LETTERS TO HIS SON 1748

"About the author: Earl of Chesterfield, in the County of Derby, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1628 for Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Stanhope. He had already been created Baron Stanhope, of Shelford in the County of Nottingham, in 1616, also in the Peerage of England. Stanhope's youngest son the Hon. Alexander Stanhope was the father of James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope while his half-brother Sir John Stanhope of Elvaston was the great-grandfather of William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington.

Lord Chesterfield's great-great-grandson, the fourth Earl, was a politician and man of letters and notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and as Secretary of State for the Northern Department. He also achieved posthumous renown for his Letters to his Son. He was succeeded by his third cousin once removed, the fifth Earl. He was the son of Arthur Charles Stanhope, son of the Reverend Michael Stanhope, grandson of the Hon. Arthur Stanhope, younger son of the first Earl. Lord Chesterfield was Ambassador to Spain and also served under William Pitt the Younger as Master of the Mint and Postmaster General. His son, the sixth Earl, was a Tory politician and served as Master of the Buckhounds from 1834 to 1835 in Sir Robert Peel's first administration. His son, the seventh Earl, represented Nottinghamshire South in the House of Commons."