Stock Photo - The Defence of Lathom House, 1644. Lathom House in Lancashire was the home of the Earls of Derby. In 1644, during the Civil War, the Parliamentarian General Sir Thomas Fairfax demanded the surrender of the house. James, 7th Earl of Stanley was away recruiting troops to the Royalist cause on the Isle of Man, leaving the defence of Lathom in the hands of his wife, Charlotte, and a garrison of 300, a tenth of the size of Fairfax's army. Lathom withstood the siege for 3 months until, on 25th May, a Royalist force under Prince Rupert arrived to drive off the Parliamentarians. The house eventually did fall to them in December the following year.