Francis Charles Lawley

Francis Charles Lawley (24 May 1825 – 18 September 1901) was a British journalist and Liberal Party politician.

He was the youngest son of Paul Thompson, 1st Baron Wenlock, and after schooling in Hatfield attended Rugby School in May 1837. In 1848 he graduated from Balliol College, Oxford with a second-class honours degree in Literae Humaniores. He entered Inner Temple as a student in 1847, but failed to be called to the bar, instead gaining a BCL. In 1852 he was elected as a member of parliament (MP) for Beverley, and also became private secretary to William Ewart Gladstone during his time as the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the same year.

In June 1854 he was considered for the position of Governor of South Australia, but was swiftly discounted after a political scandal forced him to resign from office. He continued to have financial problems, beginning bankruptcy proceedings in 1874 and 1881, and proceedings against his estate continued after his death.