John Townshend, 1st Earl Sydney

The Right Honourable The Earl Sydney GCB, PC
Caricature by Ape published in Vanity Fair in 1869.
Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard
In office 30 December 1852 – 21 February 1858
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Earl of Aberdeen The Viscount Palmerston
Preceded by	The Lord de Ros
Succeeded by	The Lord de Ros
Lord Chamberlain of the Household
In office 23 June 1859 – 26 June 1866
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	The Viscount Palmerston The Earl Russell
Preceded by	The Earl De La Warr
Succeeded by	The Earl of Bradford
In office 9 December 1868 – 17 February 1874
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	The Earl of Bradford
Succeeded by	The Marquess of Hertford
Lord Steward of the Household
In office 3 May 1880 – 9 June 1885
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	The Earl Beauchamp
Succeeded by	The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
In office 10 February 1886 – 20 July 1886
Monarch	Victoria
Prime Minister	William Ewart Gladstone
Preceded by	The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
Succeeded by	The Earl of Mount Edgcumbe
Personal details
Born	9 August 1805 (1805-08-09)
Died	February 14, 1890(1890-02-14) (aged 84)
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Lady Emily Paget (1810–1893)

John Robert Townshend, 1st Earl Sydney GCB, PC (9 August 1805 – 14 February 1890), known as The Viscount Sydney between 1831 and 1874, was a British Liberal politician. In a ministerial career spanning over 30 years, he was twice Lord Chamberlain of the Household and twice Lord Steward of the Household.

A member of the Townshend family headed by the Marquess Townshend, Sydney was the son of John Townshend, 2nd Viscount Sydney, by his second wife Lady Caroline Elizabeth Letitia, daughter of Robert Clements, 1st Earl of Leitrim. He was educated at Eton and St John's College, Cambridge, graduating MA in 1824.

Sydney was first elected to parliament for Whitchurch in 1826, a seat he held until 1831, when he succeeded his father in the viscountcy and entered the House of Lords. From 1828 to 1831 served Kings George IV and William IV as Groom of the Bedchamber and from 1835 to 1837 was a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to William IV.

In December 1852 he was appointed Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard, Deputy Chief Whip in the House of Lords) in Lord Aberdeen's coalition government and was sworn of the Privy Council in early 1853. He continued as Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard when Lord Palmerston became prime minister in 1855, but relinquished the position when the Liberals lost power in February 1858. The Liberals returned to office under Palmerston already in June 1859, when Sydney was made Lord Chamberlain of the Household, a post he held until 1866, the last year under the premiership of Lord Russell. In February 1866 he was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.