Edward George Geoffrey Smith Stanley (1799-1869) was a native of Lancashire, England. The son of a landed family and the future 14th Earl of Derby, he attended Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, before entering the House of Commons as a Whig in 1822. He briefly served as Colonial Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies in late 1827 and later became Chief Secretary for Ireland (1830-1833); during this time, his political views shifted and by 1835 he had publicly aligned himself with the Conservative Party.
He served as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies from 1841 to 1845 and, now a member of the House of Lords, was the Conservative Party's leader from 1846 to 1868, becoming Prime Minister on three occasions: February-December 1852, February 1858-June 1859, and June 1866-February 1868. He died shortly after his retirement from Parliament.
John Wilson Croker (1780-1857), a native of Galway, Ireland, attended Trinity College, Dublin, in the late 1790s and later practiced law. Croker sat in Parliament from 1807 to 1832, representing Downpatrick, Athlone, Yarmouth, Bodmin, Aldeburgh, and Trinity College, Dublin; he also served as deputy Chief Secretary for Ireland (1808-1809) and Secretary of the Admiralty (1809-1830). During and after his time in Parliament, Croker often published political and historical articles for various periodicals, including the Quarterly Review, and, less frequently, poetry. He also published full-length works on historical subjects, including the French Revolution.
Sources
Hawkins, Angus. "Stanley, Edward George Geoffrey Smith, fourteenth earl of Derby (1799-1869)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online edition. Oxford University Press, 2009. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/26265
Thomas, William. "Croker, John Wilson (1780-1857)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online edition. Oxford University Press, 2011. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/6738
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