TOWNSEND, John (d. aft.1622), of Warwick.

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

Family and Education

Yst. s. of Richard Townsend of Warwick by his w. Christian.

Offices Held

Bailiff, Warwick 1589-90, 1603-4, 1621-2.

Biography

Townsend was already a prominent Warwick burgess in 1588, when he signed a letter sent by the town to the Earl of Warwick, promising to elect Thomas Dudley to the next Parliament. His father died soon after this, bequeathing him the house in which he was living and a barn in Brittayne Lane. Though Townsend’s name does not appear in the journals of the House of Commons, as one of the burgesses for Warwick in 1597 he could have attended committees concerned with a hospital or almshouse there (18 Nov.), the possessions of the bishop of Norwich (30 Nov.) and maltsters (12 Jan. 1598). By the time of his last election to Parliament he is described as ‘esquire’. In 1620 he was named overseer of his brother Ralph’s will, which was proved in the following year. After his third appointment as bailiff, his name disappears from the records.

Black Bk. of Warwick, 399, 426, 427; D’Ewes, 559, 565, 578; PCC 52 Leicester, 9 Savile.

Ref Volumes: 1558-1603

Author: S. M. Thorpe

Notes