Col. Richard Townley

Colonel Richard Townley (died 1711) was born in England probably at Astlam (Astleham) Manor in Littleton (formerly in Middlesex, today in Surrey).[1] He was the eighth son of Nicholas Townley of Littleton and Joanne White.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Townley

He emigrated to Virginia in the suite of Lord Effingham, Governor of Virginia in 1683. He settled in the Elizabethtown, New Jersey area and married his 2nd wife, Elizabeth Carteret (née. Smith), widow of the first governor of New Jersey Philip Carteret in 1685.[2]

Townley was one of the East New Jersey Provincial Council during the administration of deputy governor Lord Neill Campbell in 1686. In 1692 and 1697 he was a member of the New York Provincial Council but was accused by New York Governor Lord Bellomont of attending neither.

At the time of his death in April 1711, Richard Townley was Presiding Judge of the Court of Quarter Sessions for Essex County.[3] He left two sons, Charles and Effingham.[4]

Sources

1. The Mystery Solved: Facts Relating to the "Lawrence-Townely," "Chase-Townely," Marriage and Estate Question, with Genealogical Information Concerning the Families of Townley, Chase, Lawrence, Stephens, Stevens, and Other Families of America (Google eBook) Frank Alden Hill Avery, 1888 - 94 pages

Links

• http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njmorris/passaicvalley/townley.htm

notes

• _________________
• 'History of Elizabeth, New Jersey: Including the Early History of Union County (1868)
• http://archive.org/details/historyelizabet00hatfgoog
• http://archive.org/stream/historyelizabet00hatfgoog#page/n119/mode/1up
• Pg. 110
• Capt. PHILIP CARTERET, the governor;
• http://archive.org/stream/historyelizabet00hatfgoog#page/n120/mode/1up
• Pg. 111
• son of Helier De Carteret & Rachel; born 1639
• http://archive.org/stream/historyelizabet00hatfgoog#page/n204/mode/1up
• Pg. 195
• marriage April 1681, to 'Elizabeth, the widow of Capt. William Lawrence, of Tew's Neck, L. I. who had died in 1680, in the 58th year of his age. Mrs. Carteret was the daughter of Richard Smith, patentee of Smithtown, L. I., and brought with her, to this town seven children: Mary, Thomas, Joseph, Richard, Samuel, Sarah, and James. Samuel died Aug. 16, 1687, aged 15 years, and Thomas, Oct. 26, 1687, aged 19 years; and both were buried in the rear of the meeting-house.
• http://archive.org/stream/historyelizabet00hatfgoog#page/n285/mode/1up
• Pg. 274
• 'RICHARD TOWNLEY took up his abode here as early as 1684. He was the 8th son of Nicholas Townley, of Littleton, Eng., and of Joanna White .... before he had made himself so agreeable to Mrs. Gov. Carteret, as to receive herself and fortune, in 1685, by marriage. He had, probably, been married in early life ; and Mary Townley, who married Mrs. Carteret's eldest son, Joseph Lawrence, is thought to have been his daughter. It is not certain, but quite likely, that his daughter, Mrs. Shackmaple, was also, by a former marriage. As Mrs. Carteret's first marriage took place in 1664, she must have been about 40 years of age, at the time of her third marriage.
• __________________________

From Mystery Solved

CHAPTER VI. ELIZABETH LAWRENCE ALIAS CARTERET ALIAS TOWNLEY, AND HER SON JOSEPH LAWRENCE, TOGETHER WITH SOME MENTION OF JOHN, THOMAS, AND WILLIAM LAWRENCE OF LONG ISLAND.

From the fact that widow Elizabeth Lawrence became the wife of Sir Philip Carteret in 1681, the year after the decease of her first husband, and that, a short time after the decease in 1682 of her second husband, she married Richard Townley (who did not die until the latter part 0f 1707), it seems reason,.. able to suppose that her children nee Lawrence, who were still young, lived with her in the home of her third husband, and grew up with the children nee Townley of this third marriage. As it was quite natural that Richard Townley should have christened his eldest son Effingham, in remembrance of his friend Lord Howard, Baron of Effingham, in whose suite he came to America, it follows quite as naturally, that, out of regard for Effingham Townley, his Christian name should have been given to the grandson of his half-brother, Joseph Lawrence, and have come down through successive generations of both families.

The descendants of Joseph Lawrence, because Effingham has been used as a Christian name in their family, have looked upon that fact as of much importance in support of their tradition that their ancestor married Mary Towneley, daughter of Sir Richard Towneley of Lancashire, as they have believed that Dorothy Towneley (sister to Mary) married Francis Lord Howard, Baron of Effingham, which was not the case, as is shown below. ....

Richard (Col.) Towneley

• Birth: October 10, 1629 Townley Hall, Burnley, Lancashire, England, UK
• Death: 1711 Elizabeth, Union, NJ, USA
• Parents: Charles Townley and Mary Trappes-Byrnand
• Wife: Mary Margaret Paston
• Children: Clement Towneley; Charles Towneley; Mary Ann Dorothy Towneley; John Towneley; Frances Towneley; Richard Towneley; Margaret Towneley; Cecily Towneley; Thomas Towneley; Mary C. Lawrence and Richard Towneley