Richard Townsend (c. 1731 – 12 December 1783) was an Irish politician. He was the oldest son of Richard Townsend, son of Bryan Townsend, and his second wife Elizabeth Beecher, daughter of Henry Beecher and granddaughter of

Thomas Beecher Colonel Thomas Be(e)cher Justice of the Peace, JP (1640 – 10 October 1709) was an Irish politician and soldier. The family's surname varies in its spelling, caused by its pronunciation. Background Born in Baltimore, County Cork, he was the ...

. His younger brother was John Townsend. Townsend served as colonel of the Cork Militia and was appointed

High Sheriff of County Cork The High Sheriff of County Cork was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Cork. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became an annual appointment following the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. B ...

in 1753. He entered the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

for

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

in 1759 and represented the constituency until his death in 1783. In 1776, he was also elected for

Dingle Dingle ( or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula (known in Irish as ''Corca Dhuibhne''), it sits on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coa ...

, however chose not to sit. In October 1752, he married Elizabeth FitzGerald, daughter of

John FitzGerald, 15th Knight of Kerry John FitzGerald, 15th Knight of Kerry (1706 – 10 June 1741) was an Irish politician and hereditary knight. He was the older son of Maurice FitzGerald, 14th Knight of Kerry, and his wife Elizabeth Crosbie, second daughter of David Crosbie. His y ...

. They had a daughter and a son Richard Boyle Townsend.

References

1730s births 1783 deaths Irish MPs 1727–1760 Irish MPs 1761–1768 Irish MPs 1769–1776 Irish MPs 1776–1783 High sheriffs of County Cork Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Cork constituencies Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kerry constituencies {{Ireland-pre1801-MP-stub