See Sculptors.
On 3rd September 1780 John Francis was born.
Around 1800 John Francis [aged 19] became a student of Francis Leggatt Chantrey [aged 18] and Samuel Joseph [aged 9].
On 22nd June 1801 John Francis [aged 20] and Mary Evetts [aged 21] were married at Thornham, Norfolk.
In 1809 [his daughter] Mary Francis was born to John Francis [aged 28] and [his wife] Mary Evetts [aged 29]. She married 1840 Thomas Thornycroft and had issue.
In 1820 John Francis [aged 39] exhibited a bust of Thomas William Coke 1st Earl of Leicester at the Royal Academy.
In 1822 John Francis [aged 41] was living at 2 Norfolk Street Park Lane. At this time he exhibted a bust of Horatia Nelson [aged 20].
Before 1840 [his future son-in-law] Thomas Thornycroft [aged 24] became a student of John Francis [aged 59]. He subsequently married his daughter Mary Francis [aged 30].
In 1840 [his son-in-law] Thomas Thornycroft [aged 24] and Mary Francis [aged 31] were married. She the daughter of John Francis [aged 59] and Mary Evetts [aged 60].
In 1841 the Census shows [his granddaughter] Frances Mary Claxton [aged 13] living with John Francis [aged 60]
William of Worcester's Chronicle of England
William of Worcester, born around 1415, and died around 1482 was secretary to John Fastolf, the renowned soldier of the Hundred Years War, during which time he collected documents, letters, and wrote a record of events. Following their return to England in 1440 William was witness to major events. Twice in his chronicle he uses the first person: 1. when writing about the murder of Thomas, 7th Baron Scales, in 1460, he writes '… and I saw him lying naked in the cemetery near the porch of the church of St. Mary Overie in Southwark …' and 2. describing King Edward IV's entry into London in 1461 he writes '… proclaimed that all the people themselves were to recognize and acknowledge Edward as king. I was present and heard this, and immediately went down with them into the city'. William’s Chronicle is rich in detail. It is the source of much information about the Wars of the Roses, including the term 'Diabolical Marriage' to describe the marriage of Queen Elizabeth Woodville’s brother John’s marriage to Katherine, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, he aged twenty, she sixty-five or more, and the story about a paper crown being placed in mockery on the severed head of Richard, 3rd Duke of York.
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In 1851 the Census shows [his granddaughter] Frances Mary Claxton [aged 23] living with John Francis [aged 70] and described as a grand-daughter which suggest her mother Ann was the deceased daughter of John Francis. Her future husband [his grandson-in-law] Matthew Noble [aged 33] is listed as a lodger.
On 29th January 1855 [his wife] Mary Evetts [aged 75] died.
On 30th August 1861 John Francis [aged 80] died at his home in Albany Street, Regent's Park. He was buried at Plot 3058 at Highgate Cemetery West.
Cansick's Monumental Inscriptions Volume 2 Highgate Cemetery. Highgate Cemetery. In Memory of John Francis [deceased], Sculptor, Born Sep. 3, 1780, died Aug. 30, 1861.
Charles William, son of John and Mary Francis, Born Dec. 22, 1820, Died Feb. 23, 1849.
Mary, wife of John Francis, Born Sep. 20, 1779, Died Jan 29, 1855.
Elizabeth, widow of William Brown, Sculptor, and daughter of John and Mary Francis, Born April 11th 1807, died July 29th 1859.
[his daughter] Ann Francis was born to John Francis and Mary Evetts.