William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby

William Stanley

Earl of Derby
William Stanley, the 6th Earl of Derby
Known forTravels, Shakespeare authorship candidate
Born1561
Died29 September 1642 (aged 80–81)
Chester, Kingdom of England
NationalityEnglish
LocalityLancashire, Cheshire
Noble familyStanley
Spouse(s)
(m. 1595; died 1627)
Issue
More...
FatherHenry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby
MotherLady Margaret Clifford
Quartered arms of Sir William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby, KG

William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby, KG (1561 – 29 September 1642) was an English nobleman and politician. Stanley inherited a prominent social position that was both dangerous and unstable, as his mother was heir to Queen Elizabeth I under the Third Succession Act, a position inherited in 1596 by his deceased brother's oldest daughter, Anne, two years after William had inherited the Earldom from his brother. After a period of European travel in his youth, a long legal battle eventually consolidated his social position. Nevertheless, he was careful to remain circumspect in national politics, devoting himself to administration and cultural projects, including playwriting.

His own literary works are lost or unidentified, but in the 1890s he was put forward as one of the contenders to be the true author of the works of William Shakespeare, according to some proponents of the Shakespeare authorship question.