François Louis Thomas Francia (1772–1839) was born at Calais but he left for London in 1788 after the outbreak of the French Revolution. In London he was for some time employed as an assistant of a drawing-master named Barrow, who was the master of John Varley. Around 1799 he was part of a sketching society formed by Thomas Girtin.
Francia was a member of the Associated Artists in Water Colours, and for some time its secretary. In 1816 an unsuccessful candidate for the associateship of the Royal Academy. The next year he retired to Calais, where he lived until his death in 1839. It was here that he gave lessons to Richard Parkes Bonington.
He showed a total of 85 works at the Royal Academy between 1795 and 1821. His works can be found in the collections of the Tate, British Museum, V&A and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
