The following notes and links are just a basic starting point for anyone researching a few of the Townsley families that are thought have moved from England to the USA or Canada.
One provisional family tree includes a David Townsley who went to the US about 1849 and served in the Civil War; along with his sons William (a prisoner at Andersonville) and Thomas -
Descendants of Thomas Townsley Added Dec 2002
1 Thomas Townsley b: Abt. November 1764 Brotherton, Yorkshire d: 26 April
1818 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire
. +Elizabeth Midgley b: Abt. 1767 Drax, Yorkshire ? m: 25 November 1788 Drax,
Yorkshire
... 2 William Townsley b: Abt. October 1789 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire d: 25
December 1789
... 2 Mary Townsley b: Abt. March 1791 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire
... 2 Jonathan Townsley b: Abt. January 1794 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire
... 2 William Townsley b: Abt. January 1797 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire d: 12 March
1797
... 2 Francis Townsley b: Abt. February 1798 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire d: Abt.
1859
....... +Hannah Bailey b: Abt. 1805 Harden, Yorkshire m: 1 February 1829
Bradford, Yorkshire d: Abt. 1865
......... 3 Thomas Townsley b: Abt. October 1830 Keighley, Yorkshire d: Bef.
1881
............. +Mary x b: Abt. 1827 Ann Royd, Midgley, Yorkshire m: Abt. 1853
......... 3 David Midgley Townsley b: Abt. July 1832 Cullingworth, Yorkshire d:
Abt. February 1876 Bradford, Yorkshire
............. +Elizabeth x b: Abt. 1832 Bradford, Yorkshire ? m: Abt. November
1855 Bradford, Yorkshire d: 21 July 1870 Whetley Lane, Bradford, Yorkshire
......... 3 Jonathan Townsley b: Abt. May 1834 Cullingworth, Yorkshire d: Bef.
1907
............. +Caroline Nelson b: Abt. 1849 Wistow, Selby (Selby Wilton) m: Abt.
February 1870 Bradford, Yorkshire d: Abt. 1910
......... 3 John Townsley b: Abt. August 1838 Cullingworth, Yorkshire d: 22 May
1895 22 Silver Street, Bradford, Yorkshire
............. +Mary x b: Abt. 1839 Heaton, Bradford, Yorkshire m: Abt. 1860 d:
Abt. 1899
......... 3 x Townsley b: Abt. 1840 Cullingworth, Bingley, Yorkshire ?
......... 3 Francis Townsley b: Abt. 1842 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire d: Abt.
February 1890 Shipley, Yorkshire
............. +Ann Bell Akam b: Abt. 1843 Bradford, Yorkshire m: Abt. 1864 d:
Aft. 1891 Father: William Kendale Akam Mother: Elizabeth Bell
......... 3 Septimus Townsley b: Abt. May 1844 Bradford, Yorkshire
... 2 Martha Townsley b: Abt. April 1801 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire
... 2 Elizabeth Townsley b: Abt. December 1805 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire d: 27
October 1855 Leeds, Yorkshire
... 2 Ann Townsley b: 8 June 1809 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire
....... +John Nelson b: Abt. 1810 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire ? m: 23 November 1835
Wistow, Yorkshire
... 2 David Townsley b: 8 June 1809 Wistow, Selby, Yorkshire d: 12 October 1862
Pennsylvania, USA
....... +Elizabeth Pemberton b: Abt. October 1816 Baildon, Yorkshire m: 12 May
1839 Leeds, Yorkshire d: 23 August 1884 Hamilton Co, Nebraska, USA Father:
Thomas Pemberton Mother: Sarah Whitaker
......... 3 William Townsley b: Abt. May 1841 Leeds, Yorkshire d: 16 September
1920 Howard, Nebraska, USA
............. +Ruanna D Beacom b: 30 May 1850 Sardis, Westmoreland,
Pennsylvania, USA m: Abt. 1873 Pennsylvania, USA ? d: 19 January 1922 Father:
James Beacom Mother: Susanna Hill
......... 3 Hannah Townsley b: Abt. August 1843 Leeds, Yorkshire d: 31 October
1847 Leeds, Yorkshire
......... 3 Thomas Townsley b: Abt. February 1846 Hunslet, Leeds, Yorkshire d:
Aft. 1915 Nebraska, USA ?
............. +Rebecca Reamaley b: Abt. 1843 Pennsylvania, USA m: Abt. 1868
Pennsylvania, USA ? d: Aft. 1880
......... *2nd Wife of Thomas Townsley:
............. +Elizabeth Grey m: Abt. 1915
......... 3 Fred Townsley b: 22 August 1850 Pennsylvania, USA
......... 3 Hannah Townsley b: 26 March 1853 Pennsylvania, USA
......... 3 Hattie Elizabeth Townsley b: 19 October 1855 Pennsylvania, USA
............. +John Proud m: 1 April 1876
George Townsley of Brotherton - a son of Charles and Elizabeth Townsley; inhabitants of Brotherton, then Knottingley in Yorkshire. He moved to Canada in the 1880s or 1890s and has present day descendants in Gettysburg and Massachusetts as well as Ontario, Canada.
Current Townsley families in Canada | Family History Home Page | e-mail townsleyb at btinternet.com