Date Published:
July 2005

L’Encyclopédie de l’histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia

George Townshend

Marquis Townshend

Townshend, George, Marquis, (1724-1807), soldier, was born on February 28, 1724, the eldest son of the third Viscount Townshend. He entered the British army at an early age, and he saw active service at the battles of Dettingen, Fontenoy, and Culloden. When the expedition under Wolfe was sent to Canada in 1759, he was appointed one of Wolfe's brigadiers; and after the death of Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham in 1759, the command of the British forces in Canada devolved upon him. He returned to England, however, in the autumn of 1759, leaving General Murray in command. He rose to the rank of field marshal in the army, and master-general of ordnance. In 1767 he succeeded his father as fourth Viscount Townshend; and in 1787 he was created a marquis. He died on September 14, 1807. He was twice married, (1) in 1851 to Lady Charlotte Compton (d. 1770), daughter of the Earl of Northampton, and (2) in 1773 to Anne, daughter of Sir William Montgomery, Bart., by whom he had a large family. See Sir C. V. F. Townshend, The military life of Field-Marshal George, first Marquess Townshend (London, 1901).

Consult the article on Townshend at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.]

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Source: W. Stewart WALLACE, ed., The Encyclopedia of Canada, Vol. VI, Toronto, University Associates of Canada, 1948, 398p., pp. 160-161.