Col. Richard Townsend

Colonel Richard Townsend was born circa 1618. He married, secondly, Mary Hyde. He married, firstly, Hildegardis Hyde. He died in July 1692.

• He gained the rank of Officer in the service of the Parliamentary Army in the Civil War.
• In 1646 he was present at the surrender of Pendennis Castle, Cornwall.
• He fought in the Battle of Knocknoness, County Cork on 3 April 1648, where he commanded the main body of the Army under Lord Inchiquin.
• He handed the keys of Cork to Oliver Cromwell at Dungarvan after the Commonwealth was proclaimed. * He held the office of Member of Parliament (M.P.) for Baltimore in 1661.
• He was commander of the a troop of Carbery Militia, at the instance of Lord Orrery in 1666.
• In 1666 he acquired Castle Townsend.3 He held the office of High Sheriff of County Cork in 1671.
• He lived at Castle Townsend, County Cork, Ireland.

Children of Colonel Richard Townsend and Mary Hyde

• John Townsend d. b 1692
• Horatio Townsend
• unknown daughter Townsend
• Francis Townsend
• Kingston Townsend
• Cornelius Townsend d. b 1692
• Edward Townsend
• Hildigardis Townsend
• Mary Townsend
• Catherine Townsend
• Dorothea Townsend
• Commander Bryan Townsend b. c 1648, d. 1726
• Reverend Philip Townsend b. 1664, d. 1735
• William Townsend b. 1665, d. 1711

Links:

• The Peerage
• http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~townsend/tree/home.php

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Townsend [Townesend], Richard (1618/19–1692), parliamentarian army officer by E. I. Carlyle, rev. Sean Kelsey

© Oxford University Press 2004–14 All rights reserved Townsend [Townesend], Richard (1618/19–1692), parliamentarian army officer, is of obscure origins and unknown parentage. According to tradition he was descended from the Townshends of Raynham, Norfolk, and he evidently laid claim to such kinship, adopting the arms of Sir Roger Townshend (1588–1637), the head of that family. It has been suggested, rather doubtfully and owing to no more than a rough similarity in age, that he was the Richard Townesend, son of John Townsend of Dichford, Warwickshire, who matriculated from Hart Hall on 16 May 1634, aged nineteen. However, he may have come from Dorset, where he served for much of the first civil war. His first wife, Hildegardis Hyde, may well have been a kinsman of Edward Hyde, earl of Clarendon—again suggesting a west-country connection. Of his second wife nothing is known beyond her forename, Mary.

In 1643 Townsend received the commission of captain in a regiment of ten companies raised to garrison Lyme Regis, which was threatened by the approach of Prince Maurice, then in the midst of his triumphant western campaign. On 3 March 1644 he surprised and routed 150 horse at Bridport. Townsend distinguished himself in the defence of Lyme, serving under Robert Blake, when it was besieged from 20 April until its relief on 13 June. Townsend was shot in the head, and promoted to the rank of major. The following year he accompanied his colonel, Thomas Ceeley, against the clubmen of Dorset, defeating them at Bridport on 3 July. When Ceeley was returned as MP for Bridport that year, Townsend succeeded him in command of the regiment with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1646 he assisted at the siege of Pendennis Castle, near Falmouth, and in August in the negotiations for the surrender of the castle.

The following month Townsend was made colonel of a regiment of 1000 foot to be raised for service in Ireland, with Robert Phayre as his lieutenant-colonel. In March the regiment was still in England, camped at Bath. It had reached Ireland by 15 June 1647, when parliament ordered Townsend and his regiment, which was in a state of some disorder, apparently owing to the presence of native Irish in the ranks, to the assistance of Murrough O'Brien, first earl of Inchiquin, the parliamentarian commander. He joined him in September, and on 13 November, when Inchiquin defeated Lord Taaffe, the royalist leader, near Mallow, Townsend commanded the English centre. Dissatisfied with the treatment accorded to the soldiers in Ireland by the predominant Independent party there, he joined early in 1648 in presenting a strong remonstrance to the English parliament against their neglect of the welfare of the troops. Failing to obtain redress, he soon afterwards joined Inchiquin, who disliked the Independents, in deserting the parliamentarian cause, and in coming to an understanding with Lord Taaffe. In a short time, however, his new associates became distasteful to him, and he entered into communications with parliament.

In December 1648, in consequence of his endeavour to negotiate the surrender of Munster with parliamentary commissioners, Townsend was compelled to take refuge in England. On the execution of Charles I he returned to Ireland, professing that resentment at the king's death had finally determined him to loyalty. In reality, however, according to Thomas Carte, he was sent by Cromwell as a secret agent to corrupt the Munster army. In October 1649 he was arrested and thrown into prison for being concerned in a plot to seize the person of Inchiquin and take possession of Youghal. He was exchanged for an Irish officer, but was no sooner liberated than he engaged in a similar plot, was again taken prisoner, and conveyed to Cork. Inchiquin intended to shoot him as an example, and he was saved only by a timely mutiny of the garrison of Cork, who rose on the night of 16 October and drove the Irish out of the town. Townsend received special praise from Cromwell in a letter to the speaker, William Lenthall, as ‘a very active instrument for the return both of Cork and Youghal to their obedience’ (Abbott, 2.163).

Townsend retired from service shortly afterwards, and before 1654 settled at Castletownshend, near West Carbery, co. Cork. At the Restoration he was pardoned and hence escaped the forfeitures which overtook many Cromwellian soldiers, having his lands confirmed to him by royal patents in 1666, 1668, and 1680. His good fortune was perhaps owing to the possible Clarendon connection through his first wife. Townsend sat in the Irish parliament of 1661 as member for Baltimore. In 1666 the apprehension of a French invasion caused the lord lieutenant, Roger Boyle, first earl of Orrery, to form the English in Ireland into companies of militia. Townsend was appointed a captain of foot, and in 1671 was appointed high sheriff of the county.

The accession of James II ushered in a period of anxiety for the protestants of southern Ireland. Many took refuge in the north or crossed the sea to England. Townsend, however, stood his ground, and organized the protestant defence in co. Cork. On 18 October 1685 he was appointed ‘sovereign’, or mayor, of Clonakilty, in spite of the efforts of James to prevent the election of protestants. In November 1690 Townsend's mansion house of Castletownshend was unsuccessfully besieged by 500 Irish under Colonel Driscoll, but a little later it was compelled to surrender to MacFineen O'Driscoll. In compensation for his sacrifices and services Townsend received from government a grant of £40,000.

Townsend died in the latter part of 1692, and was buried in the graveyard of Castlehaven. He had children with both his wives, leaving seven sons and four daughters. The eldest surviving son, Bryan, who served with the English army at the battle of the Boyne, was ancestor of the family of Townshend of Castletownshend.