Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Lord Stanley of Preston, Governor-General of Canada, Prize Medal, by Allan Wyon, obv. conjoined heads of Lord and Lady Stanley left; rev. Coat of arms of Lord Stanley, with the legend, ‘Presented by His Excellency The Governor General’, 51mm., bronze, unnamed, extremely fine £60-80

Ref: B.H.M. 3361.

Frederick Arthur Stanley was born on 15 January 1841, the second son of the 14th Earl of Derby. Educated at Eton, he entered the army in 1858, serving in the Royal Lancashire Regiment and Grenadier Guards, retiring from the service as a Captain in 1865. He was M.P. for Preston during 1865-68, for North Lancashire during 1868-85 and for Lancashire (Blackpool Division) during 1885-86. During this time he was Lord of the Admiralty, 1868, Financial Secretary for War, 1874-77, Financial Secretary for the Treasury, 1877-78, Secretary for War, 1878-80, Secretary for Colonies, 1885-86 and President of the Board of Trade, 1886-88. He was appointed Governor-General of Canada in 1888, a post he was to hold until 1893. He was Lord Mayor of Liverpool during 1895-96 and Mayor of Preston during 1901. Created Baron Stanley of Preston in 1886, he succeeded his brother as 16th Earl of Derby in 1893. The Earl died on 14 June 1908.