Life

Francis was the eldest son of John Francis of Swansea, Glamorganshire, by his wife, Mary Grant, and was born there in January 1814. He was educated at the Swansea high school.

Francis took a prominent part in local issues. His numerous schemes for improvements tended to be weak financially. He was active in restoring to public use the ancient grammar school of Bishop Gore, of which he was many years chairman and one of the trustees. By the town council he was entrusted with the restoration and arrangement of their neglected muniments. The preservation and restoration of Oystermouth Castle

Oystermouth Castle

Oystermouth Castle is a Norman stone castle in Wales, overlooking Swansea Bay on the east side of the Gower Peninsula near the village of the Mumbles.- The early castle :...

, near Swansea—one of the many ancient ruins pertaining to the house of Beaufort, lords of Gower and Kilvey—were also owing to his exertions, for which he was presented with a piece of plate. In 1851 Francis was selected to represent the Swansea district as local commissioner at the Great Exhibition. The same year the British Association appointed him secretary to its department of ethnology when holding its meeting at Swansea.

He was mayor of the borough in 1854, and was also colonel of the 1st Glamorgan artillery volunteers, a corps raised by his exertions in 1859.

Francis died at his town house, 9 Upper Phillimore Place, Kensington

Kensington

Kensington is a district of west and central London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the north, Kensington is...

, 21 April 1882, and was buried on the 26th in Swansea cemetery. By his marriage in 1840 to Sarah, eldest daughter of John Richardson of Swansea, and of Whitby Lodge, Northumberland, he left issue three sons. He was elected F.S.A. 16 January 1845, was its honorary secretary for South Wales, and was also a corresponding member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body in Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh...

 and of the Welsh Manuscripts Society.

Works

In 1835 he helped to found the Royal Institution of South Wales

Royal Institution of South Wales

The Royal Institution of South Wales is a Welsh learned society founded in Swansea in 1835 as the Swansea Philosophical and Literary Society with objectives:In 1838, the Society received its Royal charter as the Royal Institution....

, and presented it with his collections of local fossils, antiquities, coins, and seals, together with a library of works relating to Wales (of which he compiled and printed a catalogue, later adding a supplementary volume). He shared in the formation of the Cambrian Archæological Association in 1846, and contributed to its journal, Archæologia Cambrensis. To the volume for 1848 he sent for insertion the original contract of affiance between Edward of Carnarvon, prince of Wales, and Isabella, daughter of Philip the Fair

Philip IV of France

Philip the Fair was, as Philip IV, King of France from 1285 until his death. He was the husband of Joan I of Navarre, by virtue of which he was, as Philip I, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305.-Youth:A member of the House of Capet, Philip was born at the Palace of...

, king of France, dated at Paris 20 May 1303, which he had discovered in Swansea Castle

Swansea Castle

Swansea Castle was founded by Henry de Beaumont in 1106 as the caput of the lordship of Gower, in Swansea, Wales.-History:The original castle seems to have been a sub-rectangular/oval enclosure overlooking the River Tawe on the east, surrounded on the north, west and south sides by a larger...

. It was printed separately the same year. His connection with the school enabled him to collect materials for his book, ‘The Free Grammar School, Swansea; with brief Memoirs of its Founders and Masters, and copies of original deeds,’ Swansea, 1849. He printed privately copies of ‘Charters granted to Swansea. … Translated, illustrated, and edited by G. G. Francis,’ Latin and English, London, 1867.

In 1867 Francis sent to the Swansea newspaper, The Cambrian papers which he had discovered in the Record Office on the metallurgy of the district. He then print fifty copies for presents as ‘The Smelting of Copper in the Swansea District, from the Time of Elizabeth to the Present Day,’ Swansea, 1867. He later republished it in 1881, illustrated with autotype

Autotype

Autotype is a function in some computer applications or programs, typically those containing forms, which fills in a field once you have typed in the first few letters...

 portraits of men connected with the copper trade, and sketches of places connected with copper smelting. From original documents among the Gnoll papers at Neath

Neath

Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...

, Francis expanded this second edition.

Francis wrote many other monographs on Welsh history and topography, including:

• ‘Original Charters and Materials for a History of Neath and its Abbey, with illustrations, now first collected,’ 8vo, Swansea, 1845 (fifty copies privately printed).
• ‘The Value of Holdings in Glamorgan and Swansea in 1545 and 1717, shown by rentals of the Herbert Family.’ Edited from the originals, Swansea, 1869 (twenty-five copies printed).
• ‘Notes on a Gold Chain of Office presented to the Corporation of Swansea in … 1875, … together with a list of [mayors] from 1835 to 1875,’ Swansea, London (printed), 1876.

He also assisted Lewis Weston Dillwyn

Lewis Weston Dillwyn

Lewis Weston Dillwyn, FRS was a British porcelain manufacturer, naturalist and Member of Parliament.He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, the eldest son of William Dillwyn and Sarah Dillwyn...

 in his ‘Contributions towards a History of Swansea,’ Swansea, 1840, joined the Rev. Thomas Bliss in writing ‘Some Account of Sir Hugh Johnys, Deputy Knight Marshal of England, temp. Henry VI and Edward IV, and of his Monumental Brass in St. Mary's Church, Swansea,’ Swansea, 1845, and helped Dr. Thomas Nicholas in the compilation of the ‘Annals of Counties and County Families of Wales,’ 1872, 1875.