Sir John Thomas Stanley, 6th Baronet

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

FSA (26 March 1735 – 29 November 1807) was an 18/19th century British landowner and amateur scientist.

Life

He was born at

Alderley Park Alderley Park was a country estate at Nether Alderley, Cheshire, England, between Macclesfield and Knutsford. It was the residence of the Stanley family of Alderley from the 1500s. It became the headquarters of ICI Pharmaceuticals in the 1950s. I ...

on 26 March 1735, the eldest son of Sir Edward Stanley, 5th Baronet and his wife, Mary Ward. He succeeded to the baronetcy in August 1755 following the death of his father. He served in the Royal Court as Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

. In 1789, he made a celebrated voyage to the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

with James Wright, Isaac Benners and John Baine, including the climbing of Mount Hekla. In 1789, he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. His proposers for the latter were

Andrew Dalzell Andrew Dalzell (sometimes shown as Andrew Dalzel or Andrew Dalziel) FRSE (1742–1806) was a Scottish scholar and prominent figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. In 1783 he was a co-founder of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Life He wa ...

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——— ...

, and

James Hutton James Hutton (; 3 June O.S.172614 June 1726 New Style. – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. Often referred to as the father of modern geology, he played a key role i ...

. He died on 29 November 1807.

Family

In 1763, he married Margaret Owen, daughter of Hugh Owen of

Penrhos Penrhos is derived from the Welsh words ''pen'' ("head" or "top") and ''rhos'' ("moorland"). It may refer to: ; Places *Penrhos, Anglesey, a village in Wales ** Penrhos Country Park (AKA Penrhos Coastal Park), a country park near Penrhos, Anglesey * ...

. He was father to John Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley of Alderley and Bishop Edward Stanley. His daughter, Margaretta Louisa Ann Stanley married General Sir Baldwin Leighton 6th Baronet. He was grandfather to

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, (13 December 1815 – 18 July 1881), known as Dean Stanley, was an English Anglican priest and ecclesiastical historian. He was Dean of Westminster from 1864 to 1881. His position was that of a Broad Churchman and he wa ...

, Dean of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. He was also great-grandfather to

Henry John Adeane Henry John Adeane DL (18 June 1789 – 11 May 1847) was an English barrister and politician. Early life and education Adeane was the second but first surviving son of Robert Jones Adeane of Babraham, Cambridgeshire, and Annabella Blake, daughte ...

, British barrister and MP.

Portrait

He was portrayed in his youth by

Philip Mercier Philippe Mercier (also spelled Philip Mercier; 1689 – 18 July 1760) was an artist of French Huguenot descent from the German realm of Brandenburg-Prussia (later Kingdom of Prussia), usually defined to French school. Active in England for mos ...

. The suit he was wearing on this portrait can be seen in the Gallery of English costume, Platt Hall, Manchester. The suit is mentioned and explained in the book 18th Century embroidery techniques by Gail Marsh.

References

1735 births 1807 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London {{England-baronet-stub