Blind from birth, he received an education, and studied music under Edward Miller, also of Doncaster.
[2] Around 1790 Linley held the post of organist at St. James's Chapel, Pentonville, London.
He remained there several years, returning to England in 1799, and died, aged 26, at his mother's house in Doncaster, on 15 September 1800.
[2] 'Francis Linley 1770–1800' by Andrew Pink, in Le Monde maçonnique des Lumières (Europe-Amériques) Dictionnaire prosopographique.
Charles Porset and Cécile Révauger (eds) Paris: Editions Champion, 2013.