Caleb Robert Stanley was born at Brixton, London on 10 January 1795 and baptised at St George, Hanover Square on 31 January 1795, son of John Stanley and his wife Esther. Caleb married at Marylebone, London on 10 January 1817, Ann Miles. In 1851, Caleb was a 55-year-old 'artist landscape painter', living at Maddox Street, St George Hanover Square, London with his 60-year-old wife Ann and six children, Anne Esther 31, Jemima 30, Charles Horace 28 an historical painter, Archer 25 a landscape painter, Georgina 22 and Caleb 18 a scholar.

Caleb Robert Stanley was a landscape and topographical painter working in oil and watercolour. An exhibitor at the Royal Academy 1816-1863, the Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street; the Old (and New) Watercolour Society and he exhibited eighty-seven works at the British Institution. He also exhibited at the Suffolk Fine Arts Association at Ipswich in 1850 'Breaking Up of Clouds, a Cool Morning', his sons Archer and Charles were also exhibitors. Paintings by Stanley are held by the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Gallery, Dublin. Caleb Robert Stanley died at 27 Maddox Street, Regent Street, Kensington, London on 13 February 1868 and buried in Brompton Cemetery seven days later.