Francis Towneley (original) (raw)

Francis Towneley (9 June 1709 – 30 July 1746) was an English Catholic and supporter of the exiled House of Stuart or Jacobite. After service with the French army from 1728 to 1734, he returned to England and took part in the Jacobite Rising of 1745. He was appointed colonel of the Manchester Regiment, the only significant English formation to take part in the rebellion. Captured at Carlisle in December 1745, he was convicted of treason and executed at Kennington Common, London in July 1746.