168,016 Global STANLEY Family Members

STANLEY Family History

This surname means 'stony meadow' and derives from the Old English 'stan', meaning 'stone', and 'leah' or 'ley', meadow. It was therefore originally a locational name which could refer to any of the various places of this name in England.

Early bearers of this name include William de Stanlegh of Wiltshire and John de Stanleye of Oxfordshire who were both recorded on the 1273 Hundred Rolls; and Johannes de Staynlay, Robertus de Stanelay, and Robertus de Stanelegh who appear on the 1379 Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

One of the most notable families to bear this name are the Earls of Derby, a title bestowed on the Stanley family in 1485 by Henry VII in recognition of Thomas Stanley's support during the Battle of Bosworth. This family is descended from two brothers, Ligulf de Aldelegha and Adam de Standlega of Staffordshire, who lived in the 12th century. During the subsequent centuries the Stanleys boosted their wealth and acquired lands in Cheshire and Lancashire. Sir John Stanley of Alderley in Cheshire came from one of the minor branches of this family and in the 18th century he married Margaret Owen, of Anglesey, a member of one of Wales's most powerful families. As a result, Stanley became quite a prominent surname in that particular Welsh county.

Notable people

• Henry Morton Stanley (1841–1904). Born John Rowlands in Denbigh, Wales, to an unmarried mother, he later changed his name after emigrating to the United States in 1859. He became a journalist and adventurer and is mostly famous for finding the missing explorer and missionary, David Livingstone, near Lake Tanganyika.
• George Francis Gillman Stanley (1907–2002), Canadian historian and designer of the Canadian flag.
• Muriel Conomie Stanley (1918–1979), also known as Sister Stanley, an indigenous Australian missionary, nurse and social worker.

 

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