George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend
 Portrait by George Romney | |
| Born | 28 February 1724 London, England |
| Died | 14 September 1807 (aged 83) Raynham Hall, Norfolk |
| Allegiance |  Kingdom of Great Britain |
| Service/ |  British Army |
| Years of service | 1743–1796 |
| Rank | Field Marshal |
| Battles/wars | War of the Austrian Succession Jacobite Rising Seven Years' War |
Fox–North Coalition
.
Military career
Early years
Born the son of
aide-de-Camp to the Duke of Cumberland and having transferred to the 20th Regiment of Foot in February 1747, he took part in the Battle of Lauffeld in July 1747 during the later stages of the War of the Austrian Succession.[4]
While serving in Belgium, Townshend was elected
Member of Parliament for Norfolk unopposed in 1747.[1] He became a captain in the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards and lieutenant colonel in the Army on 25 February 1748.[4] In 1751 he wrote a pamphlet which was deeply critical of Cumberland's military skills.[4] Meanwhile, he argued in parliament that courts martial rather than commanding officers should be responsible for discipline in the Army, pressed for a larger militia and smaller standing army and was personally responsible for ensuring that the Militia Act of 1757 reached the statute book.[6] Promoted to the rank of colonel on 6 May 1758, he became colonel of the 64th Regiment of Foot in June 1759.[6]
Seven Years' War
Townshend was given command of a brigade in
Post-war
Townshend became
Grenville Ministry in March 1763 and succeeded his father as Viscount Townshend in March 1764.[6]
Viceroy of Ireland
He went on to be
Chatham Ministry in August 1767 and introduced measures aimed at increasing the size of Irish regiments, reducing corruption in Ireland and improving the Irish economy.[6] After the Parliament of Ireland rejected his money bill, Townshend prorogued parliament in November 1767, making himself very unpopular in Dublin.[1] Most important, he collaborated with Prime Minister Lord North in London in solidified governmental control over Ireland.[1]
Later life
Promoted to the substantive rank of lieutenant general on 30 April 1770, he was replaced as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in September 1772.[6]
Townshend returned to office as
North Ministry in October 1772.[8] In the aftermath of his unpopular tour in Ireland, he found himself fighting a duel with Charles Coote, 1st Earl of Bellomont, an Irish Peer, on 2 February 1773, badly wounding the Earl with a bullet in the groin.[9] Townshend became colonel of the 2nd Dragoon Guards in July 1773.[10]
In 1779
Fox–North Coalition in April 1783.[6] He retired from that office when William Pitt the Younger came to power in January 1784.[6]
Created Marquess Townshend on 27 October 1787,Governor of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1794 and Governor of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in July 1795.[15] A peculiar tragedy befell Townshend in May 1796: his son, Lord Charles, had just been elected MP for Great Yarmouth, and he took a carriage to London with his brother, the Rev. Lord Frederick, the Rector of Stiffkey. During the journey, Lord Frederick inexplicably killed his brother with a pistol shot to the head and was ultimately adjudged insane.[16] Promoted to field marshal on 30 July 1796,[17] Townshend died at his family home, Raynham Hall in Norfolk on 14 September 1807 and was buried in the family vault there.[18]
Family
On 19 December 1751, Townshend married Charlotte Compton, 16th Baroness Ferrers of Chartley (d. 1770), daughter of James Compton, 5th Earl of Northampton. They had eight children:[6]
- George Townshend, 2nd Marquess Townshend (1755–1811), Earl of Leicester since 1784 (created by George III)
- Lord John Townshend (19 January 1757 – 25 February 1833)
- Lady Elizabeth Townshend (died 21 March 1811), married General William Loftus MP and had issue
- The Rev. Lord Frederick Patrick Townshend (30 December 1767 – 18 January 1836)
- Lord Charles Townshend (1768 – 27 May 1796)
- Lady Charlotte (1757-16 December 1757)[19]
- Lady Caroline
- Lady Frances Townshend
He married Anne Montgomery, the daughter of Sir William Montgomery, 1st Baronet, on 19 May 1773. Anne was Mistress of the Robes to Caroline, Princess of Wales, from 1795 to 1820. They had six children:[6]
- Lord William Townshend (1778–1794)
- Captain Lord James Nugent Boyle Bernardo Townshend (11 September 1785 – 28 June 1842)
- Lady Anne Townshend (1775-1826) [20]
- Lady Charlotte Townshend (16 March 1776 – 30 July 1856), married the 6th Duke of Leeds.
- Lady Honoria Townshend (1777–1826)
- Lady Henrietta Townshend (died 9 November 1848)
References
- ^ required.)
- ^ "Townshend, George (TWNT740G)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ a b c "George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend". Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d Heathcote, p. 277
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 112–113.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Heathcote, p. 278
- ^ Mosher, Terry. "Drawn and Quartered." Leader and Dreamers Commemorative Issue. Maclean's. 2004: 171. Print.
- ^ "No. 11292". The London Gazette. 13 October 1772. p. 1.
- ^ Gilchrist, James P (1821). A brief display of the origin and history of ordeals: trials by battle; courts of chivalry or honour; and the decision of private quarrels by single combat: also, a chronological register of the principal duels fought from the accession of His late Majesty to the present time. London: James P Gilchrist. pp. 105–106.
- ^ "No. 11374". The London Gazette. 27 July 1773. p. 2.
- ^ Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol. 2, p. 327
- ^ "No. 12391". The London Gazette. 23 September 1782. p. 1.
- ^ "No. 12932". The London Gazette. 23 October 1787. p. 499.
- ^ "No. 13389". The London Gazette. 14 February 1792. p. 109.
- ^ "No. 13796". The London Gazette. 14 July 1795. p. 747.
- ^ "Lord Charles Townshend, 1768–1796 and Lord Rev. Frederick Townshend, 1767–1836". Retrieved 28 June 2014.
- ^ "No. 13918". The London Gazette. 2 August 1796. p. 743.
- ^ Heathcote, p. 279
- ^ "Ancestry® | Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records". www.ancestry.com. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ "Marylebone Pages 242-279 The Environs of London: Volume 3, County of Middlesex. Originally published by T Cadell and W Davies, London, 1795". British History Online. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
Sources
- Heathcote, Tony (1999). The British Field Marshals, 1736–1997: A Biographical Dictionary. Barnsley: Leo Cooper. ISBN 0-85052-696-5.
Further reading
- Bartlett, Thomas. "Viscount Townshend and the Irish Revenue Board, 1767-73." Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, Section C (1979): 153–175. in JSTOR
- Bartlett, T. "Opposition in late eighteenth-century Ireland: the case of the Townshend viceroyalty", Irish Historical Studies 22 (1980–81), 313–30 in JSTOR
- Bartlett, T. "The augmentation of the army in Ireland, 1767–1769" English Historical review 96 (1981), 540–59 in JSTOR
- Powell, Martyn J. "Townshend, George, first Marquess Townshend (1724–1807)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27624. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
External links
- Government House in Fort Townshend in Newfoundland
- Guide to the George Townshend, Marquis Townshend, and Charlotte, Lady Townshend Collection 1763-1810 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
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