Background
As the second son of Sir William Flower, Stanley took an early interest in natural history and from the age of eleven regularly attended the meetings of the Zoological Society with his father.
As the second son of Sir William Flower, Stanley took an early interest in natural history and from the age of eleven regularly attended the meetings of the Zoological Society with his father.
As a youth Flower was educated at Rottingdean and Wellington College, Berkshire. With his regiment he went to India and the Straits Settlements, where he studied the fauna.
After leaving Wellington, Stanley went to King"s College London for a brief time, but joined the Artists" Rifles in 1888. in 1890 he obtained a regular commission with the Northumberland Fusiliers. He spent two years in Siam, where he was in charge of the Zoological Museum in Bangkok. He took several trips in Siam and the Malay Peninsula to study the vertebrate fauna.
Flower left Bangkok in 1898 because he was appointed by Lord Cromer to the post of Director of the Zoological Gardens in Giza.
With the exception of military service during the 1914–1918 war, Flower remained as director until his retirement in 1924. While in the post of director, Flower went on many trips.
In 1913 Field-Marshal Lord Kitchener sent him to India to report on the collections of wild animals held in captivity there. In World War I, Flower organized and commanded the Transport Corps in the Suez Canal Zone, the Sinai, and southern Palestine.
While he was in Egypt, Flower organized the Zoological Museum in a building at the Gardens, started the Fish Garden with aquarium on Gezira Island, and was appointed Ranger of Central Africa.
He established and enforced game laws in Egypt and the Sudan. During his retirement, he wrote many papers on the mammals, reptiles, and amphibians of Egypt and on animal longevity. He was vice-president of the Zoological Society from 1927–1929 and chair of the British Ornithologists" Club from 1930–1933.