He was born in Norfolk,[1] a younger son of the eminent judge Sir Standish Hartstonge, 1st Baronet and his first wife Elizabeth Jermyn, daughter of Francis Jermyn (or Jermy) of Gunton Hall.
Through the bishop's influence, Standish was made Recorder of Kilkenny from 1694, and also served as Custos Rotulorum of County Tipperary under his father's patron the Duke of Ormond.
[2] An anonymous comic verse c.1700, namechecking various Dublin Castle courtiers of the Lord Lieutenant, suggests the ideal beau would be one who "like Hartstong loves".
[5] Although his 1704 will and testament states that he was then living in Dublin and requested burial there in St. Audoen's Church, he was in fact interred by his brother in St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny.
[2] He bequeathed his land at Talbot's Inch, just outside Kilkenny, to his brother John, disinheriting their nephew Sir Standish Hartstonge, 2nd Baronet, whose impulsive teenage marriage to Anne Price of Presteigne had caused a bitter family feud.