 This branch of the Stanley family, known as the "Stanleys of Bickerstaffe", were descended from Sir James Stanley, younger brother of Thomas Stanley, 2nd Earl of Derby.He was appointed High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1723.He was elected to the House of Commons for Lancashire in 1727, a seat he held until 1736, when he succeeded his distant relative James Stanley, 10th Earl of Derby, as eleventh Earl of Derby, and took his seat in the House of Lords.