He was styled Lord Strange until in 1672 he became the 9th Earl of Derby. On 10 July 1673 he married his cousin, Lady Elizabeth Butler, and they became the parents of three children. After his
marriage he was sent to Paris to complete his education but behaved very badly, becoming debauched. In May 1679 his father-in-law described him as "very nasty, ill-natured and obstinate," and later in the same year talks of "his brutality and ill-usage of my daughter."
From 1673 onwards he was Vice Admiral of the counties Lancaster and Chester. At the coronation of King James II, on 23 April 1685, he was the bearer of the second sword. While at the funeral of Queen Mary II, 5 March 1695, he was one of the pall bearers.
From June 1672 until his death he was also Lord Lieutenant of North Wales. He died aged forty-seven, on 5 November 1702, and was buried at Ormskirk. As he had no surviving son, the next Earl of Derby was his younger brother.
 

Source: Leo van de Pas