Before, during and after the First World War, the 17th Earl (1865-1948) was heavily involved in the political and military affairs of the North West of England and of the country as a whole. Among his most significant public roles, he was Lord Mayor of Liverpool (1911-12), Director General of Recruiting (1914-15), Secretary of State for War (1916-18 and 1920-22), and British Ambassador to France (1918-20), during which time he was closely involved with the negotiations towards the Treaty of Versailles.
As the outbreak of war loomed in the summer of 1914, Lord Derby became well known for his recruitment campaign of volunteer soldiers, beginning in Liverpool but spreading across the North West. This was in response to Lord Kitchener’s call to arms, and these volunteers became known as the ‘Derby Pals’. The idea behind the scheme was to enlist volunteers from clubs, offices and companies, who would then go and serve their country together. On 28th August 1914, in his famous address in Liverpool to those wishing to sign up, the 17th Earl informed them: ‘This should be a battalion of pals, a battalion in which friends from the same office will fight shoulder to shoulder for the honour of Britain and the credit of Liverpool’. The response to this was remarkable. Lord Derby recruited enough men to create the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th battalions in addition to two reserve battalions. Appropriately they were known as the Liverpool Pals Battalions. Serving in the King’s Liverpool Regiment, the Pals would have been expected to wear the King’s badge but as a mark of recognition of Lord Derby’s role in their formation, King George V allowed the Pals to wear a badge bearing the Stanley family crest, the eagle and child.
Lord Derby’s patriotic role in the war effort also extended to offering Knowsley Hall and park for various uses during the war. A camp of huts was set up to accommodate the troops, who also undertook intensive training in the park. This training included the practising of digging out trenches and staging mock battles, as the rolling wooded landscape was considered to be similar to that found in Flanders. In light of a general shortage of fresh food, the 17th Earl also offered some of his park land for crops to be grown for the war effort. The Hall itself was turned into a military hospital with 120 beds. Lady Derby, not neglecting the plight of women during wartime, also made a wing of the Hall available as a convalescent home for female munitions workers.
The 17th Earl’s sons – Edward, Lord Stanley and the Hon. Oliver Stanley – like their father, had military and political careers. The medals with which they were presented for bravery during the war – including the Military Cross awarded to each of them – were recently rediscovered in a school in Cumbria and a legal office in the City of London respectively. Both sets of medals were happily returned to Lord Derby and are currently displayed in two of the bedrooms at the Hall.
