The son of George Townshend, first Marquess Townshend; he was educated at Eton and St John's College, Cambridge and was a Whig MP for Cambridge, Westminster, and Knaresborough. He was a denizen of Holland House and Sheridan's literary executor.

REFERENCES TO Lord John Townshend:

Thomas Holcroft to William Godwin, 24 July 1788 in William Godwin: his Friends and Contemporaries (London: Henry S. King & Co., 1876)

Thomas Holcroft to William Godwin, 4 August 1788 in William Godwin: his Friends and Contemporaries (London: Henry S. King & Co., 1876)

William Godwin to Thomas Holcroft, 5 August 1788 in William Godwin: his Friends and Contemporaries (London: Henry S. King & Co., 1876)

Thomas Creevey to James Currie, 11 May 1803 in The Creevey Papers: A Selection from the Correspondence & Diaries of the late Thomas Creevey, M.P. (London: John Murray, 1903)

Thomas Creevey to Eleanor Creevey, 28 January 1810 in The Creevey Papers: A Selection from the Correspondence & Diaries of the late Thomas Creevey, M.P. (London: John Murray, 1903)

Thomas Creevey to Eleanor Creevey, 29 January 1810 in The Creevey Papers: A Selection from the Correspondence & Diaries of the late Thomas Creevey, M.P. (London: John Murray, 1903)

Lord John Townshend to Lady Melbourne, [1812 c.?] in In Whig Society 1775-1818: Compiled from the hitherto unpublished Correspondence of Elizabeth, Viscountess Melbourne, and Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper, afterwards Viscountess Palmerston (London: Hodder and Stoughton LTD., 1921)

Lady Holland to Eleanor Creevey, [October? 1813] in The Creevey Papers: A Selection from the Correspondence & Diaries of the late Thomas Creevey, M.P. (London: John Murray, 1903)

Lord Holland to Samuel Rogers, [November? 1818] in Samuel Rogers and his Contemporaries 2 Vols (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1889)

Lady Morgan to an anonymous correspondent, 1837 in Lady Morgan’s Memoirs: Autobiography, Diaries and Correspondence. Second Edition, Revised 2 vols (London: Wm. H. Allen & Co., 1863)