A close friend of the prince of Wales and heir to the earldom of Chesterfield, with its extensive estates in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, Stanhope could boast an impressive political pedigree. The first and second earls of Chesterfield had both been prominent, staunch royalists, while the fourth earl, Philip Dormer Stanhope, MP for St. Germans, 1715-22, and Lostwithiel, 1722-23, and a distinguished man of letters, had served briefly but very successfully as lord lieutenant of Ireland under Pelham.1J. Cannon, ‘Stanhope, Philip Dormer, fourth earl of Chesterfield (1694-1773), Oxf. DNB, www.oxforddnb.com. Stanhope’s father, the sixth earl, had served as master of the buckhounds in Peel’s short-lived first ministry, but was better known for his passion for horse racing. In the 1840s he had constructed a celebrated gallop of two miles at the family seat of Bretby Hall.2London Gazette, 30 Dec. 1834. Stanhope’s five and a half year tenure as Conservative MP for the southern division of the county, however, was utterly unremarkable. He made arguably a greater impact on the cricket field. Between 1860 and 1861, Stanhope played in five first class matches for Nottinghamshire and Gentlemen of the North, with a batting average of 13.50, and in 1870 helped to found Derbyshire County Cricket Club, becoming its first president.3http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/37/37736/37736.html Like his father, Stanhope had a great passion for field sports, though he never ‘patronized the turf’, preferring to focus his energies on the improvement of his extensive estates.4Nottinghamshire Guardian, 8 Dec. 1871.
Following a short career in the army, Stanhope acceded to a requisition from a ‘large number of electors’ and came forward for Derbyshire South at the 1857 general election. Unsurprisingly, he stressed his commitment to the agricultural cause, but his ambiguous position on the Maynooth grant and the vague nature of his address were mocked by his Liberal opponents, and he was easily defeated at the bottom of the poll.5Derby Mercury, 1, 8 Apr. 1857.
In December 1860 Stanhope came in unopposed for the vacancy at Nottinghamshire South created by the succession of viscount Newark as the 3rd earl Manvers. His address declared that he was ‘strongly attached to Conservative principles’, but he was equivocal on the subject of parliamentary reform, arguing that the Commons and the country were apathetic towards it, whilst urging ‘moderate and well considered reforms as the progressive improvement of the people in wealth, intelligence, and education demands’. He was also noticeably ambiguous on foreign policy, praising the principle of non-intervention, but insisting that Britain should ‘keep up her forces’ and ‘be prepared for every emergency’.6Nottinghamshire Guardian, 6, 20 Dec. 1860; The Times, 19 Dec. 1860.
A steady attender, there can be little doubt that Stanhope was loyal to the Conservative cause. He followed Disraeli into the division lobby on most major issues, and consistently opposed attempts to lower the county and borough franchises. However, it is difficult to detect any further parliamentary activity as he neither spoke in debate nor served on any select committees. He did, though, contribute to the 1861 royal commission on the fine arts. Alongside the prince of Wales and Lord Llanover, Stanhope was part of the three man committee appointed to determine the locations for statues of British sovereigns in the Palace of Westminster. The ambitious report recommended a series of 38 statues, beginning with Edward the Confessor and Harold, then from William the Conqueror downwards to Queen Victoria, with the majority of the statues to be placed in the Royal Gallery.7PP 1861 [2806], xxxii. 225; The Times, 1 May 1861.
At the 1865 general election, when his seconder at the nomination rather unrealistically described him as ‘fearless’ and ‘out-spoken’, Stanhope attacked the Liberal government for failing to consider a reduction in the taxation of the agricultural interest, called for the abolition of the malt tax, and was re-elected unopposed.8Nottinghamshire Guardian, 14 July 1865. He voted against church rate abolition, 7 Mar. 1866, and opposed the Russell ministry’s reform bill, 27 Apr. 1866. In June 1866 he succeeded his father as 7th earl of Chesterfield and was elevated to the Lords, where he continued to give silent support to the Conservative cause.
In November 1871 Stanhope caught typhoid fever, along with the prince of Wales, while staying at Londesborough Lodge, near Scarborough.9The Times, 2 Dec. 1871. Although the prince recovered, Stanhope, after briefly rallying, died at the family seat of Bretby Hall on 1 December, leaving effects valued at under £80,000.10England and Wales, National Probate Calendar, Index of wills and administration, 1861-1941, 26 January 1872. The Nottinghamshire Guardian remembered him as ‘very much addicted to field sports’ and ‘a cricketer of some repute’.11Nottinghamshire Guardian, 8 Dec. 1871. The relatively limited coverage of his death elsewhere was probably a reflection of the ongoing sensitivity surrounding the heir to the throne’s health. Having died without issue, he was succeeded in the earldom by his cousin George Philip Stanhope (1822-1883), of Strabane, County Tyrone, Ireland.