[1][2] Besides these activities, he was a painter, musician and photographer, as well as an author of a variety of publications, including plays, books for children, and political treatises.

[5] Despite having limited formal learning, Stanley taught himself mathematics, mechanics, astronomy, music, French, geology, chemistry, architecture and theology.

[3] In 1854, Stanley fell in love with a girl in Buntingford, Bessie Sutton, but her family refused to let them marry.

[8][9] The couple adopted Stanley's niece Eliza Ann and another child, Maud Martin, whose father and brother drowned at sea.

[3][4][8] Stanley stopped using the name Robinson and changed his signature as a consequence of being robbed of his cheque book during the early days of his business.

[3] He did not patent the Panoptic, so it was soon copied around the world, but he had sold enough to provide the capital required to manufacture scientific instruments.

[8] In 1861 he invented a straight line dividing machine for which he won first prize in the 1862 International Exhibition in London.

[8] By the fifth edition, Stanley was able to list important customers such as several government departments, the Army, the Royal Navy, railways at home and abroad, and London University.

[3][4] It had a rotating telescope for measuring horizontal and vertical angles and able to take sights on prominent objects at a distance.

The component parts were reduced to fewer than half of the 226 used in the previous version, making it lighter, cheaper and more accurate.

[3] Cumberlow Lodge was originally Pascall's large brickfield dating from the early part of the 19th century, and subsequently a dairy farm.

[6][9] In 1963, ownership was transferred to the London Borough of Lambeth and child murderer Mary Bell was housed there for a short time, until the local residents protested and she was removed to Wales.

[9] The rapid growth of his business led to the opening of branches at Lincoln's Inn, at London Bridge and at South Norwood.

[4] His 1890 catalogue shows that the company were selling Magic Lanterns, with a variety of slides including such subjects as the siege of Paris (1870–1871), the travels of Dr Livingstone and Dante's Inferno, as well as improving stories for children such as Mother's Last Words and The Drunkard's Children, while in the catalogue for 1891, Stanley refers to the company having 17 branches, with over 130 workmen.

[3][9] Stanley retired from the company (although still acting as Chairman of the Board and Managing Director), leaving Henry Thomas Tallack (a business partner) and his brother Joseph to run the day-to-day operations.

[23] Stanley Halls (in South Norwood) were opened on 2 February 1903 by Charles Ritchie, 1st Baron Ritchie of Dundee at a cost of £13,000 (as Stanley Public Hall) to provide the local community with a public space for plays, concerts and lectures.

[13] He had a reputation for helping the poor, and when he retired from the Bench, one of his colleagues commented that there would be "no more £10 notes put in the poor-box".

[31] On Saturday 22 August 2009, a memorial service in his honour was held at his grave in Beckenham Cemetery to mark the centenary of his death.

[4] The will provided for Stanley's wife, and each nephew, niece, great-nephew and great-niece were mentioned by name, and left money and shares.

[32] The company went into liquidation in July 1999 – the main factors were not investing the proceeds of the sale of the factory land to buying new machinery, the high value of the pound affecting export orders, and the loss of Ministry of Defence orders following the end of the Cold War.

[32] A cast-iron clock tower was erected in South Norwood at the junction of Station Road and the High Street in 1907 to mark the golden wedding anniversary of William and Eliza Stanley, as a measure of the esteem in which they were held in the locality.

[6] On 18 December 1998, the Wetherspoon's pub chain opened The William Stanley on the High Street in South Norwood.

[33] It is a 19th-century style of building, with a portrait of Stanley inside, as well as pictures of other Norwood notables (Lillie Langtry, H. Tinsley (another scientific instrument maker), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and John Brock).