John Stanley (1740 – 1 April 1799) was a British politician and colonial lawyer. He was born the eldest son of Michael Stanley of St. John's on the Caribbean island of

Nevis Nevis is a small island in the Caribbean Sea that forms part of the inner arc of the Leeward Islands chain of the West Indies. Nevis and the neighbouring island of Saint Kitts constitute one country: the Federation of Saint Kitts and Ne ...

and sent to London to be trained in the law at the

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court – Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have ...

in 1758, where he was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1761. He was made bencher in 1797. He returned to the West Indies to practise law and was appointed Solicitor-General of the Leeward Islands for 1771-81 and

Attorney General of the Leeward Islands The Attorney General of the Leeward Islands was the chief law officer of the Leeward Islands. The British crown colony of the Leeward Islands, comprising Antigua, Barbuda, the British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Saint Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, and ...

for 1781–99. He was President of the council for 1793–95. He was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

from 1784 until 1796. He died in 1799. He had married Susanna, the daughter of Lewis Feuilleteau and the widow of Henry Brouncker of St. Kitts. He had one son who predeceased him.

References

1740 births 1799 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies British MPs 1784–1790 British MPs 1790–1796 Attorneys General of the Leeward Islands {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub