John Thomas Stanley was born in 1766, eldest son of the sixth baronet of Alderley Park, Cheshire. In 1789, he led an expedition to the Faroe Islands and Iceland, later publishing an account of the hot springs of Iceland in Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1790. In October 1796, he married Maria Josepha Holroyd, daughter of John Baker Holroyd, first Earl of Sheffield. They had nine surviving children, including Isabella Louisa (1801-1839) who married the Arctic explorer William Edward Parry in 1826. In 1839, he was elevated to the peerage as Baron Stanley of Alderley. He died in 1850 at Alderley Park, Cheshire.
Published work Hot springs of Iceland by John Thomas Stanley, Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh volume 3 (1794) SPRI Library Shelf Special Collection (35)551.23
From the guide to the John Thomas Stanley collection, 1839, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
