Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend

Portrait of Ethelreda Harrison by Jean-Baptiste van Loo. n.d.

Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend (11 July 1700 – 12 March 1764), known as The Lord Lynn from 1723 to 1738, was a British politician.

Life

Townshend was the eldest son of the 2nd Viscount Townshend and was educated at Eton and King's College, Cambridge.^[1] After graduating, he entered the Commons when he succeeded his uncle as Member of Parliament (MP) for Great Yarmouth in 1722. He held the seat until a year later, when he was summoned to the House of Lords through a writ of acceleration in his father's barony of Townshend. As his father was already Lord Townshend, Charles was styled Lord Lynn after the barony's territorial designation of Lynn Regis. Townshend then became Master of the Jewel Office and Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk in 1730 and succeeded to his father's titles in 1738.

Family

On 29 May 1723, Townshend married Audrey (Etheldreda) Harrison, the only daughter and heiress of Edward Harrison of Balls Park, Hertfordshire). Their surviving children were George, later Marquess Townshend (1724–1807), Charles (1725–1767), and Audrey (died 1781) married to Robert Orme (soldier). They separated formally around 1740.^[2]

References

1. "Townshend, Charles (TWNT718C)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
2. Martin, John. "Townshend, Etheldreda". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/68358. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)