On 21st July 1824 Edward Geoffrey Stanley landed in New York, after a sea passage of 37 days from Liverpool. Over the following eight months before his return to Britain he made a remarkable tour of eastern Canada and the young Republic of the United States of America, travelling by horse, carriage and boat, along tracks, lakes, and rivers.

In December 1820, at twenty-one years old, Edward Geoffrey Stanley began an extensive tour of continental Europe with a focus on Italy. By the time of his return to England twenty months later he had visited many of Italy's most celebrated sites of art and culture, as well as exploring the Swiss Alps and parts of Austria and Germany.