According to BURKE'S GENEALOGICAL AND HERALDIC HISTORY
OF THE PEERAGE AND BARONETAGE edited by Peter Townsend, London, the ancient
family of Stanley lived in England before the conquest. the name probably
comes from the manor of Stein Legh, or "Stoney Lea", named for a
stoney meadow, in County Stafford.The family is now represented by the 18th
Earl of derby, and Derby is prominent as the second ranking earldom in
England. In this case, the family took its name from that manor, located
halfway between the cities of Stoke-On-Trent and Leek in Staffordshire. The
history of the family from the conquest is chronicled in Burke's, above, and
many other sources. It is not possible to trace the origin of the family
before 1066, but history reveals some general trends which help form a basis
of conjecture about family origins. The ancient Greek philosopher and geographer, Ptolemy(c.100-
170AD),attempted in his massive work, GEOGRAPHY,to map the entire world as
known in the 2nd century AD. He mentioned the Saxons as a germanic tribe in
Schleswig, which in modern times straddles the border between Denmark and
West germany. Apparently they did not stay put, and some historians have
questioned Ptolemy's accuracy. What is known is that at least one tribe of
Saxons, along with their neighbors to the north, the Jutes, and another
germanic tribe, the Angles, combined to cross the channel to invade and occupy
what is now England. Their invasion, starting around the year 450, was
massive and successful, so that by the end of the sixth century and central
and southern part of the island had become the land of the angles and
Saxons. The country took its name from the Angles, but the dominate tribe
in England was no doubt the Saxons. They settled on the rich farm lands and
formed their own government and culture, with such outstanding rulers as
Alfred the Great, Kind of Wessex and protector of all england. One Saxon
family in particular located on a farm in County stafford which must have
had many stones. The Manor was called Stein Legh, of Stonley, and the head
of the manor took his name from the property, Thomas deStonely. His daughter
Joan married william de Audley or de Aldithely, one of the Normans who
accompanied William the Conqueror at the conquest of England in 1066. Joan
inherited the manor of Thalk in Staffordshire, but exchanged it for the manor
of Stonely. William also took the name of the manor for his family name, and
the name has been Stanley ever since. The origin of the Audley or Aldithely name is Norman French,
but earlier origins go back many centuries to the Scandinavian Vikings.
One group of Vikings left their northern homelands in the 9th and 10th
centuries A.D. to conquer and occupy the area of France facing the English
Channel. The name Norman, of course, means "Northman" and refers to these
Viking invaders. After living in Normandy for two centuries, they took on the
ways of French speaking. William the Conqueror brought his troops in 1066,
occupying the land. Among the people who came with him was William de Audley,
Son of Adam de Audley, who in turn was the son of Adam de Audley, or
Aldithely. Audley, or Aldithely, was located in Normandy, but its exact
location has not been determined. The grandfather, Adam de Audley, is the earliest known male
ancestor in Stanley history, and he is identified with the number 1 after his
name. His son is identified as Adam 2 de Audley and his grandson as William 3
de Audley. This William 3 de Audley and his wife Joan(de Stonley)Audley are
considered the ancestors of today's Stanley families. William adopted the
custom of taking his name from the manor he owned, changing his name from
de Audley to Stanley. William & Joan had a son Sir Adam4 de Stanely. The only
thing known about him is that he had a son Sir William 5 de Stanley.
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