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Is there any link between the family names Stanley and Winstanley ??
Donal
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I don't think so. People called Stanley (stony meadow) originated in one of ten parishes in England called Stanley.
Winstanley refers to people who came from the village of that name near Lancaster.
The link where I found the info is below
http://forebears.co.uk
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Last name: Winstanley
This interesting name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from Winstanley, near Manchester, in Lancashire. The placename is composed of the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Wynstan", composed of the elements "wynn", joy and "stan", stone plus the Olde English word "leah", which originally meant a forest, but later "a clearing in a forest". Thus the placename could translate as Wynstan's forest, clearing or enclosure in a forest. It was recorded as "Unstanesle" in the Lancashire Pipe Rolls (1206) and as "Winstanesle" in the Feet of Fines (1212). The surname itself first appears in the late 12th Century. One Hugh de Wynstanlegh was recorded in Lancashire in 1387 in the Lancashire Inquisitions. The Wills at Chester in 1555 mention a James Winstanley, of Winstanley. A notable namebearer was Gerrard Winstanley, who came to notice in 1649, when leading a band of men who cultivated waste land in Surrey to assert the right of common people to do so without paying rent. Henry Winstanley (1644 - 1703) was the engineer who designed the Eddystone lighthouse in 1696, and lost his life in a storm which also destroyed it. Five Coats of Arms have been granted to Winstanley families including that of Sir Thomas Winstanley of Lancashire (circa 1216), one of the knights attendant on the Black Prince in the expedition into Spain, which depicts two silver bars in chief and three red crosses formee, on a gold shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger de Winstanley, which was dated 1199, in the "Pipe Rolls of Lancashire", during the reign of King Richard 1st, known as "Richard the Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Winstanley#ixzz4gOP3Kg8c
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Last name: Stanley
This interesting surname is one of the oldest and noblest of all English surnames, with the Stanley family who hold the earldom of Derby tracing their descent from a companion of Wilham the Conqueror, Adam de Aldithley. A branch of the family taking the name Stanley when Adam's grandson married the heiress to the manor of Stanley in Staffordshire. The name itself is of Anglo-Saxon locational origin from any of the various places so called in Derbyshire, Durham and Gloucester, and is composed of the Olde English pre 7th Century "stan", a stone, plus "leah", a wood or clearing. The founder of the family's fortune was Sir John Stanley (1350 - 1414), who married an heiress of West Derby, Lancashire, and became Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and was granted sovereignty over the Isle of Man by Henry 1V. One Thomas Baron Stanley placed the Crown of England on the head of Henry Tudor (Henry V11) at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, and was created Earl of Derby. Other famous namebearers include Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby (1508 - 1572), who signed a petition to Pope Clement V11 for Henry V111's divorce, 1530; and Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815 - 1881) who was Dean of Westminster from 1864 - 1881. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Stanleya, which was dated 1130, in the "Pipe Rolls of Staffordshire", during the reign of King Henry 1, known as "The Administrator", 1100 - 1135. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Stanley#ixzz4gOPIrM4B
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In answer to your OP, there might be a connection via marriage or, if one or other names is given a forename to an illegitimate birth, to acknowledge the biological father.
We'd have to repeat your research before we could offer a more confident suggestion.
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