Baron Eddisbury

Baron Eddisbury, of Winnington in the County Palatine of Chester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.^[1] It was created on 12 May 1848 for the Whig politician and diplomat Edward Stanley (1802–1869), son of the politician Sir John Stanley, 7th Baronet.

Edward Stanley started his career in 1831 as Whig member of the House of Commons before holding various cabinet posts under Prime Ministers Lord Melbourne, Lord Russell and Lord Palmerston. He became a member of the Privy Council in 1841, was created Baron Eddisbury in 1848 and served as Postmaster-General from 1860 to 1866.

In 1839, Lord Eddisbury's father Sir John Stanley, 7th Baronet, had been raised to the peerage as Baron Stanley of Alderley. Upon his death in 1850, his barony and the Stanley Baronetcy passed to Lord Eddisbury, who thereby became 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley and 8th Baronet of Alderley Hall. These titles have remained united since; most holders have chosen to be known as Lord Stanley of Alderley. In 1909, Edward Stanley, the 4th Baron Stanley of Alderley and 3rd Baron Eddisbury, acquired a further title for the Stanley family when he succeeded his first cousin once removed, the 3rd Earl of Sheffield, according to a special remainder and thus inherited the title of 4th Baron Sheffield.