Horatio Townshend

Sir Horatio George Powys Townshend was born on 6 February 1780. He was the youngest son of Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, and Elizabeth Townshend, Viscountess Sydney. His father was a British politician who served as Home Secretary and represented Whitchurch as a Member of Parliament (MP).

Townshend attended Eton College from 1787 to 1791. In 1792, he began his military career in the Royal Navy but left due to health issues. Subsequently, he joined the Grenadier Guards as an Ensign on 23 September 1795. He achieved the ranks of Lieutenant and Captain in 1799; Captain and Lieutenant Colonel in 1809; and Brevet Colonel in 1819. In 1821, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel Commander, a position he held until 1830, when he was placed on Half-pay due to health problems related to wounds and service.

He participated in various military campaigns, including the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in 1799, and later in Sicily in 1806. He fought at the Battle of Maida and was part of the forces in Portugal in 1808. During the Peninsular War, he was in retreat at the Battle of Corunna in 1809 and fought in the Walcheren Campaign the same year. At the Battle of Barrosa in 1811, he had a horse shot from under him and was wounded twice. He served in the North of Spain and entered France in 1813. He was captured at the sortie from the Battle of Bayonne in 1814.

After the resumption of hostilities in 1815, he was part of the Allied forces in the Netherlands. He was severely wounded at the Battle of Quatre Bras and also participated in the Battle of Waterloo.

In political life, Townshend became the MP for Whitchurch in 1816, a seat he held through reelection in 1820. He stepped down in 1826 to allow his nephew, John Townshend, to succeed him but returned to Parliament at the 1831 general election after his nephew was elevated to peerage. His parliamentary career ended when the Whitchurch constituency was abolished in the 1832 general election.

From 1823 to 1831, Townshend served as Deputy Ranger for St. James's Park, Green Park, and Hyde Park. In 1836, he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of the Round Tower at Windsor Castle by King William IV, an appointment he held until his death.

He was awarded the title of Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order on 25 September 1835.

Sir Horatio George Powys Townshend died after a prolonged illness on 25 May 1843, at the age of 63, at his residence in Bolton Street. Upon his death, his burial pall was dressed in the ceremonial colours of the Grenadier Guards, and his remains were conveyed to the family vault in Chislehurst by regimental survivors of Waterloo.