| Authorised form of name | Stanley; Thomas (1625 - 1678); poet and classical scholar |
| Dates | 1625 - 1678 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Cumberlow Green, Hertfordshire, England, Europe |
| Date of birth | September 1625 |
| Place of death | Suffolk Street, Strand, London, England, Europe |
| Date of death | 12 April 1678 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
St Martin in-the-Fields, London |
| Occupation | Poet; translator |
| Activity | Education:
Pembroke College, Cambridge (matriculated 1639); Incorporated as MA at Oxford (1640)
Career:
Travelled in France (1642-1646); published 'Poems and Translations' (1647) and a revised and expanded verion 'Poems, by Thomas Stanley Esquire' (1651); published first English translation of 'Anacreontea' (1651); published three volumes of 'History of Philosophy' (1655; 1656; 1660); published an edition of the plays of Aeschylus (1663); patron to many poets and translators in 1650s and 1660s
|
| Membership category | Original Fellow |
| Date of election | 20/05/1663 |
| RSActivity | Committee and panels:
Committee for the Histories of Trades (1664) |
| Relationships | Parents: Sir Thomas Stanley and Mary Hammond
Married: Dorothy Enyon
Children: nine overall, incl. Thomas Stanley the younger
Additional relatives: cousin of poet Richard Lovelace; nephew of poet William Hammond (FRS 1663) |
| OtherInfo | With the start of the Civil War in England in 1642, Stanley travelled to France, where he stayed for four years. As a royalist, it is supposed that he financially supported fellow royalist poets, and he was also involved in the establishment of the order of the Black Riband, which symbolised its members' loyalty and sympathy with the King.
Stanley's interest in translation and classical literature was fostered early through his tutor William Fairfax, son of the translator of Tasso Edward Fairfax. His notes on an upcoming work on Callimachus, which he did not complete before his death, were reportedly also used by Richard Bentley (FRS 1695). |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Venn; Foster; ODNB
McDowell, Nicholas. 2011. 'Herrick and the Order of the Black Riband: Literary Community in Civil-War London and the Publication of Hesperides', in "Lords of Wine and Oile: Community and Conviviality in the Poetry of Robert Herrick" (Oxford University Press)
Notes:
The election date is Stanley's re-election date into the Society after the grant of the second charter in April 1663. All Fellows admitted in a two-month window after this charter, until 22 June 1663, are considered Original Fellows. He was previously elected on 14 August 1661 and admitted into the Society on 21 August 1661. |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/14814119 |
| Code | NA2766 |