William de Aldithley, II

In the county of Stafford, in the heart of England, there was in very ancient times, an old Saxon manor called STONELEY, a name compounded of stone and leah or ley (modern, lea), meaning a stony meadow or field. Kent There is still in that country a considerable town named Stone, which very probably like the former, may bear a remembrance of the rugged surface of what is now one of the chief mining districts of the island.

At the time of the Norman conquest, this estate belonged to Sir Henry de Stoneley, the place of his residence in that day supplying the surname of the owner.

Among the Norman knights who accompanied William the Conqueror into England in 1066, were Adam de Alditheley and his two sons, Lydulph and Adam. These received, as did others of William's associates, large possessions from the conquered lands as a reward for their services. Lydulph, the elder son, had a son Adam, and Adam, the younger, had a son, William. These two young Normans, Adam and William, both married wives of the Saxon family, De Stoneley.

William de Alditheley married Joan, daughter of Thomas de Stoneley, a kinsman of Sir Henry, and received with her as dowry, the manor of Thalk, in the same country. Afterwards, he exchanged this estate with his cousin Adam, for Stoneley and half of Balterley, and made Stoneley his family residence; and in honor of his lady, and the great antiquity of her family, of noble Saxon descent, who flourished many years before the conquest, he assumed the surname of STANLEY, and became the recognized founder of the STANLEY FAMILY. This was in the reign of Henry I., A.D 1100-1135.

born in Hooton, Cheshire, England

He was married to Joan de STONELY in 1123 in Hooton, Cheshire, England.