Townsley Coat of Arms & Origins of Name

Updated January 2007

When researching family history it would always be nice to find someone rich and famous. Sadly the odds against it are pretty high - even though some genealogists seem to do better than average! In the case of the Townsley families the highest point on the social ladder seems to have been a farmer - with Townsleys being recorded as hawkers, tinkers or travellers as well as the ever-present labourer. None of these social levels justified at coat of arms.We really need to branch out to find any higher status families. Some of the surname spellings that have been found with various degrees of possible Townsley connections are - Tounley, Tounsella, Tounsley, Tounesley, Towndeley, Towndely, Towndley, Townedley, Townelay, Towneley, Townelley, Townesley, Townlay, Townley, Townnsellee, Townslay and Townsly. These could be a source for some higher status families but even here some are just spelling differences or errors.

Townsley Origins

By far the earliest related record is from 1402 for a "John Tounesley, .. in the port of Kyngeston upon Hull" (from "Tracing the Towneleys 2004" see below).

After a big gap the next earliest entries that could be Townsley seem to be a series of Townesley births in Boston, Lincolnshire between 1562 and 1570. The next English reference is for a Robert Tounsley, the only listed parent, at the christening of children Ales (Alice), Samuell, Johne, Thomas and Johne in Blackfriars, London between 1575 and 1581. But then there is the marriage of Agnes Townesley to Thomas Keyes at Kempston, Bedfordshire in 1572 that seems unlinked to either. The next reference is for another Robert Townsley who seems to be the father of Edward (married 1613), Thomas (married 1616), George (married 1621) and William (christened 1601) in Howden, Yorkshire; also possibly the father of Margaret, who had a son Anthonie in 1613 at Howden. It is just possible that this could be the same Robert as the one recorded in London - but it seems unlikely. However it is quite possible that this Robert's family are the origins of many of the Townsleys in Yorkshire.

The Towndeley name appears in the registers of Didsbury, Lancashire from the marriage of William in 1578 but this family line seems to have become Townley by the early 1600's. In Lambourne, Essex there are 3 children born to Richard and Ann Townesley between 1613 and 1620 - with their surnames spelt as Townley, Tounley and Townsley respectively!

By the mid-1600 there are various Townsley references around England. But they do not appear until around 1750 in the Isle of Man, around 1790 in Ireland and 1800 in Scotland. How the Townsley name also appeared in Cumbria is unclear but this area could be the source of the migration to the Isle of Man and Ireland.

Surprisingly the earliest Townsley in North America seems to be a Richard Townsley who married at Salem, MA in May 1667. It could simply be a lack of records that explains why there are no earlier Townsley entries in Ireland or Scotland but even so it is very unlikely that the name goes back as far as it does in England. There seems to have been various movements of families around the British Isles, mostly due to economic pressures. The earliest ones have yet to be traced but later ones can be identified from the census.

The 1881 Census shows that no Townsleys remained in the Isle of Man but that some had appeared in Wales (from Scotland) and many had migrated from Ireland to England or Scotland. Also the itinerant Townsley tinkers appeared in several locations in Scotland and England.

Going back even earlier the only recorded families that could provide some potential sources of the Townsley name - are those that originate from the Town(e)ley family - the builders of Towneley Hall of Burnley, Lancashire. This family is the only one that I have found where the family trees have been recorded / researched from an early-enough date to provide the origins of the Townsley spelling of the surname. However this does not mean that such a connection can ever be made or indeed that there was just one source of all the Townley families.

Towneley Origins

The origins of the name and family can be summarised as -

According to one report King John granted the land "Towneley" or "Tunleia" (field belonging to the Tuni or, more likely, field belonging to the town) to Roger de Lacy, Constable of Chester - about 1195. The other version is that Roger inherited the land as part of his estates in Clitheroe and Pontefract.
Roger de Lacy gave the land in "Tunleia" to Geoffrey, Dean of Whalley, who had married his daughter - before 1211.
Richard, grandson of Geoffrey, inherited the land (about 1236) - then married widow Cecilia de Thunlay and combined estates
John de la Leigh married their daughter Cecilia and inherited the Towneley Estates - about 1295
Their son Sir Richard took the name - de Towneley (he was Sheriff of Lancaster from 1375 to 1379)
His son John de Towneley was the first recorded user of the currently accepted coat of arms. [But the same arms could also have been used by de la Leigh family - hence to the Dyneley surname? - see below]
The spelling of the name of the family and estate has been recorded as Towneley, Townley and Townly - even by family members - so spelling was not taken too seriously then (in the days before pedantic spell-checking software).

Towneley Family Tree

The Towneley family seems to have links - through marriage - to many of famous families of Britain. There are direct and indirect links to the Arundell, Bertie, Conyers, Darcy, Douglas-Hamilton, Fitzallen-Howard, Gordon-Lennox, Hamilton, Murray, Neville, Percy, Plantagenet, Spencer and Strangwayes families. These families have trees that include some famous British Dukes, Earls, Lords and Baronets - with links to both royalty and even George Washington. If complete, the tree would cover most of the nobility and peerage of Britain - so tracing all the branches could become a major task; if you include all the links through the female lines and the "in-law" trees. See the Strangways - Towneley GEDCOM file for a combined family tree including British Peerage and Landed Gentry - running from the Middle Ages to the 20th century - for an attempt at covering just the basics.

Towneley Family Branches

The "Tracing the Towneleys 2004 " report provides a excellent source for finding the documented family branches. It is available as a free download PDF from the Towneley pages at http://www.burnley.gov.uk/. The main family branches are / were -

Towneley of Towneley, Lancashire - is taken as the main tree. After the breakup of the estates in the 1800s it is often shown as Towneley of Dyneley - after a retained family property at Cliviger; also in the Burnley area. This line of the family mostly kept this "old" spelling for the surname - but even here they did sometimes drop the middle "e". All the families below are thought to be branches of this family.
Townley of Barnside - descends from Laurence; son of John and Isabel (nee Sherburne / Shireburne). Barnside is about 10 miles from Towneley near Colne.
Townley of Dutton - descends from John & Helen - with origins thought to go back to Richard de Towneley (d 1454). Descendants became the Townley of Belfield line with many present day members. Dutton is 14 miles from Towneley near Hurst Green and Ribchester.
Townley of Hurstwood - descends from Sir Richard of Towneley via 3rd son - John. Hurstwood is about 2 miles from Towneley.
Townley of Royle - descends from Nicholas; son of John and Isabel (nee Sherburne / Shireburne). Royle is about 3 miles from Towneley.
Townley of Oakenhead - descends from Henry of Barnside but had died out before 1664.
Townley of Stonehedge - descends from Laurence of Barnside and is the source of the American Townley-Warner line of Virginia. Stone Edge (modern spelling) is about 7 miles from Towneley. Warner Hall in Virginia is a preservation site.
Townley of Littleton, Surrey - descends from Edmund of Royle and is the source of the American Townley line of New Jersey. Littleton was near to what is now London's Heathrow airport.
Townley of Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire - said to descend from Nicholas - who founded the Royle branch.
Townley of Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland - descendants of Royalist Major Charles Townley who is linked to Athclare Castle (nr Dunleer) and was shot at Gowran Castle by Cromwellian soldiers in 1650. Same coat of arms as Townley of Fulbourn(e) and thought to have common ancestors. Townley Hall, Drogheda was designed and built by the architect Francis Johnston in about 1800, for Blayney Townley Balfour, a descendant of Charles Townley (via Henry Townley). [Thanks to descendants for this extra information - also note that this pre-dates any Townsley entries for Ireland]. Reference1 - "Charity Townley, relict of Major Charles Townley - whose petition is herewith enclosed- to be restored to the full and quiet possession of what lands and estate shall of right be found to belong to her, or her children in Ireland; reprisable persons being duly reprised." from the The King to the Lords Justices of Ireland Written from: Whitehall Date: 24 October 1661 In: Carte Calendar Volume 32 . Reference2 - High Sherrifs of County Louth - 1642/3/4 Anthony Townley; 1672 Henry Townley; 1694 Blayney Townley of Townley Hall; 1726 Harry Townley; 1761 Blayney Townley Balfour; 1771 Blayney Townley Balfour the Younger; 1793 Blayney Townley Balfour; 1824 James Thomas Townley Tisdall; 1841 Blayney Balfour jnr of Townley Hall, Dunleer; 1885 & 1908 Blayney Reynell Townley Balfour of Townley Hall, Drogheda; 1915 William Townley George Seymour Macartney-Filgate

So all that is needed now is an explanation of the origins of the Townsley - or even Townesley - family lines! Certainly some of the known Town(e)leys recorded above lived as far east as Otley in West Yorkshire by 1620 and West Yorkshire is where some of the earliest Townsleys are recorded. Also surnames with the middle "s" first appeared in London about the time that the Lancashire Townleys arrived - but this may be just because records only go back this far. However, due to phonetic spelling, there are several examples where the members of the same family have been recorded as both Town(e)ley and Town(e)sley in the same parish registers.

Towneley Estate Breakup

The death of John Towneley in 1878 caused the division of the Towneley estates between his four daughters and the three daughters of his late brother Charles. A private Act of Parliament in 1885 was necessary before the estate could be divided. During the intervening years, the Towneley estates became yet another "great English estate foisted on an unsuspicious public" by American lawyers looking for clients. The Consolidated Lawrence-Towneley Association was created to claim a share of the estate for its members who could claim family links and it had a membership of over 2,000. A description of their unsuccessful claims in the English courts, as reported in the local Burnley papers can be found in Leslie Chapples: Noblesse oblige: Chapter 16 (Burnley and District Historical Society); Burnley 1987. See also http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~tmark/TowneleyFraud.html

The Hall became the property of Lady O'Hagan - one the daughters mentioned above. Realising that she could not afford to maintain the building if she kept up her charity work, she sold the Hall to Burnley Corporation in 1902 - to be used as a museum and art gallery. Some parts of the estates still remain in private ownership. More details are likely to be found in - "The Towneleys of Towneley : a chronicle of the life and times of the later Towneleys" by Leslie Chapples (ASIN: 095054910X - out of print).

There are an increasing number of Towneley, Townley, Townsley references at National Register of Archives

For example -

Towneley, Lancashire
Towneley Co-operative Society Ltd, Towneley, Lancashire
Towneley Coal & Fireclay Co Ltd, Towneley, Lancashire
Towneley family of Dyneley, colliery owners Lancashire
Townley Co-operative Society, Townley, Durham
Townley Memorial Hall, Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire (link to Townley family below)
29 references to Townsley in Merchant Seaman records
150 references to Townsley in Medals records
171 references to Townsley in Armed Services records

And from the Location of Mines web site -

Owner

Name of Mine

Situation

Manager

Under-manager

Below

Above

Towneley Coal & Fireclay Co Ltd
Towneley Collieries, Burnley

Deanwood (clay)

Portsmouth

C Hugill

Discontinued 7/42

ditto

Towneley Demesne

ditto Boggart

ditto, Park

Towneley

ditto

FJB Brannan

J Cook

398

130

Family Arms and Crests

When looking for a relevant coat of arms to "adopt" there are a number of problems. First, arms were originally issued to one individual and so you can have several different ones for the same surname. Second, there are no recorded Townsleys who ever received their own arms. Despite this there are plenty of people offering to sell you a "Townsley coat of arms" - and it is normally one that is different to the ones shown below.

What seems to be happening with the "family crest" suppliers is that they do not have any Townsley arms recorded and so Tinsley is used as a substitute. According to "The General Armory" by Sir Bernard Burke, 1884, the arms for Tinsley (of Tinsley, Rotherham, Yorkshire) are - "Ar. a chev. between three wolves' heads erased gu". And this seems to be result given by almost all the suppliers if asked to supply arms for a Townsley. But since there are no known links between the Tinsley and Townsley families this is the wrong result.

Going back to "The General Armory" again these are the relevant entries -

Towneley (of Towneley, Lancashire); "Ar. a fesse sab.three mulletts in chief of the second", Crest - "On a perch or, a hawk close ppr. beaked and belled gold", Motto - "Tenez le vraye" - in other words the same as the one shown below.
Townley (of Lincolnshire); "Sa. three goats pass.ar. attired or."
Townley (of Royle, Lancashire); "Ar. a fesse sab. a mullett for the first, in chief three mulletts of the second" - in other words the Towneley arms with a central star.
Townley (of Fulbourne, Cambridgeshire); "Ar. a fesse sab.three mulletts in chief of the second", Crest - "On a perch, a hawk close ppr. beaked and belled for the first", Motto - "Probitas versus honos"
Townley (of Townhead, Lancashire); same arms
Townley (of Beaupre Hall, Norfolk); same arms and crest
Townley (of Dutton, Lancashire, 1664); same arms - "a rose ppr. on the fesse for diff." - in other words the Towneley arms with a central rose.
Townsley; no entries

Only the Lincolnshire branch had arms that were different to the three stars (mulletts) over a black bar (fesse sable) used by the other Town(e)ley familes - and so you have a choice of 3 stars or 3 goats for your family emblem!

	Towneley of Towneley - Arms, Crest and Motto - images from Towneley Hall and Towneley Hall Society web sites
	Silver background, a black horizontal stripe with three black stars at the top
	The family's motto - Hold to the Truth - is now the motto of Burnley Borough Council

A "Townsley" Coat of Arms
from a letter - circulated in 1994 - promoting a "World Book of Townsleys" + free colour print!

And the same coat of arms appears as the "pub" sign of the Dyneley Arms Hotel at Pool in Wharfedale, Yorkshire (the pub has since closed but the arms were still carved above the doorway when I last checked)

I did not know of any connection between the Dyneley and Towneley names - until I found that Dyneley (a house at Cliviger near Burnley) was also the recent home of the Towneley family. Lady Mary Towneley of Dyneley died in February 2001 and is buried in the churchyard of St John's, Holme-in-Cliviger.

There may also be a family link that is mentioned in this extract from a local story - "Edmund Spenser's Shepheardes Calender earned him a place amongst the giants of English literature. This work, as well as The Faerie Queen, delighted Queen Elizabeth I. The hamlet of Hurstwood today is unspoiled and Spenser would still recognise Hurstwood Hall and the cottage owned by his relatives. While living at this cottage young Spenser courted Rose Dyneley, a member of the Towneley family, but the lass preferred another."

The name Dyneley may have derived from De La Leigh - ancestors of the Towneley line. However there was also a Dyneley family in the locality of the hotel at Pool (and so at least 50 miles from Burnley) well before the hotel was built - and the arms may have been simply copied from some at Dyneley house.

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