Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley

Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley, KG ( * ca 1405, † February 20, 1458 /59) was an English nobleman and politician.

Stanley was the son of Sir John Stanley and Isabell Harington, a daughter of Robert de Harington and Isabel Loring. He was from 1431 to 1436, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and represented 1447-1451 and 1453 and 1454 the district of Lancashire in the House of Commons. In 1456 he was Lord Stanley as a member of the House of Lords. In the following year he was inducted into the Order of the Garter.

Lord Stanley married Joan Goushill, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Robert and Elizabeth Goushill FitzAlan, daughter of Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel. They had six children, including three sons, Thomas, William and John, and three daughters. After his death he was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas, as Baron Stanley, this was later raised to 1485 Earl of Derby. His descendants line died out in 1736. His second son William was in 1495 King Henry VII executed as a traitor. His third son, Sir John Stanley, was the progenitor of the Barons Stanley of Alderley.