Knowsley Hall is the principal seat of the Stanley family, the Earls of Derby since 1485, where they have been residents since 1385. The earliest part of this large stately home is the Royal Lodgings built for the 1st Earl and his second wife Lady Margaret Beaufort in 1495 to welcome her son Henry VII. The Stanleys were the dominant aristocratic family in the North West from c.1400 until the Second World War with extensive political and horse-racing interests, The Hall is at the centre of an large private and safari park near Prescot, nine miles east of Liverpool.
The Derby Collection is comprised of the works of art, the celebrated natural history library and watercolours formed by the 13th Earl, together with the family and estate archives. Much of the historic landed estate papers are on deposit at the Lancashire Archives in Preston. The greater part of the 19thc political papers of the 14th and 15th Earls was recently accepted by the nation in lieu of inheriance tax and they are preserved in the Archives of the Liverpool Central Library. Still at Knowsley Hall are 20thc family and racing papers. These can be consulted by appointment with the Curator of the Derby Collection, Dr Stephen Lloyd.
Dr Stephen Lloyd FSA,
Curator of the Derby Collection,
Knowsley Hall,
Prescot,
Merseyside,
L34 4AG
(0151) 481 3314
s.lloyd@knowsley.com
The State Dining Room, Knowsley Hall
The State Dining Room, Knowsley Hall
An unknown English manuscript illuminator, 'An Oak Tree with the Order of the Garter, heraldic crest, motto and ancestral coats of arms of Henry, 4th Earl of Derby', watercolour with gilding on paper, from Samuell Stanley, 'A brefe historie of the originall antiquitie, conquest, continuance, Dissentes and events, of the Ile of Manne, from the firste inhabiting thereof, until ye same came to ye hands of ye Englishe Nation', c.1574-94, quarto MS volume in a late 18thc binding, The Derby Collection, Knowsley Hall
An unknown English manuscript illuminator, 'An Oak Tree with the Order of the Garter, heraldic crest, motto and ancestral coats of arms of Henry, 4th Earl of Derby', watercolour with gilding on paper, from Samuell Stanley, 'A brefe historie of the originall antiquitie, conquest, continuance, Dissentes and events, of the Ile of Manne, from the firste inhabiting thereof, until ye same came to ye hands of ye Englishe Nation', c.1574-94, quarto MS volume in a late 18thc binding, The Derby Collection, Knowsley Hall
The Library, Knowsley Hall
The Library, Knowsley Hall
![A signed and sealed MS letter by Henry, 4th Earl of Derby, appointing the lawyer Arthur Gregory of Stichill [near Coventry] as Steward of his Manor of Meriden and Alspath [near Solihull], Warwickshire, 28th June 1581, The Derby Collection, Knowsley …](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60475c8353b7b439babe7e9e/1628501146276-0YOPS59EG0NVJ3G5N6QZ/image-asset.jpeg)
A signed and sealed MS letter by Henry, 4th Earl of Derby, appointing the lawyer Arthur Gregory of Stichill [near Coventry] as Steward of his Manor of Meriden and Alspath [near Solihull], Warwickshire, 28th June 1581, The Derby Collection, Knowsley Hall
A signed and sealed MS letter by Henry, 4th Earl of Derby, appointing the lawyer Arthur Gregory of Stichill [near Coventry] as Steward of his Manor of Meriden and Alspath [near Solihull], Warwickshire, 28th June 1581, The Derby Collection, Knowsley Hall
The Grand Staircase, Knowsley Hall
The Grand Staircase, Knowsley Hall
!['An unknown English notary, 'A Booke of all such presents as were sent unto The Mannor of Lathome for use of the righte honourable William [6th] Earle of Derby... the entertainments of oure sovereigne Lord King James 1st...', 1617, folio MS volume i…](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60475c8353b7b439babe7e9e/1628501317246-PIRHNPPMZ9SD4QE573F9/image-asset.jpeg)
'An unknown English notary, 'A Booke of all such presents as were sent unto The Mannor of Lathome for use of the righte honourable William [6th] Earle of Derby... the entertainments of oure sovereigne Lord King James 1st...', 1617, folio MS volume in original binding, The Derby Collection, Knowsley Hall
'An unknown English notary, 'A Booke of all such presents as were sent unto The Mannor of Lathome for use of the righte honourable William [6th] Earle of Derby... the entertainments of oure sovereigne Lord King James 1st...', 1617, folio MS volume in original binding, The Derby Collection, Knowsley Hall