Background
Townshend was the son of John Townshend, 4th Marquess Townshend, and Elizabeth Jane Crichton-Stuart.
Townshend was the son of John Townshend, 4th Marquess Townshend, and Elizabeth Jane Crichton-Stuart.
The soldier George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, was his paternal great-grandfather, and Prime Minister John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, was his maternal great-grandfather. He was elected to the House of Commons for Tamworth in 1855 (succeeding his father), a seat he held until 1863, when he inherited the marquessate on his father"s death and entered the House of Lords. At the Salisbury Petty Sessions in May 1881, Lord Edward Thynne described how he had been accosted by Lord Townshend and two accomplices on the road between Laverstock and Salisbury.
A Colonel Nepean held the pony"s head while Townshend struck him several times with the handle of a horse whip.
Thynne acknowledged having eloped with Lady Townshend in 1872, but noted that the Marquis had never sued for divorce, and alleged that Lord Macduff had attacked him over the same matter while he was abroad. Townshend was convicted of the assault, and sentenced to a fine of £500 or three months in prison.
After some hours in jail, he reluctantly paid the fine, equivalent to £45,000 in 2016. Townshend denounced the court, while Vanity Fair reported unnamed others as saying "the only regret is that he was not thrashed earlier and worse".
Lord Townshend married Lady Anne Elizabeth Clementina Duff, daughter of James Duff, 5th Earl Fife, on 17 October 1865.
Their children included:
John James Dudley Stuart Townshend, 6th Marquess Townshend (1866–1921)
Agnes Elizabeth Audrey Townshend (1870–1955), married James Cunningham-Durham and had issue
Lady Townshend died in 1925.
16th United Kingdom Parliament. 17th United Kingdom Parliament. 18th United Kingdom Parliament.