Investigation of the structure of Cheshire political society must begin with the aristocracy, the traditional leaders of society, and in particular with the most celebrated aristocratic family in late medieval and early modern Cheshire, the Stanleys of Lathom and Knowsley and their connections. Sir John Stanley’s successful service to the crown meant he left his origins as a younger son of the Stanley of Storeton family in Cheshire and became established as an important gentleman in Lancashire. Sir John had acquired Lathom in Lancashire following a fortunate marriage to Isabella, the heiress of the Lathom family, about 1385. He died in 1414, and his son John consolidated Stanley power in Cheshire, Lancashire and the Isle of Man. John died in 1437, but his son Thomas was by then well established at the Lancastrian court, with all its opportunities for profit. In 1439 he became controller of the royal household. He was created a baron in 1456, but died in 1459. His successor, Thomas, second lord Stanley, prospered under the new Yorkist regime and was created earl of Derby by Henry VII.

It has been forcefully argued that these men played a key role as brokers between the crown and Cheshire during the period 1480 to 1560. Yet the prevalence of Stanley power there can be questioned. There can be no doubt that the family achieved continuity in the male line over more than two centuries until 1593. The first earl died aged about sixty-nine in July 1504, to be succeeded by his grandson Thomas, the second earl. Thomas died in May 1521, and his eldest son Edward, born in May 1509, led the family until his death in October 1572. Edward too was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry, who died in 1593. It was only when Henry’s son Ferdinando followed him to the grave a few months later that this continuity was interrupted and contested. The three daughters of Ferdinando and their mother Alice entered into a lengthy dispute with Ferdinando’s brother William. Yet, even before this hiatus, Cheshire was not a county dominated by the Stanley family.

First, severe pressures were imposed on the Stanleys by Henry VII and his son.