The son of George Townshend, first Marquess Townshend; he was educated at Eton and St John's College, Cambridge and was a Whig MP for Cambridge, Westminster, and Knaresborough. He was a denizen of Holland House and Sheridan's literary executor.

CORRESPONDENCE OF Lord John Townshend:

Lord John Townshend to Lady Melbourne, [1812 c.?] in In Whig Society 1775-1818: Compiled from the hitherto unpublished Correspondence of Elizabeth, Viscountess Melbourne, and Emily Lamb, Countess Cowper, afterwards Viscountess Palmerston (London: Hodder and Stoughton LTD., 1921)

Lord John Townshend to Samuel Rogers, 13 August 1816 in Samuel Rogers and his Contemporaries 2 Vols (London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1889)