The Ancestral Home

Our story starts in Chipping Campden. that beautiful jewel of the Cotswolds. For some time at the end of the 14th century and the start of the 15th there was a Stanley Lord of the Manor of Chipping Campden. In separate records we can see that the Stanley family who owned Chipping Campden also held the manor at Elford in Staffordshire and also Pipe Ridware in Staffordshire and are ultimately distant cousins of the Earls of Derby. Maybe my next step will take me to Elford? Who can say?

Earliest Ancestors

Easy to say, but there is a gap in the records between this Lord of the Manor of Campden and the earliest Stanley ancestor I have managed to trace in the town. So, although it is most likely that my line is linked to the illustrious line of the Earls of Derby the final proof is still waiting to be found. Suffice it to say that Campden and Snowshill are considered our ancestral home. This is where my family history ends and my one name study begins. Although Campden was the starting point the Stanleys spread out in all directions leaving significant populations in all the adjacent parishes including Broadway, Snowshill, Saintbury & Blockley.

Anthony Stanley (senior)

Our eldest ancestor in the parish registers in Campden is Anthony Stanley (before 1612- after 1641), probably born in Campden. He married and had two children I know of.

• Robert (abt 1630 - 1684)
• Anthony (bef 1642 - 1700).
  We know that Anthony had a family but not much more than that..

Robert Stanley (senior, abt 1630 - 1684)

Robert Stanley married Frances Freeman in abt 1658, probably in nearby Saintbury. Three children ensued.

• John (1659- aft 1709)
  John married Mary (surname unknown) and they had a large family in Snowshill
• Ann (1662)
  Nothing much is known about Ann except for her baptism
• Anthony (1664-1729)

Robert is buried at St. Eadburgha’s church in Broadway.

Anthony Stanley (junior, 1664-1729)

Anthony Stanley was baptised in 1664. The entry above says
“1664 Anthonius filius Roberti Stanley et Ffrancisca uxoris Baptizatus, Aug xiii”

Anthony married Emma in about 1686, probably in Campden. They also had three children.

• John (1686 - aft 1728)
  John married Mary Smith in Campden in 1713. They had a big family in the town.
• Ann (1687 - 1691)
  Buried on the same day as her mother, obviously Emma died in childbirth.
• Robert (1690-1758)

Emma died in 1691 and Anthony quickly remarried, this time to Elizabeth Roberts. They had a further six children.

• Richard (1692 - 1753)
• Ann (1694 - 1695)
• Elizabeth (1696 - aft 1753)
• Mary (1697 - 1701)
• Frances (1699 - 1741)
• Anthony (1701 - aft 1753)

Anthony was buried in Campden in 1729 aged 66, but his line continued.

For anyone with an interest in genealogy in the Cotswolds area you should refer to Allan Taylor’s web page.