W. S. Lewis Collection of George Townshend Correspondence

George Townshend, a British politician and amateur caricaturist, was born in London on February 28, 1724, to Charles Townshend, third Viscount Townshend (1700-1764) and his wife Etheldreda Harrison Townshend (1708-1788). He attended Eton College and St John’s College, Cambridge (MA 1749). Following a brief military career, where he fought in the Battle of Culloden and served as aide-de-camp to Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, Townshend left the army with the title of lieutenant colonel. While he was serving in Europe, Townshend was put up for Parliament by his father; winning the election, he represented Norfolk from 1747 until 1764. He became a political ally of William Pitt, the Duke of Newcastle, and the Earl of Bute, and was was responsible for the codifying of the Militia Act of 1757.

In 1758, during the Seven Years’ War, Townshend was promoted to the rank of colonel, was given command of the 64th Regiment of the Footguards, and served in Quebec under General James Wolfe. He was promoted to major general in 1761 and served in Germany (1761) and in Portugal (1762) during the Spanish invasion. In 1763 he became Lieutenant General of the Ordnance and on August 19, 1767, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Once there, an important assignment was to expand the size of the British army in Ireland by filling Irish regiments. Townshend remained in that office until 1772 when he returned to the Ordnance. He continued to achieve higher ranks in the military as he was appointed colonel in 1773, general in 1782, and field marshal in 1796.

George Townshend left the House of Commons in 1764 when, upon the death of his father, he became fourth Viscount Townshend; he was created Marquess Townshend of Raynham in 1786. He was twice married, in 1751 to Charlotte Compton, Baroness Ferrers (died 1770 at Leixlip Castle, County Kildare), with whom he had six children, and in 1773 to Anne Montgomery (died 1819), with whom he had seven children. Townshend died at his home, Raynham Hall, on September 14, 1807, and was buried in St Mary Churchyard in East Raynham, Norfolk.