Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Derby Dilly
The Derby Dilly was a name given to a group of dissident Whigs who split from the main party under the leadership of Edward, Lord Stanley on the issue of the reorganisation of the Church of Ireland in 1834. Stanley and three others resigned from the cabinet of Lord Grey on this particular issue but other factors included their fear that the Whigs were appeasing their radical and Irish allies with further reforms.
The group's name 'Derby Dilly' is a reference to Stanley being the heir of the Earl of Derby. They were also called the 'Stanleyites'.
In 1830 Lord Grey had formed a government that had achieved political success by passing the Reform Act 1832 and abolishing slavery in the British Empire. However, it was an unstable coalition composed of Whigs, Canningites, Radicals, Irish Repealers and Tory mavericks. It had achieved a crushing electoral victory in 1832 against a demoralised Tory party but then quickly fell factional fighting. Lord John Russell wanted to extend the cause of reform to other areas of governance but others like Lord Stanley feared the growth of radicalism and in particular the influence of the Irish Repealers led by Daniel O'Connell. In May 1834, the pressure became too great and Stanley, with Earl of Ripon, Sir James Graham and The Duke of Richmond resigned from the cabinet on the issue of proposed changes to the structure and finances of the Church of Ireland.
Preferring to call themselves 'Moderate Whigs' or just 'Moderates', Stanley and his immediate cohorts including Graham and Francis Burdett, at first, remained on the government benches in the House of Commons. They were at first known unofficially as the 'Stanleyites', as they seemed more of an old-style parliamentary faction that was familiar in British politics from the 18th and early 19th centuries. However, the group soon received a new name from its political opponents to which they are now best remembered: 'The Derby Dilly'.
It was an allusion to a type of stagecoach called the 'Derby Dilly' (short for 'Diligence') and referred to Stanley's hereditary family title 'Earl of Derby'. Remembering Stanley's remark that when he had left the cabinet that it had led to an 'upsetting of the ministerial coach', the Irish nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell labelled the group the 'Derby Dilly', with a clever reference to the lines of a poem by George Canning and others, 'The Loves of the Triangles'. It had been a work of parody, actually attacking the works of Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles Darwin) and had the lines 'Still down thy steep, romantic Ashbourne, glides The Derby dilly carrying six insides'.
The idea of an erratic coach, with Stanley driving the horses, was quickly picked up by others, and the name stuck to the group. He already had a reputation as the 'Prince Rupert of Debate', a man who could lead his followers into an attack but was unable to rally them afterward. As a result, it was difficult to estimate the number of MPs who were actually part of the 'Dilly'. It is possible that they then numbered up to 70, but they lacked a core set of political beliefs or attitudes. Many of them still remained uncertain whether to go back to the Whigs, join the Tories or attempt to create a third political force. Some political observers wondered if the 'Dilly' (or at least those identified solidly with Stanley) really numbered only half a dozen MPs at most.
Despite his growing estrangement from the Whigs, Stanley remained on good terms with his former party leader, Earl Grey. In November 1834, following the resignation of The Viscount Melbourne, Sir Robert Peel invited Stanley (now Lord Stanley) and others in the 'Dilly' to join his minority Tory government. Stanley declined but made it obvious that he was finding himself in general agreement with Peel's attempt to form an administration.
In December 1834, Stanley decided that he needed to at least define a set of ideas to distinguish his group from the other parties and factions in the House of Commons. In a speech at Glasgow University that was subsequently dubbed 'The Knowsley Creed', after the Stanley family's ancestral home Knowsley Hall, near Liverpool, Stanley gave the student audience an outline of his political beliefs.
Hub AI
Derby Dilly AI simulator
(@Derby Dilly_simulator)
Derby Dilly
The Derby Dilly was a name given to a group of dissident Whigs who split from the main party under the leadership of Edward, Lord Stanley on the issue of the reorganisation of the Church of Ireland in 1834. Stanley and three others resigned from the cabinet of Lord Grey on this particular issue but other factors included their fear that the Whigs were appeasing their radical and Irish allies with further reforms.
The group's name 'Derby Dilly' is a reference to Stanley being the heir of the Earl of Derby. They were also called the 'Stanleyites'.
In 1830 Lord Grey had formed a government that had achieved political success by passing the Reform Act 1832 and abolishing slavery in the British Empire. However, it was an unstable coalition composed of Whigs, Canningites, Radicals, Irish Repealers and Tory mavericks. It had achieved a crushing electoral victory in 1832 against a demoralised Tory party but then quickly fell factional fighting. Lord John Russell wanted to extend the cause of reform to other areas of governance but others like Lord Stanley feared the growth of radicalism and in particular the influence of the Irish Repealers led by Daniel O'Connell. In May 1834, the pressure became too great and Stanley, with Earl of Ripon, Sir James Graham and The Duke of Richmond resigned from the cabinet on the issue of proposed changes to the structure and finances of the Church of Ireland.
Preferring to call themselves 'Moderate Whigs' or just 'Moderates', Stanley and his immediate cohorts including Graham and Francis Burdett, at first, remained on the government benches in the House of Commons. They were at first known unofficially as the 'Stanleyites', as they seemed more of an old-style parliamentary faction that was familiar in British politics from the 18th and early 19th centuries. However, the group soon received a new name from its political opponents to which they are now best remembered: 'The Derby Dilly'.
It was an allusion to a type of stagecoach called the 'Derby Dilly' (short for 'Diligence') and referred to Stanley's hereditary family title 'Earl of Derby'. Remembering Stanley's remark that when he had left the cabinet that it had led to an 'upsetting of the ministerial coach', the Irish nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell labelled the group the 'Derby Dilly', with a clever reference to the lines of a poem by George Canning and others, 'The Loves of the Triangles'. It had been a work of parody, actually attacking the works of Erasmus Darwin (grandfather of Charles Darwin) and had the lines 'Still down thy steep, romantic Ashbourne, glides The Derby dilly carrying six insides'.
The idea of an erratic coach, with Stanley driving the horses, was quickly picked up by others, and the name stuck to the group. He already had a reputation as the 'Prince Rupert of Debate', a man who could lead his followers into an attack but was unable to rally them afterward. As a result, it was difficult to estimate the number of MPs who were actually part of the 'Dilly'. It is possible that they then numbered up to 70, but they lacked a core set of political beliefs or attitudes. Many of them still remained uncertain whether to go back to the Whigs, join the Tories or attempt to create a third political force. Some political observers wondered if the 'Dilly' (or at least those identified solidly with Stanley) really numbered only half a dozen MPs at most.
Despite his growing estrangement from the Whigs, Stanley remained on good terms with his former party leader, Earl Grey. In November 1834, following the resignation of The Viscount Melbourne, Sir Robert Peel invited Stanley (now Lord Stanley) and others in the 'Dilly' to join his minority Tory government. Stanley declined but made it obvious that he was finding himself in general agreement with Peel's attempt to form an administration.
In December 1834, Stanley decided that he needed to at least define a set of ideas to distinguish his group from the other parties and factions in the House of Commons. In a speech at Glasgow University that was subsequently dubbed 'The Knowsley Creed', after the Stanley family's ancestral home Knowsley Hall, near Liverpool, Stanley gave the student audience an outline of his political beliefs.