Stanbury was born on Mullet Island[1] on the Hawkesbury River, New South Wales and was the successor of John McLean in the rowing championship of the world.
In 1887, he won the first prize in the Lake Bathurst handicap, but was later beaten the same year by Christian Neilson in a race over the Parramatta championship course.
[citation needed] On 28 April 1891 he defeated John McLean, another New South Wales sculler, over the same course for the Championship of the World.
[citation needed] Stanbury had another Title win on 13 July 1896 when he beat Charles R Harding on the Thames in a time of 21m 51s.
In a return match a year later (26 July 1906) Stanbury failed to retain the Title with Towns securing it for the second time.