Francis Towneley

Towneley Hall in Towneley Park, Burnley

Francis Towneley (1709–July 30, 1746), was an English Jacobite who was executed for his role in the rebellion of 1745.

Early life

He was the sixth son of Charles Towneley of Towneley Hall, Lancashire, by his wife Usula, daughter of Phillip Fermor of Tusmore, Oxfordshire.

His family were Roman Catholics and Jacobite supporters. His father and grandfather had been implicated in the plot to secure the return to the English throne of King James II in 1690 that resulted in the Battle of the Boyne.[1] His eldest brother, Richard, joined the rebel army under Thomas Forster at Preston in 1715, and was taken prisoner at the surrender of that town. Richard was tried, but after an expensive defence, the jury found him not guilty.[1]

Towneley went to France in 1728, where Jacobite sympathisers found him a commission in the royal service. He stayed with the French for more than a decade, distinguishing himself at the siege of Philippsburg in 1734 during the War of the Polish Succession, under James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick."

Rebellion

A few years before 1745 he returned to England. Shortly before the rebellion broke out king Louis XV of France, imagining Towneley might be of service in promoting the invasion of England, sent him a colonel's commission to enable him to raise forces, and to assist his ally Charles Edward Stuart in his expedition to Scotland. Towneley went to Manchester, and for several months was a guest among the Jacobites of the area.

Towneley joined Prince Charles and his highland army a few days before they reached Manchester, and entered the town with the prince. A colonel's commission was given him, and all who joined the rebellion in England were to serve under him as the Manchester regiment. A few gentlemen of the town volunteered, and were made officers, but most of the rest, about three hundred in total, received payment. Towneley and the Manchester regiment accompanied the prince to Derby, and in the retreat from that place as far as Carlisle. He was made commandant under Hamilton, the governor of the town, and was ordered to remain there to defend it with his regiment, now only 114 in all, and with about twice the number of Scottish troops, while the prince and his army continued their retreat into Scotland.

Capture and execution

Much against the wish of Townley, who preferred to fight his way out, Hamilton surrendered to Prince William, Duke of Cumberland on 30 December, on the only terms the duke would grant them, ‘that they should not be put to the sword, but be reserved for the king's pleasure.’ At his trial in London on 13 July 1746, Towneley's plea that as a French officer he should be treated as a prisoner of war was disallowed. He was found guilty of high treason and was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

Townley's execution took place at Kennington Common on 30 July. However by now executioners possessed some discretion as to how much the condemned should suffer before death. Townley was killed before his body was eviscerated. His head was placed on a pike on Temple Bar. It was eventually secretly removed and has since been in possession of the Towneley family. The skull is now preserved in the chapel at Towneley Hall. Towneley's body was buried in an unmarked grave on 31 July either in the church or churchyard of St. Pancras, London

Jacobites of the time used Towneley's name in a number of ballads, most notably 'Townley's Ghost'. The 2007 children’s book How The Hangman Lost His Heart, although a work of fiction, uses the execution as a backdrop to the story.

References

Notes
  1. 1 2 Tracing the Towneleys 2004
Bibliography
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Towneley, Francis". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. 

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