A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Stanley, Edward
STANLEY. (Captain, 1838.)
Edward Stanley, born 10 May, 1798, at Barkway, Herts, is eldest son of the late Rev. Jas. Stanley, A.B., Vicar of Ormskirk, by Sarah, daughter of John Edleston, Esq.; and brother (with Lieut. Fred. Stanley, R.N., who was born 10 May, 1799, went to sea under the late Sir John Poo Beresford, and was drowned at the wreck of H.M. sloop Drake, off St. Shot’s, Newfoundland, 23 June, 1822) of Chas. Thos. Stanley, Esq., who married Elizabeth Rosamond, eldest daughter of Jas. Ward, Esq., of Willey, co. Surrey, widow of Commander Robt. Henry Stanhope, R.N. (1828), cousin of Charles, Earl of Harrington, and brother of Lady Southampton. He is brother-in-law of Henry Robt. Crozier, Esq., of H.M. Woods and Forests (whose eldest son, Henry Edward, is a Midshipman R.N.); also of Lieut. Rich. Bayly Bowden, R.N.; and cousin of the Earl of Derby.
This officer entered the Navy, 17 Feb. 1812, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Scout 18, Capt. Alex. Ronton Sharpe, lying at Chatham; and from the following April until July, 1816, was employed in the Channel, at the Cape of Good Hope, and in the Mediterranean, the greater part of the time in the capacity of Midshipman, in the Stag 36 and Spartan 38, Capts. Wm. Wolrige and Phipps Hornby. Volunteering then to accompany the expedition fitting out against Algiers, he was received as a Supernumerary on board the Queen Charlotte 100, bearing the flag of Lord Exmouth, under whom he accordingly assisted and was wounded at the bombardment of that place. The effects of the injury he there sustained he feels to this day. In Sept. 1816 he was again placed under the orders of Capt. Wolrige in the Wasp 18; in which vessel he continued for two years on the Mediterranean station. He next, in Aug. 1819, joined the Superb 74, hearing the broad pendant of Sir Thos. Masterman Hardy in South America, where he removed, in Jan. 1821, to the Créole 42, Capts. Thos. White, Thos. Bourchier, Thos. Jas. Cotton Evans, and Hon. Fred. Spencer. He was officially promoted, after having acted as Lieutenant of the latter ship, 31 Jan. 1824; and was subsequently appointed – 5 Nov. 1825, to the Gloucester 74, Capt. Joshua Sydney Horton – 1 March, 1828, as Senior, to the Icarus 10, Capt. Thos. Best, equipping for the West Indies – and, 17 Dec. 1829, to the Shannon 46, Capt. Benj. Clement, on the same station. While at anchor at Kronstat in the Gloucester (which ship had been selected to carry out the Duke of Devonshire on the occasion of his embassy to the Court of St. Petersburg) Mr. Stanley landed, at the head of 100 seamen and marines, for the purpose of suppressing an alarming fire which had broken out, 26 June, 1826, in Fort St. John. This service he happily succeeded in accomplishing. On the following evening, another fearful conflagration having burst forth in the store-yard for timber adjoining the Mole, where lay 400 vessels, most of them laden, he again landed, as second in command, under Capt. Horton, of a body of 300 seamen and marines; and had it not been for the exertions made, not only would the merchantmen have fallen, in all probability, a sacrifice to the devouring element, but also the Russian fleet which lay at anchor close by. As a reward for these important services the Emperor of Russia forwarded three rings of great value to be distributed among the chief officers in command on the two occasions, accompanied by a recommendation of the recipients to the British Government for promotion. Through some extraordinary mistake, the ring intended for Mr. Stanley – the only person of his rank engaged in the second afiair – was given to another, and he in consequence lost both the present and the promotion to which it would have led. He was advanced to the rank of Commander, however, soon after the paying off of the Shannon, 31 March, 1832; and in that capacity he served, from 5 Aug. 1833 until put out of commission 21 March, 1839, in the Dee steamer and Wolf 18, on the Home, Cape of Good Hope, and East India stations. In the latter vessel, to which he was appointed 27 May, 1834, he displayed so much zeal during the war with the Caffres that he received, 5 Feb. 1835, the public thanks of Sir Benj. D’Urban, Governor of the Cape. He was likewise so successful, during the years 1836-7-8, in the suppression of piracy in the Straits of Malacca and the adjacent seas that he obtained testimonials of the most flattering description from the Governor-General of India in Council (dated 16 Aug. 1837), from the Commander-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral Sir Thos. Bladen Capel (dated 4 Feb. 1838), from the Governor of Prince of Wales Island, and from the Chambers of Commerce of Penang, Madras, and Singapore. By the latter body he was presented with a sword valued at 100 guineas. He was promoted as a recompense, for his valuable services to Post-rank, while yet in the Wolf, 28 June, 1838; and since 18 July, 1845, he has been in command of the Calliope 26, again in the East Indies.
On 20 Jan. 1841, happening to be close to the Grand Surrey Canal, Capt. Stanley observed two boys fall through the ice into deep water. Perceiving that not a moment was to be lost, he instantly jumped in with his clothes on, swam through the broken ice, and rescued one of them. He then attempted to save the other, but got so benumbed that he narrowly escaped perishing himself, and was taken out of the water nearly senseless. As an acknowledgment for his humane and intrepid conduct he was presented with the medaUion of the Royal Humane Society. Agents – Hallett and Robinson.