who?" ministry.
So what was his premiership known for? The India Bill in 1858, which transferred control of the East India Company to the Crown; the Jews Relief Act 1858: ending the disablement for Jews to sit in Parliament; Derby also introduced the state education system in Ireland, and reformed Parliament.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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