b. 1799-03-29
d. 1869-10-23
Edward Smith Stanley served as secretary of state for war and the colonies from 1841
to 1845. He led the Conservative party from 1846 to 1868 and was the first British statesmen
to serve as prime minister three times: February-December 1852, 1858-59, and 1866-68.
In
this letter,
George Elmes Nias writes to Stanley about American
Land Grabber[s]
who
have gone down, with the sole purpose of buying all the land in and about the town
of Victoria, they can lay their hands on, merely for the purpose of holding & reselling, at an
enormous advance.
Stanley resigned from the premiership in February 1868, and he died on October 23,
1869. When asked how he felt just before he died, Stanley replied with his final words:
Bored to the utmost power of extinction.
His second son, Lord Frederick Arthur Stanley, became the governor general of Canada
and donated the Stanley cup to the annual North American hockey championship.