Lawrence Townsend
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Lawrence Townsend (August 13, 1860 – March 8, 1954) was an American diplomat and later in life, after his retirement from government service, a business executive in Washington, DC.


Formative years

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 13, 1860, Townsend was educated at the Mantua Academy (1872–77) and entered the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
with the class of 1881. He withdrew from the university at the end of his junior year and went west to Plateau, Colorado, where he owned a large ranch (1881–1886). Returning to Pennsylvania, he married composer Natalie Hannau of Philadelphia on March 8, 1886, and they had three children: Yvonne, Lawrence Jr., and Reginald.


Career

In 1889, Townsend traveled to
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, Austria to study law and the history of diplomacy, specializing in international law. He published numerous translations of French and German articles in his area of specialization. From Vienna, he launched his diplomatic career. He served as First Secretary of the U.S. Legation in Vienna from 1893–97 and from there was promoted to the post of U.S. Minister to Portugal on June 9, 1897. He served in Lisbon until his transfer to Brussels on April 15, 1899, where he served as U.S. Minister to Belgium until 1905. In 1905 he moved to Washington, D.C., and joined the Washington Gas Light Company as its treasurer and later secretary. He and his wife lived in Washington's fashionable
Dupont Circle Dupont Circle is a historic roundabout park and Neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Washington, D.C., located in Northwest (Washington, D.C.), Northwest D.C. The Dupont Circle neighborhood is bounded approximately by 16th St ...
area, at 1416 20th Street, NW, and were prominent members of the Washington social and cultural scene. Later in life, Townsend became active in the
English-Speaking Union The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational membership organisation headquartered in London, England. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages ...
.


Death

Townsend died in Florida in 1954.


References


Sources

*U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historia

*''The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans.'' Boston: The Biographical Society 190

{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Lawrence Businesspeople from Philadelphia 1860 births 1954 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Belgium Ambassadors of the United States to Portugal People from Dupont Circle 19th-century American diplomats