Francis Billingsley on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Colonel Sir Francis Billingsley (1595–1646) was a Royalist officer in the
Sir Francis was from the Billingsley family of Astley Abbotts, Shropshire, and married Eleanor Kerry in 1616.
Amongst his siblings was the celebrated horseman Sir Thomas Billingsley. Another brother was Capt. John Billingsley, who supported Parliament during the Civil War and was brother-in-law to the Regicide Daniel Blagrave.
Amongst the children of Sir Francis and Eleanor were Francis Billingsley who served as a major in the Royalist army, and Capt. Edward Billingsley who married a daughter of another Royalist officer, Francis Sandford, and served in Ireland during the 1640s.Page 1045
A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of ..., Volume 2, By Sir Bernard Burke, ''...WALTER MOSELEY, ESQ...(son of Walter...by Dorothy his wife, dau. of Francis Billingsley, Esq. of Astley Abbots...''
English Civil War
The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...
. Placed in charge of the defences of Bridgnorth
Bridgnorth is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the United Kingd ...
in Shropshire
Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
, he was killed in the churchyard of St Leonard's when the town was stormed by Parliamentarian troops on 31 March 1646.
His rapier
A rapier () is a type of sword originally used in Spain (known as ' -) and Italy (known as '' spada da lato a striscia''). The name designates a sword with a straight, slender and sharply pointed two-edged long blade wielded in one hand. It wa ...
was presented to the church by one of his descendants (Lois Astley) and for many years was on display in the church. It was stolen in around 2000 and has not been recovered.
Family and background
Sir Francis was from the Billingsley family of Astley Abbotts, Shropshire, and married Eleanor Kerry in 1616.
Amongst his siblings was the celebrated horseman Sir Thomas Billingsley. Another brother was Capt. John Billingsley, who supported Parliament during the Civil War and was brother-in-law to the Regicide Daniel Blagrave.
Amongst the children of Sir Francis and Eleanor were Francis Billingsley who served as a major in the Royalist army, and Capt. Edward Billingsley who married a daughter of another Royalist officer, Francis Sandford, and served in Ireland during the 1640s.A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of ..., Volume 2, By Sir Bernard Burke, ''...WALTER MOSELEY, ESQ...(son of Walter...by Dorothy his wife, dau. of Francis Billingsley, Esq. of Astley Abbots...''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Billingsley, Francis Cavaliers English military personnel killed in action 1646 deaths 1595 births Military personnel from Shropshire