Edward Stanhope PC (24 September 1840 – 21 December 1893) was a British Conservative Party politician who was Secretary of State for War from 1887 to 1892.
Background and education
Born in Belgravia in London in 1840, Stanhope was the second son of Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, by his wife Emily Harriet, daughter of General Sir Edward Kerrison, 1st Baronet. Arthur Stanhope, 6th Earl Stanhope, was his elder brother and Philip Stanhope, 1st Baron Weardale, his younger brother.
Educated at Harrow School, where he was in the cricket XI in 1857, and Christ Church, Oxford, Stanhope studied law, being called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1865. He played some cricket at university without making the Oxford First XI, but in 1861 played a single first-class cricket match for Kent County Cricket Club. He played regularly for amateur teams such as I Zingari and Free Foresters. In 1879, he made two further first-class appearances, one for the Gentlemen of the South and the last for I Zingari. He played association football at school and remained a "keen fisherman and high class shot" throughout his life.