Family/Spouse: Elizabeth Winnington. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Jane Warburton

John + Jane Stanley. Jane (daughter of Sir William Stanley and Elizabeth Hopton) was born about 1463 in Holt, Denbighshire. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Piers + Ellen Savage. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Notes: Knight of the Garter. The Complete Peerage vol.IV,p.206,note c. Second son, Sir William supported the house of York in the Battle of Blore Heath in 1459. In 1461, Edward IV made Sir William Stanley the Chamberlain of Chester and Sheriff of Flintshire. He fought for the Yorkists at Hexham in 1466 and was given the Lordship and Castle of Skipton in Yorkshire which he subsequently exchanged for Chirk. He obtained additional land following the battle of Towton. After the battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 he took the news to Queen Margaret of her son's death and then took her to Coventry.

Edward IV's successor, Richard III, courted Sir William's support by various grants of manors and by appointing him Chief Justice for North Wales and Chief Commissioner for Shropshire. Sir William was suspicious of Richard because of the disappearance of the two princes and changed his allegiance to Henry Tudor. At the Battle of Bosworth Field, Stanley rescued Henry at a critical moment in the battle, struck down the King and is said to have found his crown in a thorn bush. He handed the crown to his elder brother Thomas who put it on the head of Henry Tudor. Henry VII appointed Sir William Stanley the Lord Chamberlain and Knight of the Garter and granted him additional lands that made him the richest commoner in England. Sir William's wealth and power inevitably attracted enemies and he was disappointed that his services had not led to a peerage. In 1489 he became Constable of Caernarvon and Beaumaris, and in 1490 Henry VII gave him the Lordships of Bromfield, Chirk and the castles of Dinas Bran, Holt and Chirk in confirmation ofearlier grants of the latter two by Richard III.

Sir William as Lord Chancellor was arbitrator in the dispute between Sir John Stanley of Elford and his half-brother Sir Humphrey, mentioned above. He then bought the manors of Aldford and Nether Alderley in Cheshire from Sir John. Sir William was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1494, on suspicion of being involved in the rebellion of Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be the younger of the "princes in the tower" and therefore heir to Edward IV. At that time it was not known that the sons of Edward IV had both been murdered. Although Sir William had helped put Henry VII on the throne he was known to have been a strong supporter of Edward IV. He was quoted as saying that if Perkin Warbeck was the son of Edward IV he would not fight against him. This, and his unwillingness to confirm or deny his guilt, was sufficient to see him executed at the Tower on 16 Feb 1495.

William married Elizabeth Hopton in 1471 in Moreton Corbet, Shropshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Succeeded his father in Mann and his other estates in 1432. He had been knighted some years before his father's death. In the same year he was appointed Lieutenant of Ireland for six years, and shortly afterwards Comptroller of the King's Household. During the first year of his rule in Ireland he called together a Parliament for the redress of grievances; but, being called to England by the King's command soon afterwards, that kingdom fell into great disorder, and he was obliged to return to it in 1435, when he successfully repressed a serious revolt. In 1441 he was appointed one of the Lieutenant justices of Chester, at a salary of £40 per annum. He was one of the Commissioners who treated with the Scotch for a truce in 1448, and, when it was concluded, he became one of its conservators. He also served on a commission for the custody and defence of the town and castle of Calais from 1450 to 1455. During the year 1451 he held the office of sole Judge of Chester, and in 1452 he was commissioned to treat for a new truce with Scotland. In 1456 he was summoned to the House of Peers as Baron Stanley, being made Lord Chamberlain of the King's Household, and, in the following year, one of the Council of Edward, Prince of Wales. He was again appointed one of the Ambassadors to treat with the Scotch in 1460, "but, dying the latter end of the year, the nation was deprived of this very great and valuable person, and the King of one of his best subjects... He was brave in the field, wise in the Senate, just to his Prince, an honour to his country, and an ornament to his family". He married Joan, daughter and heiress of Sir Robert Goushill, by whom he had issue three sons, Thomas, William, and John; and three daughters.

Thomas + Joan Goushill. Joan (daughter of Sir Robert Goushill, of Haveringham and Elizabeth Fitzalan) was born about 1401; died after 1460. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]