RICHARD COSWAY (1742-1821) - Receive artist alerts » - More items from this artist »

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watercolour on ivory

2.00inch high    (  5.08 cm high)

Townshend Family

Excellent

A fine and rare portrait of Lord John Townshend wearing pink doublet slashed to reveal white and lace collar
in silver-gilt frame

Townshend was the second son of Field Marshal George Townshend, 1st
Marquess Townshend, by his first wife Charlotte Compton, 15th Baroness
Ferrers of Chartley (see page 11). George Townshend, 2nd Marquess Townshend, was his elder brother and Charles Townshend his uncle. He was educated at Eton and St John's College, Cambridge
Townshend was elected to the House of Commons for Cambridge University in 1780, a seat he held until 1784, and later represented Westminster from 1788 to 1790 and Knaresborough from 1793 to 1818. He was admitted to the Privy Council in 1806 and served under Lord Grenville as Paymaster of the Forces (alongside Lord Temple) between 1806 and 1807.
Townshend married in 1787 Georgiana Anne, daughter of William Poyntz, the divorced wife of William Fawkener. Their elder son Charles Fox Townshend was the founder of the Eton Society but died young. Their younger son John became an Admiral in the Royal Navy and succeeded his first cousin in the marquessate in 1855. Townshend died in February 1833, aged 76. Lady Georgiana Anne died in 1851.