Apart from the old canard about this tool being used for butcher's blocks,
the origin of Stanley's "Block Plane" is vague.

I was searching for "straight/strike block plane" (a low angle
wooden bodied plane), which I though might be a precursor.

I found this page in a 1864 French-English-German dictionary;

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_z4KAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA293&dq=%22block+p
lane%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwig18m9oYLOAhUrJcAKHfLEArwQ6AEILDAA#v=onepage&q=%22
block%20plane%22&f=false">https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=_z4KAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA
293&dq=%22block+plane%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwig18m9oYLOAhUrJcAKHfLEArwQ6AEILDA
A#v=onepage&q=%22block%20plane%22&f=false

It is the page for Rabot (of course) and includes my search target

Rabot à écorner - straight block plane - Vergatthobel

But a little further up I see;

Rabot debout - small plane of block makers - Shruffhobel

SMALL PLANE OF BLOCK MAKERS!!

Can anyone more linguistically advantaged than me comment on the French
or German names here?

   BugBear