 Stanhope also founded the Stanhope School in 1715.George was born on 5 March 1660 at Hartshorne, near Swadlincote in south Derbyshire, son of Thomas Stanhope, rector of Hartshorne, Derbyshire, vicar of St Margaret's Church, Leicester, and chaplain to the Earls of Chesterfield and Clare.His grandfather, George Stanhope (d. 1644), was canon and precentor of York from 1631, and was rector of Wheldrake, Yorkshire, and chaplain to James I and Charles I; he was dispossessed during the Commonwealth.