Francis Tinsley was born in Liverpool in 1947.
Following foundation studies at the Laird School of Art, Birkenhead. Cheshire he was awarded a BA from Camberwell College of Arts and Crafts, London 1970 and subsequently was awarded an MA from Chelsea College of Art, London 1971.
Following this he worked at the Central College of Art, London with Norman Ackroyd, Leonard Marchant and Blair Hugh Stanton. He then became a Director of Tisiphone Etching, a part of Editions Alecto Publishing, London.
Most recently he was Senior Lecturer in printmaking at Camberwell College of Art and then course leader in MA printmaking before leaving in 2007 to concentrate fully on his painting and printmaking.
His work has been purchased by many private and public collections, including Ffylde Museum, Blackpool, Southampton Museum and Art Gallery, Ashmolean Museum Oxford, Newport Museum and Art Gallery.
He was made an ARE (an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers) in 2009.