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 politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

between 1656 and 1660 and was raised to the

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

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 England, English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons in two parliaments between 1621 and 1629. Family Townshend was the son ...

, 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) was an English army officer who served in the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War. A brother of Francis Vere, he was sent to the Electoral Palatinate by James VI and I in 1620. ...

. He was a student at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, 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 for

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

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 (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons. In its first sess ...

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 S ...

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 Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

, who became a prominent statesman. Other descendants of Townshend include

Horatio Townshend Horatio Townshend (c. 1683 – 4 October 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, daughte ...

George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (28 February 172414 September 1807), known as The Viscount Townshend from 1764 to 1787, was a Great Britain, ...

Charles Townshend Charles Townshend (27 August 1725 – 4 September 1767) was a British politician who held various titles in the Parliament of Great Britain. His establishment of the controversial Townshend Acts is considered one of the key causes of the Amer ...

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

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