Edward Stanhope

• Wikipedia contributors. "Edward Stanhope." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

  ---

GEDCOM Note

Edward Stanhope MP (1840-1893)By a somewhat convoluted sequence of events, Edward Stanhope, born inLondon, became a respected benefactor to Horncastle and its people.The lordship of the Manor of Horncastle had been held by the variousBishops of Carlisle since 1229 and leased to the grandfather of SirJoseph Banks in 1714. This was inherited by Sir Joseph and upon hisdeath in 1820 the title passed onto his wife, thereafter the lease wasinherited by the Stanhope family.During the time that James Banks Stanhope held the lease he took theopportunity to purchase it when the see of Carlisle relinquishedownership of the title in 1856. The estates and Lordship of the Manorof Horncastle were inherited, from his cousin, by Edward Stanhope in1885.Edward Stanhope was educated at Harrow School and Christ Church,Oxford where he studied law. In 1874 he waselected as theconservative Member of Parliament for Mid Lincolnshire. Thisconstituency was abolished in 1885 and Stanhope became MP for the newconstituency of Horncastle. During his nineteen years in ParliamentStanhope held many important offices including Under Secretary ofState for India, President of the Board of Trade, the Secretary ofState for the Colonies and Secretary of State for War.In an act of generosity, Stanhope offered the Market Place, The Wong,the PigMarket and their respective revenue in tolls to the LocalBoard of Health for the benefit of the people of Horncastle. At apublic meeting in 1892 the people passed a resolution accepting thevaluable gift that had been in private hands for nearly sevencenturies. Around this timethe old buildings that stood on the MarketPlace were demolished leaving us with the clear area we see today.When Stanhope died of a heart attack in 1893 a memorial was erected inthe Market Place leaving us with a permanent reminder of hisgenerosity towards the town and itspeople.