Francis was born in Ireland in 1790.  He married Henrietta Willis Clarke at Clifton near Bristol on the 4th of January 1825.  He commissioned into the Regiment as an Ensign and promted to Lieutenant on the 13th of August 1807 and Captain on the 1st of June 1809.   

Francis served during the Peninsular War to which he embarked from Cork on the 13th of July 1808, as an Ensign. He was present at the siege of Badajoz where he was severely wounded on the 26th of March 1812.  The anniversary of Badajoz is still celebrated by the Regiment today. 

He was placed on half pay in 1814 with the rank of Major and spent the rest of his life at Melcombe Regis in Dorset.