Hartley Stansfield was born on 23 November 1839 at Mitton Houses, Barrowford. His parents were George and Ellen Stansfield, and at the time of Hartley's birth, George was a weaver.

Hartley seemed to change career frequently. Virtually every time we've found a reference to him, he was doing something else. By the time of his marriage in 1860 to Sarah Tattersall, Hartley had moved to Burnley and was a cotton power loom weaver. Ten years later, in 1870, at the birth of their daughter Margaret Jane, Hartley had become a woollen draper. (We had noticed at the time of their marriage that Hartley's father-in-law, Benjamin Tattersall, was a draper (master). Perhaps Hartley was working in his father-in-law's shop, or had inherited the business.) The next reference we find to Hartley is the 1881 census, when he is described as a General Draper. However, by the time of the next census in 1891 Hartley had become a Master Plumber and Gas Fitter.

Then came probably the biggest change of his life. Sometime during the 1890s, Hartley and Sarah moved to Blackpool, where they became boarding house keepers, at 5 Dean Street, South Shore. We've gained this information from Hartley's death certificate. He died on 25 February 1899 of 'Natural Causes', aged 60. Hartley didn't leave a will, but from the Letters of Administration, we have found out that he left an estate of £1,196.11.9, which is the equivalent of £76,029 in the year 2000.

His wife Sarah, continued to live in Blackpool. By the time of her death in 1918, she was living with a married daughter, Ada Pickup at 5 Gainsboro' Road. Sarah did leave a will, which we have put on this website. She left an estate valued at £183.18.6, which was divided evenly between her four surviving children. There were also one or two personal things that went to her two daughters.

Hartley and Sarah Stansfield were both taken back to Burnley to be buried, at Burnley Cemetery, Grave No. 4866. Also buried in this grave were two of their daughters, Anne who died in 1874 in infancy and Margaret Jane Duerden, who died in 1938.