Robert, originally born in Cardiff with few means, grew up near “King Cotton” or Manchester, the centre of Britain’s Industrial Revolution, under the patronage of his rich uncle, John Stanley, who brought him up north. Influenced by his uncle, Robert was part of the tiny local Christian Israelite sect that lived strictly by Mosaic Law, led by the self-proclaimed “Prophet” John Wroe (1782–1863). Stanley was a successful businessman, as a grocer, tea trader, and later publican, which he combined with public service as a magistrate (1867–76), local Tory councillor, and later mayor of Stalybridge (1874–6). Being civic-minded, he sought to improve the water supplies to the town and was part of the committee who built a new local reservoir; he also led on the building of a new market place. He was also consulted in Parliament about the extension of the electoral franchise and gained national coverage, mostly negative, for his refusal to pander to populist anti-Ottoman sentiment over the Bulgarian Uprising of 1876 by hosting a local rally when he was Mayor. Stanley’s interest in foreign affairs had been partly stimulated by his friendship with the Ottomanophile diplomat, writer and MP David Urquhart (1805–77). Later, Stanley would write directly to the sultan suggesting agricultural reforms to aid the Empire, which the sultan took on board, sending three Turks to train in Germany on agricultural techniques.

It is not known how Stanley came to know of Quilliam and his community, but his biographer and descendant Christina Longden posits that this may well have come through his connections with Syrian, Moroccan, and Turkish tea traders in Manchester. Some correspondence from Stanley is recorded in The Crescent prior to his conversion. Moving to Manchester in 1897, he embraced Islam at the Liverpool Muslim Institute the following year. He played an active role in the life of the Institute, eventually becoming its Vice-President. He later retired to Stalybridge, passing away in 1911.

The most ubiquitous question concerns the fate of the first Muslim mosque community in Liverpool and their descendants and what happened to them. Often that story is buried: indeed, Robert Stanley's own descendants at one time had no clue about his story. But how they became aware of Robert is itself an interesting story. In retirement, Brian Longden – the maternal great-great-grandson of Stanley - decided to explore his family history. Unbeknown to the Longdens was a family secret about his ancestor. A relative passed on a copy of The Crescent from 3 April 1907, featuring a picture of Stanley wearing a fez (see attached), entitled “A Distinguished British Musselman”, alongside the self-same fez, which had been passed down through the family. Robert Stanley had converted to Islam in 1898 after hearing the preaching of Abdullah Quilliam (1856–1932)! What made this all the more remarkable for Brian was that his son Steven had previously converted to Islam in 1991, having had no idea about his illustrious Muslim forebearer.

In 2019, Stanley's great-great-great grand-daughter, Christina Longden, Steven's sister, brought out two books on Stanley. The first is an historical biography of his life and times, His Own Man, and the second is Imagining Robert, with 15 imagined scenes from his long life, based on the historical research from the first book. This includes two scenes with Abdullah Quilliam, one about Stanley’s conversion in Liverpool at the age of 69 and one depicting a seafront excursion to Liverpool with his grandson where they meet Quilliam.