The parish was named in honour of Sir Howard Douglas, Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick at the time.

The boundary with Queensbury was adjusted in 1835, moving up the Saint John and running along a different angle in the interior.

[8] In 1837–38 the interior north of the Keswick River and South Branch Dunbar Stream was included in the original Stanley Parish, dissolved a year after it was erected.

[16] In 1952 a narrow strip of land along the eastern border was removed when the Revised Statutes updated the Territorial Division Act's boundary for Fredericton;[17] the earlier annexation of Devon by Fredericton did not affect the parish lines in the TDA.

[18][19][24] bold indicates an incorporated municipality; italics indicate a name no longer in official use Bodies of water[f] at least partly within the parish.