Horatio Townshend, 1st Viscount Townshend

Horatio Townshend, 1st Baron Townsend and 1st Viscount Townshend (; 14 December 1630 – 10 December 1687), known as Sir Horatio Townshend, 3rd Baronet, of Raynham, from 1648 to 1661, was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

between 1656 and 1660 and was raised to the peerage in 1661.

Early life

Townshend was the younger son of

Sir Roger Townshend, 1st Baronet Sir Roger Townshend, 1st Baronet (c.1596 – 1 January 1637), was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in two parliaments between 1621 and 1629. Family Townshend was the son of Sir John Townshend (died 1603) of ...

, of Raynham, and his wife Mary Vere, daughter of

Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury (1565 – 2 May 1635) (also ''Horatio Vere'' or ''Horatio de Vere'') was an English military leader during the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War, a brother of Francis Vere. He was sent to the Pa ...

. He was a student at St John's College, Cambridge, in 1644 and travelled abroad in Italy and Switzerland from 1646 to 1648. In 1648 he succeeded his elder brother in the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Political career

He was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

in 1656 for the

Second Protectorate Parliament The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first session, the House of Commons was its only chamber; in ...

and in 1659 for the

Third Protectorate Parliament The Third Protectorate Parliament sat for one session, from 27 January 1659 until 22 April 1659, with Chaloner Chute and Thomas Bampfylde as the Speakers of the House of Commons. It was a bicameral Parliament, with an Upper House having a po ...

.History of Parliament Online – Townshend, Sir Horatio
/ref> Townshend was elected MP for Norfolk again in 1660 for the Convention Parliament. He was a supporter of King Charles II and played an important role in the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. In 1661 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Townshend, of Lynn Regis in the County of Norfolk, and was

Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk This is an incomplete list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk. Since 1689, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Norfolk. * William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton, 1549 – *Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Su ...

between 1660An address from the gentry of Norfolk and Norwich to General Monck in 1660
/ref> and 1676. In 1682 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Townshend, of Raynham in the County of Norfolk.

Marriage and family

Townshend married Mary Ashe, daughter of a fellow Member of Parliament, Sir Joseph Ashe. Lord Townshend died in December 1687, aged 56, and was succeeded in his titles by his son Charles, who became a prominent statesman. Other descendants of Townshend include

George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend Field Marshal George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, PC (28 February 172414 September 1807), known as The Viscount Townshend from 1764 to 1787, was a British soldier and politician. After serving at the Battle of Dettingen during the War of t ...

, Charles Townshend and

Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney (24 February 1733 – 30 June 1800) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1754 to 1783 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Sydney. He held several important Cabinet posts in ...

Notes

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Townshend, Horatio Townshend, 1st Viscount 1630 births 1687 deaths 17th-century English nobility Lord-Lieutenants of Norfolk Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge

Horatio Townshend Horatio Townshend (c. 1683–1751) was an English banker and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1715 and 1734. Townshend was the son of Horatio Townshend, 1st Viscount Townshend and his second wife Mary Ashe, daughter of Sir Joseph ...

Townshend, Horatio Townshend, Horatio Townshend, Horatio 1 People from Raynham, Norfolk Townshend, Horatio Peers of England created by Charles II