John Stanley was born in London on 17 January 1712. At about the age of two, he fell on a marble hearth with a china basin in his hand, an accident which left him almost blind.He began studying music at the age of seven. Under the guidance of Maurice Greene, composer and organist at St. Paul's Cathedral, he studied "with great diligence, and a success that was astonishing" (Burney). At the age of nine he played the organ, probably as an occasional deputy, at All Hallows, Bread Street. When he was eleven years old, Stanley was appointed organist to the church at a salary of £20 per annum.

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