Mr Rowland Edwin Stanley ¹ was born in Milverton, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England in early 1890 ².

He was the son of John Albert Stanley (b. 1855), a veterinary surgeon, and Miriam Anne Morris (3) (b. 1857), both natives of Leamington Spa who were married in Birmingham on 23 December 1882. Their known children, besides Rowland, were: Albert (b. circa 1880), Norah (1882-1925), William Percy (b. circa 1883), Olive Elise (1884-1884) and Guy Alick (1885-1947).

Rowland and his family appear on the 1891 census living as lodgers at 7 South View Terrace in Holdenhurst, Bournemouth, Hampshire, later residing at 287 Christchurch Road in Boscombe. Rowland's father passed away here on 1 October 1899 and his mother died less than a year later on 18 May 1900. When Rowland next appeared on the 1901 census, he was an inmate at St Joseph's Boys Orphanage in Romsey.

Rowland and his brother reportedly emigrated to Cleveland, Ohio around 1904 and his brother Albert was married in 1910 to Jessie Mabel Crease (b. 1889 in England). He reportedly returned to England to visit relatives in 1910 and was shown on the 1911 census (listed as Edward Roland) living at the Railway Hotel in Swanage, Dorset where he was employed as a boots steward to a licensed victualler, Alfred Fowles.

Rowland was returning to Cleveland with the brother of his sister-in-law, Ernest James Crease. They boarded the Titanic at Southampton as third class passengers (Edwin on ticket number 45380 which cost £8, 1s) and Rowland described himself as a porter.

Rowland Stanley was lost in the sinking; his body, if recovered, was never identified. Initial reports suggested that Rowland was not aboard Titanic, to the relief of his family, but the truth of matters soon emerged.

His brother Albert remained living in Ohio where he worked for the Ford Motor Company. With his wife Jessie he had three children: Florence (b. 1913), Evelyn (b. 1916) and Rowland (1918-1937) but they were later divorced and he remarried a French lady named Marie Mounicot (b. 1895) but had no further children. What became of him is not certain although it is believed he remained in Ohio and possibly died in the 1960s.

His brother Guy later worked as a plumber, married a lady named Eleanor Emma Bayliss (1886-1955) and had a daughter. He died in Worcestershire in 1947.

His sister Norah was married to John William Wiseman (1883-1923), a joiner, and raised a family. She died in Southampton in 1925 aged 43.