John Townsend (214)
| Date of Birth: | 1737 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | 4 Aug 1810 |
| Generation: | 4th |
| Residence: | Shepperton and Dublin |
| Father: | Richard Townsend [201] |
| Mother: | Becher, Elizabeth |
| Spouse: |
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| Issue: | |
| See Also: | Table II ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for John Townsend MP JP (1)
John's father died in 1742 when he was only about 5 and his mother, Elizabeth, died the following year. Under the terms of his father's will, should Elizabeth die before his brother Richard Townsend [213] came of age then his uncles Samuel Townsend [400], Philip Townsend [500] and Horatio Townsend [600] were appointed guardians of all the children. Under the terms of his mother's will John inherited North and South Aghills (Shepperton) and the 'See Lands' of Kilcoe, Drishane and Farrendagh, East and West Myross and Glannafoyne (near Loch Ine) (2). His elder brother Richard inherited the entire Castletownshend estate and his younger brother Henry Townsend [215] inherited the lands of Dunbeacon, Ardra and Ballintona.
Married 1769. Mary Morris (3) was the daughter of Jonas Morris (3a) JP of Barley Hill (Ballinagorna), Clonakilty, Co Cork, by his wife Mary Townsend [308], daughter of John Townsend of Skirtagh [300].
John studied at Trinity College, Dublin and the TCD Graduation List shows that he qualified BA in Spring 1758. Edward Synge Townsend [601] was an undergraduate at TCD at the same time.
Qualified as a barrister, John was elected a Freeman of Youghal in July 1760 along with his kinsmen Richard Townsend [213], Richard Townsend [301], Edward Townsend [401] and Philip Townsend [500]. Appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1775, John was elected a Freeman of the City of Cork on 29 July 1788 (4) and MP for Dingle (5) from 1783 to 1797 along with his nephew Richard Boyle Townsend [219] who was MP 1782 to 1795. Following this he was MP for MP for Castlemartyr from January 1798 to August 1800; also elected MP for Doneraile in 1798 he chose to sit for Castlemartyr.
He was appointed 'Commissioner and Overseer of the Barracks etc in this Kingdom' on 5 June 1798 (London Gazette 15025) and a year later a Chief Commissioner of 'His Majesty's Revenues of Excise and Customs in Ireland' along with eight others on 13 August 1799 (London Gazette 15170).
Page 175 of Francis G Tucky's "The City and County of Cork Remembered", records that on 18 February 1777 "Richard Townsend, John Townsend, Samuel Jervois and Daniel Callaghan, magistrates, with several gentlemen of the county and their servants, well mounted and armed, set out at two o clock in the morning to the mountains above Bantry, in the neighbourhood of Murdering glin and Glanunbannoul, where they apprehended several persons, charged with cutting off the ears of a horse."
John built a fine house on the land he inherited at Aghills and this he called Shepperton (6); this line of the family became known as the ' Shepperton Townsends'. The Cork Historical and Archaeology Society Journal 1896 also shows that he lived in Grafton Street, Dublin.
When John's brother, Henry Townsend [215] died in February 1788, John inherited Henry's estate at Dunbeacon, Ardra and Ballintona in trust for his children when they should come of age. John passed these lands to his eldest son, Richard [221].
John's will (7) is dated 19 January 1803 and a codicil was added on 12 November 1806. The witnesses were Samuel Jervois (8), William Horan and George Fuller; the trustees were Abraham Morris of Dunkettle (9), Rev Arthur Herbert of Ardagh, Thomas Poole (10) barrister at law and Rev Horatio Townsend [5D00] of Courtmacsherry. John left Shepperton to Jonas Morris [222], East & West Myross and Kilcoe to Henry Owen [223], Drishane & Farrendagh and Glannafoyne to Abraham [224], £1000 to Elizabeth [225] and her husband Thomas Somerville and £1000 to Henrietta [227] and husband Beresford Gahan. He also set aside £1000 for Katherine [226] for her settlement were she to marry. There was no need to include his son Richard [221] in the division of his lands as he had inherited his uncle Henry's estate.
John’s will was contested by some members of the family, in particular by Major Beresford Gahan on behalf of his wife, John’s daughter Henrietta Anna [227]. Major Gahan contended that John was not entitled to dispose of his estate as he did and claimed that Henrietta was entitled to a share in the lands of Kilcoe inherited by Henry Owen Becher Townsend. A compromise was affected on 23 May 1819 in which it was agreed that Henry would have absolute title to the Kilcoe estate but would pay to Major Gahan and his heirs an annual Rent Charge of £88 per annum. (11)
John is buried in St Barrahane's Church in Castletownshend.
(1) In Protestant Militia and Volunteers 1778 there is an entry ‘CARBERY INDEPENDENTS. Enrolled 1777. Force: 1 company. Uniform: scarlet, faced green; yellow buttons. Officers in 1782 - Captain-Commanding, William Beecher; Captain, John Townsend; Lieutenant, Lionel Fleming; Ensign, Beecher Fleming; Chaplain, Wm. Robinson; Surgeon, Thomas Clarke.’ John's involvement in the Glanunbannoul affray suggests he was a member of this force.
(2) The 'See Lands' comprised Kilcoe 498 acres, Drishane and Farrendagh 197 acres, East and West Myross 189 acres and Glannafoyne 179 acres; total 1063 acres.
(3) Mary died on 2 February 1793 and is shown in The Index to Births, Marriages, & Deaths in Anthologia Hibernica 1793-1794. ("Townshend, Mrs., wife of John, of Shepperton, M.P. for Dingle 2 Feb 1793"). Her niece, Katherine Morris, married Horatio Townsend [6B01].
(3a) The entry for Morris (Dunkettle) in the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway Connacht and Munster Landed Estates Database records "A Welsh family descended from Captain William Morris who was granted lands in East and West Carbery, county Cork under the Acts of Settlement. Abraham Morris of Cork, merchant, bought lands in the baronies of Barrymore, Duhallow and Muskerry from the trustees of forfeited estates, 1703. Originally settled at Castle Salem, by the late 18th century Abraham Morris was established at Dunkettle near Cork city. In the 1790s he was elected Member of Parliament for county Cork in a controversial election. In 1851 his grandson Jonas Morris married Ellen only daughter of Silver Charles Oliver of Inchera. At the time of Griffith's Valuation the Morris estate was located in the parishes of Shandrum, barony of Orrery and Kilmore, Clondrohid and Drishane, barony of West Muskerry and Ballydeloher and Caherlag, barony of Barrymore. In the 1870s Richard Morris of Dunkettle owned 6,494 acres in county Cork."
(4) Between 1710 and 1841, when the power of admitting Freemen only by birth or right ceased, a total of thirty three members of the Townsend family were admitted as Freemen.
(5) London Gazette 13206 page 339 dated I June 1790.
(6) The entry for Shepperton in the National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway Connacht and Munster Landed Estates Database records "John Townsend held this property in fee at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £20 10s. Noted by Lewis as the seat of M. Townsend in 1837 and by Leet as the residence of Jonas M. Townsend in 1814. Shepperton is still extant but in poor repair."
(7) Lovera papers 214/1.
(8) Most probably Samuel Jervois of Brade (Braad). The National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway Connacht and Munster Landed Estates Database records "John Swanton was leasing this property from Rev. Maurice Townsend at the time of Griffith's Valuation, when it was valued at £15 10s. Lewis had noted it as the seat of Rev. E.P. Thompson in 1837. It was the residence of Samuel Jervois in 1814. Taylor and Skinner's 1783 map also indicate it as a Jervois residence. In 1906 it was owned by Katherine Townsend and valued at £44 5s. There is still an extant house at the site. (Maurice Townsend [231] & Katherine Townsend [523])
(9) Father of Katherine Morris who married Horatio Townsend [6B01] in 1808. Abraham was also a witness to the marriage settlement between John's son, Richard [221], and Barbara Mellifont in 1790. For other Morris connections see Katherine Townsend [307], Mary Townsend [308], Mary Townsend [314], Elizabeth Townsend [326], Horatio Townsend [6B01].
(10) Probably Thomas Poole of Mayfield, Bandon, Co Cork, who married Joanna Meade Townsend [5D04] in 1806.
(11) Lovera Papers 214/2
'An Officer of the Long Parliament' Ch VII p. 151 and 'Pooles of Mayfield' p.73 refer.