William Stanley (priest)

He was educated in a school at Ashley, Lancashire, by Jeremy Crompton, and was on 4 July 1663 admitted a sizar of St. John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A.

At this time he was engaged in a scheme for printing an edition of the English Bible, with a plain practical and Protestant commentary, the portion assigned to him being the minor prophets; but the plan was eventually abandoned.

He was appointed chaplain to the Princess of Orange on the dismissal of John Covel in 1685, and before he proceeded to Holland the archbishop of Canterbury conferred upon him the Lambeth degree of D.D., 12 November 1685.

In 1689 he became canon residentiary of St. Paul's; on 13 August 1690 he was collated by Bishop Henry Compton to the rectory of Hadham Magna; and on 5 March 1692 he was appointed archdeacon of London.

The natural tone of his voice was so loud that when taking part in the cathedral services he was heard above all the other singers.

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1689 [2] He was unanimously chosen master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 13 July 1693, in succession to John Spencer, and served the office of vice-chancellor of the university in the same year.