Robert Townshend (MP)
English politician
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Robert Townshend (1580–1615), of Raynham, Norfolk, was an English politician.[1][2]
He was the younger son of Sir Roger Townshend of Raynham and his second wife Jane (d. 1618), daughter of Sir Michael Stanhope. Sir John Townshend was his elder brother.[1][3] On his father's death in 1590, he was what his father considered a sufficient amount to allow him to live as a gentleman, provided he was not extravagant.[4] In 1593 he matriculated at New College, Oxford[5] and in 1599 was admitted to Gray's Inn.[6] In 1598 his mother married Henry, lord Berkeley.[7]
Through his family's local connections Townshend was chosen as Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Castle Rising in 1601, a seat that had been held by his brother in 1593.[1] He was knighted at the Charterhouse on 11 May 1603.[8] Soon after he purchased an estate in Wivenhoe, Essex, with money borrowed from his mother.[2] In the parliament of 1604 he again sat for Castle Rising.[2] He became embroiled in a legal dispute over his Wivenhoe estate and became seriously indebted, eventually selling the property to his mother.[2][9] He died unmarried in 1617.[9]