• General Notes

  The TOWNELEY Genealogy
  Spartlingus first dean of Whalley was living in 896 and is the supposed founder of this family. The first so designated "Towneley" was Richard de Towneley circa 1200 His descendent Gilbert de la Legh was grandfather of Richard de Towneley.  In Anglo-Saxon times the churches of the area were controlled by the Bishops of Lichfield (80 miles to the South) and the parish of Whalley was managed locally by a Dean answerable only to the Bishop. The Dean appears to have been part vicar, part local lord, allowed to marry and to pass on his authority to his heirs. This situation carried on after the Normans arrived and the office of Dean of Whalley was not abolished until the 13th century. 

Details of first Dean of Whalley's family