Charles Townshend
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The Right Honourable Charles Townshend |
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| Chancellor of the Exchequer | |
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In office 2 August 1766 – 4 September 1767 |
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| Monarch | George III |
| Prime Minister | The Earl of Chatham |
| Preceded by | William Dowdeswell |
| Succeeded by | Lord North |
| President of the Board of Trade | |
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In office 1 March 1763 – 20 April 1763 |
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| Preceded by | The Lord Sandys |
| Succeeded by | The Earl of Shelburne |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
29 August 1725 Raynham Hall, Norfolk |
| Died | 4 September 1767 (aged 42) |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Whig |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Caroline Campbell |
| Alma mater |
University of Leiden University of Oxford |
Charles Townshend (28 August 1725 – 4 September 1767) was a British politician. He was born at his family's seat of Raynham Hall in Norfolk, England, the second son of Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend, and Audrey (died 1788), daughter and heiress of Edward Harrison of Ball's Park, near Hertford; she was reportedly a lady who rivaled her son in brilliance of wit and frankness of expression. He was a sickly child, suffered from epilepsy, and had a strained relationship with his parents. Charles graduated from the Dutch Leiden University on 27 October 1745; while there he had associated with a small group of other English youth, who later became well known in various circles, including Dowdeswell, Wilkes, and Alexander Carlyle. The latter would chronicle their exploits in his Autobiography.
Following his return, he represented Great Yarmouth in Parliament from 1747 to 1756, when he found a seat for the admiralty borough of Saltash, subsequently transferring in 1761 to Harwich, another borough where the seat was in the government's gift. Public attention was first drawn to his abilities in 1753, when he delivered a lively attack, as a younger son who might hope to promote his advancement by allying himself in marriage to a wealthy heiress, against Lord Hardwicke's marriage bill. Although this measure passed into law, he attained this object in August 1755 by marrying Caroline Campbell (d. 1794), the eldest daughter of the 2nd duke of Argyll and the widow of Francis, Lord Dalkeith, the eldest son of the 2nd duke of Buccleuch.
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