Military Figure. Francis was born in June 1709, the son of Charles Towneley of Towneley Hall, Burnley and his wife Ursula Fermor. A Roman Catholic, he joined the French army and fought under the Duke of Berwick at the battle of Philipsbourg. Returning to England, he was an early English recruit to Prince Charles Stuart's Army during the 1745 Rising. He was commissioned as Colonel of the Jacobite Manchester Regiment, which probably numbered 250 men. He marched south to Derby and remained in Carlisle when the main army continued to Scotland. He was awarded the Governorship of the city of Carlisle in December 1745. He was captured when the Jacobite forces surrendered, and after a trial where he relied on his French Commission, he was executed at Kennington, London, in July 1746. His body was buried in Old St Pancras churchyard while his head was placed on a spike on Temple Bar, London. The skull was later retrieved after a storm and held by the family for many years before being buried in St Peter's Church, Burnley.
Military Figure. Francis was born in June 1709, the son of Charles Towneley of Towneley Hall, Burnley and his wife Ursula Fermor. A Roman Catholic, he joined the French army and fought under the Duke of Berwick at the battle of Philipsbourg. Returning to England, he was an early English recruit to Prince Charles Stuart's Army during the 1745 Rising. He was commissioned as Colonel of the Jacobite Manchester Regiment, which probably numbered 250 men. He marched south to Derby and remained in Carlisle when the main army continued to Scotland. He was awarded the Governorship of the city of Carlisle in December 1745. He was captured when the Jacobite forces surrendered, and after a trial where he relied on his French Commission, he was executed at Kennington, London, in July 1746. His body was buried in Old St Pancras churchyard while his head was placed on a spike on Temple Bar, London. The skull was later retrieved after a storm and held by the family for many years before being buried in St Peter's Church, Burnley.
Bio by: Steven Robb
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