Former pub name honour for first Muslim lord
The Stanley FamilyA derelict pub which is to be turned into a cultural centre is to be named in honour of Britain's first Muslim lord.
The Waggon and Horses pub in Handforth, Cheshire, has been bought by the Cheadle Muslim Association (CMA).
It will now be called Stanley House in honour of Lord Henry Stanley, who owned land in Cheshire and Anglesey, and became a Muslim in 1859.
The community centre, which will provide football, gym and padel as well as work spaces, is set to open in November.
GoogleCMA said the site was "aptly named" after Lord Stanley "whose historic family links to the area reflects the project's commitment to heritage, unity and shared civic identity".
Dr Usman Choudry of CMA, said that "Stanley House is an opportunity to provide a much-needed community space".
He added: "It's a project built on partnership and addressing the needs of the community.
"We want to build something our local community is proud of."
Choudry said it would be named after the British aristocrat as "Lord Stanley looked after people very well" and showed that "there has been a "Muslim presence in the area for a long time".
Lord Stanley learnt Arabic at Cambridge University and aged 20, was employed as an assistant to the then Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston in 1847.
He worked for the diplomatic service, with postings in the Turkish-based Ottoman Empire, as well as Greece and Bulgaria.
After inheriting his father's lands and titles, he took his place as a non-partisan crossbench peer in the House of Lords in 1869 and became its first Muslim member.
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