He entered the United Kingdom parliament for the Whig Party, and later commanded the 5th Royal Lancashire Militia.
[5] Another elder sister, Frances, married Thomas Stonor, 3rd Baron Camoys in 1821, and John would follow his older brother Charles closely.
[6] In August 1818, John joined Charles at the Roman Catholic seminary at St Mary's College, Oscott, studying there until Christmas 1824.
[1] When his brother Charles Towneley, raised the new 5th Royal Lancashire Militia in 1853, John was commissioned as one of the Captains.
)[15] The Towneley Chapel was added to the church of St Mary of the Assumption, Burnley, as a memorial to John and his son Richard.