Find Ancestors

Where have you been searching so far, Peter?

The records I've posted are from Ancestry (subscription site).
Family Search (free) is also pretty good for older records - so long as you take your info from actual records, and not from other people's trees.

But records only go so far back , and the further back you go, the patchier is the coverage, and the less info there is on the records, to help distinguish one William Stanley (for example) from another. Eventually you reach a dead end and can't go any further.

If I've got the correct William above (1797), his parents were John and Martha.
However, I don't see any marriage record - which doesn't mean they weren't married, but just that there's probably no surviving record.

Census to show link back to Joseph

Shows Grandad Reginald in 1911

1911 Census For England & Wales
Placketts Yard Finedon, Finedon, Northamptonshire, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
John Stanley Head Married Male 54 1857 Ironstone Labourer Northamptonshire Finedon
Elizabeth Stanley Wife Married Female 43 1868 - Bedfordshire Sharnbrook
George Ernest Stanley Son Single Male 17 1894 Boot Finisher Northamptonshire Finedon
Arthur James Stanley Son Single Male 14 1897 Slab Works Maker Northamptonshire Finedon
Albert Allen Stanley Son - Male 11 1900 School Boy Barbers Assistant Northamptonshire Finedon
Reginald John Stanley Son - Male 9 1902 School Boy Milk Boy Northamptonshire Finedon
Harriet Palmer Sutton Niece Single Female 27 1884 General Servant Domestic Northamptonshire Wellingborough

John and Elizabeth married 23 years. 5 children born and living

---------------------------------
1891 England, Wales & Scotland Census
Bakers Square, Finedon, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
Joseph Stanley Head Married Male 74 1817 Farm Labourer Northamptonshire, England
Sarah Stanley Wife Married Female 64 1827 - Northamptonshire, England
John Stanley Son Married Male 34 1857 Iron Stone Labourer Northamptonshire, England
Elizabeth Stanley Daughter In Law Married Female 23 1868 Shoe Fitter Bedfordshire, England
George Clapham Lodger Widower Male 66 1825 Farm Labourer Northamptonshire, England
Charles Wheatley Lodger Single Male 30 1861 Journeyman Butcher Northamptonshire, England
Harry Carver Lodger Widower Male 49 1842 Farm Labourer Northamptonshire, England

As said previously, either of Joseph's marriage certificates which you would need to buy*, should give his Father's name and occupation - hopefully it will say William an Ag. Lab, in which case the records on this thread re his parents would look to be correct.

As Argyll Gran says, not all records survive