Robert Stanard

Robert Stanard
Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court
In office January 19, 1839 – May 14, 1846
Preceded by	William Brockenbrough
Succeeded by	William Daniel
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Richmond City
In office 1835–1837
Preceded by	Chapman Johnson
Succeeded by	unknown
16th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates
In office 1816–1817
Preceded by	Andrew Stevenson
Succeeded by	Linn Banks
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates from Spotsylvania County
In office 1808–1817
Preceded by	Hugh T. Mercer
Succeeded by	Garrett Minor
Personal details
Born	(1781-08-17)August 17, 1781 Spotsylvania County, Virginia, U.S.
Died	May 14, 1846(1846-05-14) (aged 64) Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Political party	Whig (from 1835)
Other political affiliations	Independent (1813-1835) Democratic-Republican (1808-1813)
Spouse	Jane Stith Craig Stanard ​ ​ (m. 1812; died 1824)​
Children	4
Alma mater	College of William and Mary
Occupation	Lawyer, judge, politician

Robert Stanard (August 17, 1781 – May 14, 1846) was a Virginia lawyer, judge and political figure. He was the 16th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates and later a judge on the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

The son of William Stanard and Elizabeth Carter, Robert Stanard was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, on August 17, 1781. In 1798, he attended the College of William and Mary,^[1] where he studied law. Stanard subsequently began the private practice of law, and eventually became a notable figure in the Richmond legal community.^[2] From 1816 to 1817, he was elected as the 16th Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1817, he became the United States Attorney for the District of Virginia.

Stanard was later selected as a member of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829-1830, which revised the Constitution of Virginia. His contribution to the convention were well received and increased his prominence. In 1839, he was elected to the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, upon the death of Judge William Brockenbrough. He remained on that court until his death in 1846.^[2]

The town of Stanardsville, Virginia, is named after him.

Stanard married Jane Stith Craig on February 13, 1812, and fathered four children; Robert Craig (b. May 17, 1814), William Beverly (b. March 15, 1819), Mary Elizabeth (b. 1822) and Jane Stith (b. 1822). His son, Robert Craig Stanard, was a childhood friend of poet Edgar Allan Poe, and Jane Stith Craig was the subject of Poe's poem "To Helen". She died on April 28, 1824, at the age of 33 or 34, and Stanard never remarried. She is known posthumously as "Poe's Helen".

• Virginia House of Delegates Clerk's Office. "Robert Stanard". House History. Virginia House of Delegates Clerk's Office. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
• The Political Graveyard

• Jane Stith Craig Stanard at Find a Grave