John Towneley was an English Whig politician.

He was elected at the 1841 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1841

-Seats summary:-Whig MPs who lost their seats:*Viscount Morpeth - Chief Secretary for Ireland*Sir George Strickland, Bt*Sir Henry Barron, 1st Baronet-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987...

 as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Beverley

Beverley (UK Parliament constituency)

Beverley has been the name of a parliamentary constituency in the East Riding of Yorkshire for three separate periods. From medieval times until 1869, it was a parliamentary borough, consisting solely of the market town of Beverley, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons...

, and held the seat until he did not stand at the 1852 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1852

The July 1852 United Kingdom general election was a watershed election in the formation of the modern political parties of Britain. Following 1852, the Tory/Conservative party became, more completely, the party of the rural aristocracy, while the Whig/Liberal party became the party of the rising...

.

Personal Life

A son of Peregrine Edward Towneley of Towneley Hall and Charlotte Drummond. He married Lucy Tichborne, the daughter of Henry Joseph Tichborne

Tichborne Case

The affair of the Tichborne claimant was the celebrated 19th-century legal case in the United Kingdom of Arthur Orton , an imposter who claimed to be Sir Roger Tichborne , the missing heir to the Tichborne Baronetcy....

, (the 8th Baronet

Tichborne Baronets

There have been two Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Tichborne, both in the Baronetage of England. Both creations are extinct....

) and Anne Burke on the 28th October 1840. He inherited the Towneley estates, including the Lordship of Bowland

Lordship of Bowland

The Lordship of Bowland, an ancient English title connected with the Forest of Bowland in the northwest of England, was once thought lost and was only recently rediscovered. It disappeared from sight in 1885 when the estates of the Towneleys, one of Lancashire’s great aristocratic families, were...

, upon the death of his brother Colonel Charles Towneley in 1876. As John's only son Richard died before he did, it became necessary to divide the estate
between the seven daughters of the two men, requiring a private Act of Parliament.

Like his brother, he also served in the 5th Royal Lancashire Militia, being promoted to Lt. Colonel in 1863.