Described as one of the three most influential women in Britain during the time of the English Civil War, the life a prominent noble woman who was a pivotal figure in Manx history has been published by a noted local author and academic.
’Lady Derby: The Great Whore of Babylon’ has been published by Dr Jennifer Kewley-Draskau and seeks to shed new light on the life of Lady Charlotte Derby, the wife of James Stanley, the seventh Earl of Derby who was the Lord of Mann during the tumultuous time of the Civil War.
Lady Charlotte is best known in relation to her role during the Manx Rebellion of 1651, when Illiam Dhone captured the royalist strongholds of Peel Castle and Castle Rushen and surrendered them to the Parliamentary forces who, under were under the orders of Oliver Cromwell to ’reduce the Isle of Man’.
However, Jennifer believes that there are a great many details that are often missed out from the telling of the life of Lady Derby and that history has maligned her all too often to the role of villain and as simply a noble wife.
’She was one of the most important women in the 17th century, in this part of the world,’ said Jennifer.
’Not just in the Isle of Man but in the whole of the British Isles as well.
’The saying in England at the time was "There are three women who rule the world. One is Eve, One was Queen Henrietta, the wife of King Charles I and the third was Lady Derby".’
By reading Derby’s own letters and correspondences, Jennifer begins by re-tracing Charlotte’s noble ancestry, with its close links to the royal families of France, Spain, Bohemia and the Netherlands, and then her introduction to English nobility through her marriage to Stanley.
Charlotte cemented her reputation as a strong-willed and determined figure during the civil war when, with her husband being one of the leading figures in the Royalist cause, she found her home at Lathom House besieged by Roundhead forces.
Under her stewardship, Lathom withstood eight months of siege and fighting, refusing to fall to the Parliamentarian army.
’She was very cunning,’ said Jennifer.
’She dragged out the negotiations with the parliament and, under their noses, she smuggled in arms, men equipment and supplies.
’When the they did attack, under her command they held them off for months.’
It was here she was dubbed ’The Great Whore of Babylon’ for ’opposing the advance of the Lord’s chosen people.’
The Derbys then returned to the Isle of Man in 1644 to hold it as a royal stronghold for the king.
Charlotte’s fortunes changed again in 1651 when Derby returned to England to fight, which led to his capture and, ultimately, his execution. With Parliament on the edge of invading, she tried to broker a her own peace for her and her family, before Dhone ultimately took the island.
Jennifer believes history has not served her reputation well. She has been described as a ’papist’ by the writer Sir Walter Scott in his 1823 novel ’Peveril of the Peak’ and has been wrongly cast as the antagonist who had Dhone executed.
However, Jennifer, who wrote the account of Illiam Dhone’s life and death in 2012, believes this is not the case and that she has been misrepresented.
’She is an incredible figure and she hasn’t been well-served by posterity,’ she said.
’She was an extraordinary figure, who came from overseas to Britain, and then to here. She organised that siege, which was quite a military achievement.
’I would like her to be seen as a very courageous woman.
I think she was dedicated to what she believed what she thought was right. She may have been unbending and inflexible, but in war I think you have to be and I think she was very adaptable.
’She never rested on her laurels and always did what she thought needed to be done.’
’Lady Derby: The Great Whore of Babylon’ is available from all local bookshops.
by Mike Wade
Twitter:@iomnewspapers