Townsend Andrews (20 November 1702 – 1737) of

Coulston Coulston (until 1934 called East Coulston) is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, five miles northeast of the town of Westbury, just north of the B3098 road. The village lies under the north slope of Salisbury Plain and the parish ...

, Wiltshire, was a British official and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1727 to 1737. Andrews was the eldest son of Thomas Andrews of Highgate, Middlesex, and his wife Sarah Townsend, daughter of John Townsend of Highgate, soapmaker of London. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School in 1717 and was admitted at

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

in 1718 and at

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

in 1718. He succeeded his father before November 1721 and to the estates of his maternal grandfather, John Townsend, at Tytherton Lucas and elsewhere in Wiltshire in 1725. He married Catherine Gibson, daughter of Thomas Gibson before 1731. Andrews became deputy paymaster of the forces by 1727 and held the post for the rest of his life. At the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

he was returned as

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 of ...

for Hindon as a government supporter in a fierce contest, against Henry Fox. He seconded the Address on 13 January 1730 in a ‘studied’ but ‘fluent’ speech. When Sir William Strickland, the secretary at war, was absent, Andrews introduced the army estimates on 2 February 1733, justifying them on the basis of a Jacobite threat. When he introduced the army estimates again on 6 February 1734, he claimed that it naturally fell to him because of his post as deputy paymaster. At the

1734 British general election The 1734 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 8th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Robert Walpole's incr ...

he was transferred from Hindon to make way for Fox, and was returned unopposed as MP for

Bossiney Bossiney ( kw, Boskyny, meaning ''Cyni's dwelling'') is a village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is north-east of the larger village of Tintagel which it adjoins: further north-east are the Rocky Valley and Trethevy. Until 1832 t ...

instead. He moved the army estimates again in 1735 and seconded them when the secretary at war introduced them in 1737. Lord Egmont referred to him as ‘deputy secretary at war’. Andrews died on 6 May 1737.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Townsend 1702 births 1737 deaths Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Bossiney Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Hindon British MPs 1727–1734 British MPs 1734–1741