Charles Townshend (28 August 1725 – 4 September 1767) was a British politician who held various titles in the
Parliament of Great Britain
The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...
. His establishment of the controversial
Townshend Acts is considered one of the key causes of the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revoluti ...
.
Early life
He was born at his family's seat
of
Raynham Hall
Raynham Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. For nearly 400 years it has been the seat of the Townshend family. The hall gave its name to the five estate villages, known as The Raynhams, and is reported to be haunted, providing the sce ...
in
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nor ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, the second son of
Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend, and Audrey (died 1788), daughter and heiress of
Edward Harrison of Ball's Park, near Hertford. He was a sickly child, suffered from
epilepsy
Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...
, and had a strained relationship with his parents. Townshend was a brash young man, whose "wonderful endowments
eredashed with follies and indiscretions." Charles graduated from the Dutch
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city o ...
on 27 October 1745; while there he had associated with a small group of other English youth, who later became well known in various circles, including
Dowdeswell
Dowdeswell is a civil parish in the ward of Chedworth, Cotswold, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England. It is separated into Upper and Lower Dowdeswell, the former being south of the latter. The population of the civil parish a ...
,
Wilkes, and
Alexander Carlyle. The latter would chronicle their exploits in his ''Autobiography''.
Following his return in 1746, he represented
Great Yarmouth in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
until 1756, when he found a seat for the admiralty borough of
Saltash, subsequently transferring in 1761 to
Harwich, another borough where the seat was in the government's gift. Public attention was first drawn to his abilities in 1753, when he delivered a lively attack against
Lord Hardwicke
Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, (1 December 16906 March 1764) was an English lawyer and politician who served as Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain. He was a close confidant of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister between 1754 and 1 ...
's marriage bill, although this measure
passed into law.
Politics
From 1749 - April 1754, Townshend was a member of the
Board of Trade. It was during this time that he first showed an interest in increasing British powers of taxation and control over the American colonies. In 1754 and 1755, he served as
Lord of the Admiralty, but at the close of 1755, his passionate attack against the policy of the ministry caused his resignation. In the administration which was formed in November 1756, and which was ruled by
William Pitt the Elder
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, (15 November 170811 May 1778) was a British statesman of the Whig group who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Historians call him Chatham or William Pitt the Elder to distinguish ...
, the lucrative office of treasurer of the chamber was given to Townshend, but he retired the following Spring and
George Grenville took over. The higher post of
First Lord of the Admiralty then fell to Townshend's lot and his refusal to accept the nomination led to his exclusion from the new administration.
In the dying days of Grenville's cabinet, to retain the administration of
Lord Rockingham
Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, (13 May 1730 – 1 July 1782; styled The Hon. Charles Watson-Wentworth before 1733, Viscount Higham between 1733 and 1746, Earl of Malton between 1746 and 1750 and The Marquess of Rocking ...
, Townshend accepted the position of
Paymaster of The Forces, though he questioned the stability of the administration, calling it a "mere Lute-string administration" and stating that it was "pretty 'summer wear', but it will never stand the winter."
Under the ministry of
William Pitt the Elder, Townshend accepted the role of
Chancellor of the Exchequer in August 1766. A few weeks later his urgent appeals to the Prime Minister for increased power were favorably answered, and he was admitted to the inner circle of the cabinet. The new chancellor proposed the continuance of the land tax at four shillings in the pound, while he held out hopes that it might be reduced next year to three shillings, whereupon his predecessor,
William Dowdeswell, by the aid of the landed gentlemen, carried a motion that the reduction should take effect at once. Townshend pledged to find revenue in
America with which to meet the deficiency caused by the reduction.
Early in 1767, shortly after
The Stamp Act was repealed owing to colonial protests and boycotts of British goods, Townshend proposed that the Parliament could procure revenue from the Americans without causing them offense via "external" import taxes instead of internal taxes. These were known as the
Townshend Acts. The Acts passed resolutions for taxing several exports to America, such as
glass
Glass is a non- crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenchin ...
,
paint,
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distribu ...
and
tea. The Townshend Acts established a Board of Commissioners in Boston to enforce them, which was seen as a threat to the American colonial tradition of self-government. He estimated these export taxes would produce a sum of £40,000 for the English treasury. He had the support of his cousin
Thomas Townshend who was also a minister in the government. The Townshend Acts would be Townshend's last official act before his death.
Soon after that he died somewhat suddenly of a fever on September 4, 1767.
Private life
In August 1755 he had married
Caroline Campbell (d. 1794), the eldest daughter of
John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll
Field Marshal John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, 1st Duke of Greenwich, (10 October 1680 – 4 October 1743), styled Lord Lorne from 1680 to 1703, was a Scottish nobleman and senior commander in the British Army. He served on the contine ...
and the widow of
Francis Scott, Earl of Dalkeith, the eldest son of
Francis Scott, 2nd Duke of Buccleuch.
Townshend's wife was created (August 1767)
baroness Greenwich, and his elder brother
George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, was made
Lord-lieutenant of Ireland.
Townshend conceived a great and dangerous passion for his step-daughter
Frances Douglas, Lady Douglas, and her memorialist,
Lady Louisa Stuart, wrote after his death of his character:
This was careless, gay, inconsiderate, volatile, seemingly foreign to every serious reflection or feeling. He had one of those happy tempers which nothing can ruffle, without a grain of pride, sternness or resentment in his nature. Ready to laugh with every body and at every thing, he poured out wit in torrents; and it was so much the worse for truth if ever truth stood in wit's way.[Lady Louisa Stuart, ''Memoire of Frances, Lady Dougles'', at page 37; Edinburgh and London, Scottish Academic Press, 1985]
The American towns of
Townsend, Massachusetts and
Townshend, Vermont were founded and named after Charles Townshend in 1732 and 1753, respectively.
Raynham, Massachusetts was also named after him.
References
*
*
Lady Louisa Stuart, ''Memoire of Frances, Lady Douglas'' (Edinburgh and London, Scottish Academic Press, 1985)
*
William Edward Hartpole Lecky, ''History of England'' (1892);
*
Horace Walpole
Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician.
He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twi ...
, ''Memoirs of the Reign of George III.'', edited by G. F. R. Barker (1894)
*
Reuben Percy and
Sholto Percy (1823) ''The Percy Anecdotes'', 1823
online text.*
*
*''Memoir'' (1866) by Percy Fitzgerald
{{DEFAULTSORT:Townshend, Charles
1725 births
1767 deaths
18th-century English nobility
18th-century English politicians
Charles Townshend
Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain
Younger sons of viscounts
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Saltash
Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
British MPs 1747–1754
British MPs 1754–1761
British MPs 1761–1768
Politics of the Borough of Great Yarmouth
Chancellors of the Exchequer of Great Britain
Lords of the Admiralty
Paymasters of the Forces
Presidents of the Board of Trade
British officials in the American Revolution
People with epilepsy
Leiden University alumni
People from North Norfolk (district)