Editing Charles Townley (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Bust of Charles Townley (1735-1805 CE), by Christopher Hewetson, Rome, 1769 CE. Collector and Trustee of the British Museum. It is housed in the British Museum, London.JPG|thumb|Bust of Charles Townley (1735–1805), by [[Christopher Hewetson]], [[British Museum]]]]
Charles Townley was born in England at [[Towneley Hall]], the family seat, near [[Burnley]] in Lancashire, on 1 October 1737.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=Towneley, Charles |volume=27 |page=111}}</ref> He was the eldest son of William Towneley (1714–1741) and Cecilia, daughter and heiress of [[Standish family|Ralph Standish]] of [[Standish, Greater Manchester|Standish, Lancashire]], and granddaughter of [[Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk]].<ref name=DNB>{{cite DNB|wstitle=Towneley, Charles|volume=57}}</ref> From a Catholic family and thus excluded both from public office and from English universities,<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Test Acts|volume=26|pages=665–666}}</ref> he was educated at the [[English College, Douai]], and subsequently under [[John Turberville Needham]], the biologist and [[Roman Catholic]] priest.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1758 he came of age and took up his residence at Towneley Hall,<ref>{{cite web | title=Towneley Hall |website=Burnley Borough Council |date=1 January 2017 |url=http://www.burnley.gov.uk/towneley/ }}</ref> where he made improvements to his estate. In 1765 he left England on the [[Grand Tour]], where he established a base in Rome.<ref name="EB1911"/> He also visited Florence,  [[Southern Italy]] and Sicily.<ref name=DNB /> He returned to London in 1772, but continued to make occasional visits to Italy until 1780.<ref name=DNB /> In conjunction with various dealers, including [[Gavin Hamilton (artist)|Gavin Hamilton]], and [[Thomas Jenkins (antiquary)|Thomas Jenkins]], a dealer in antiquities in Rome, he got together a splendid collection of antiquities,<ref name="EB1911"/> known especially for the "Townley Marbles" (or "Towneley"),<ref>{{cite book|title=Collectors &amp; Collections|publisher=British Museum|date=1977|page=40}}</ref> which was deposited in 1778 in a house built for the purpose in Park Street, now No. 14 [[Queen Anne's Gate]], in the West End of London, where he died on 8 January 1805.<ref name="EB1911"/>

His solitary publication was an account of the [[Ribchester Helmet]] in ''[[Vetusta Monumenta]]'', a Roman cavalry helmet found near Towneley Hall,<ref name="EB1911"/>{{sfn|Wroth|1899|pp=97–98}} and now in the British Museum.<ref name="bm">{{Cite web| title=Cavalry sports helmet | url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/c/cavalry_sports_helmet.aspx | publisher=[[British Museum]] | access-date=1 September 2010 }}</ref> He was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in March 1791.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://royalsociety.org/Lists-of-Royal-Society-Fellows-1660-2007/ |title=Lists of Royal Society Fellows 1660–2007 |publisher=The Royal Society |access-date=19 July 2010 |location=London |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324095152/http://royalsociety.org/Lists-of-Royal-Society-Fellows-1660-2007/ |archive-date=24 March 2010 }}</ref> He became a member of the [[Society of Dilettanti]] 1786, and made a [[List of trustees of the British Museum|trustee of the British Museum]] in 1791.{{sfn|Wroth|1899|pp=97–98}}

A large archive of Townley's papers, including diaries, account books, bills, correspondence, and catalogues, was acquired by the British Museum in 1992.

A bust of Townley was made in Carrara marble in 1807 by his associate and friend, sculptor [[Joseph Nollekens]].  It shows Townley in herm form – head and neck only, without full shoulders or arms – with a bare neck, dishevelled hair and a pensive expression.  The [[National Heritage Memorial Fund]], in whose 2008-9 annual report the bust is described as "masterfully executed", made a grant of £187,000 to help purchase the bust so that it could be returned to Towneley Hall Museum in the collector's former family home on the outskirts of Burnley.