His father
Sir John Stanley I,
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, had been granted the tenure of the
Isle of Man, to him and his heirs, by
Henry IV, and the younger Sir John succeeded to the Kingdom in 1414. He also held the office of Steward of
Macclesfield,
Cheshire. He twice visited the Island to put down rebellions (1417 and 1422) and was also responsible for putting the laws of the Island into writing. A brief description is given in Manx Notebook (vol iii p1-4).
A. W. Moore, a Manx antiquary and
Speaker of the House of Keys, appraised him as follows: He purchased the
Advowson of Rectory of
Winwick, Cheshire from the
Nostell Priory,
Wakefield in 1433 - from this time onwards, this church, adjacent to his property, was to have close links with the Stanley family. ==Family==