During the English Civil War he liberally contributed money to the royal cause, raised troops at his own expense, and served in the field.
In February 1644 he left Oxford with introductions from the king and Lord Digby for Ireland, where he applied to Ormonde to send troops for the relief of Cumberland.
[3] At the Battle of Wigan Lane, Lancashire, 26 August 1651, he was taken prisoner, and after trial by court-martial at Chester he was beheaded in that city on 22 October, despite his plea that he had quarter for life given him.
In June 1661 two other sons, Philip and John, were obliged to petition for places as pages to the queen ‘to lessen the charges of their mother, who was brought very low by the late times’.
In the chancel of Kirkoswald Church is a monument to the memory of Sir Timothy erected by his grandson Thomas.